A jungle-themed open-fire restaurant named after a Home Alone line, built inside a former P.F. Chang’s on Tempe’s Mill Avenue, just claimed the top spot on Yelp’s Best New Restaurants of 2026.
Filthy Animal in Tempe, Arizona, took the top spot on Yelp’s Best New Restaurants of 2026 list. The jungle-themed restaurant operates out of a former P.F. Chang’s on Mill Avenue.
That’s the lead. Yelp’s ranking covers 25 full-service U.S. restaurants that opened after January 1, 2025, ranked by review volume and ratings recorded through June 11, 2026, with passing health scores factored in where available. Yelp trend expert Tara Lewis contributed to the selection process. Filthy Animal — from restaurateur Teddy Myers’ Pretty Decent Concepts, with culinary director Ivan Gonzalez overseeing the open-fire menu — claims the top spot. New York and Los Angeles showed up. They just didn’t win.
Beyond t`he Usual Food Capitals
Smaller markets dominate the rankings, reflecting where Yelp users engaged most actively with new restaurants.
Jacksonville. Reno. Birmingham. Marietta. Winter Park. Those cities appear on this list not as a goodwill gesture, but because Yelp users were consistently vocal about these restaurants from early in their runs. California leads all states with five entries — Firstborn, Eylan, Lilo, Ah Ma’s Kitchen, and Lucia — yet no single coast dominates. Lilo in Carlsbad reportedly earned a Michelin star two months after opening, a detail that suggests crowd enthusiasm and culinary quality are not always at odds.
Restaurants Worth Flagging From the Full 25
Five standouts illustrate the list’s range, from celebrity steakhouses to prix-fixe Chinatown dining.
- Filthy Animal, Tempe, AZ (No. 1) — open-fire American cooking with global influences, a jungle-themed interior, and that name
- Firstborn, Los Angeles, CA (No. 2) — Chinatown prix-fixe from chef-owner Anthony Wang, whose culinary background has drawn wide industry recognition
- Lilo, Carlsbad, CA (No. 5) — Japanese-influenced; reportedly Michelin-starred within two months of opening
- 1587 Prime, Kansas City, MO (No. 6) — steakhouse co-founded by Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce
- Bar Boheme, Las Vegas, NV (No. 7) — French brasserie associated with James Beard finalist James Trees
The Rest of the Map
From Pittsburgh dumplings to a Scottish fish shop now planted in D.C., the remaining entries span cuisines, price points, and unexpected ZIP codes.
The other 20 restaurants reward a closer look, grouped loosely by what makes them distinct.
For globally influenced dining:
- Limusina (Mexican, NYC, No. 3)
- Eylan (Cal-Indian live-fire, Menlo Park, No. 4)
- Mezcla (tapas-style Latin, Columbus, No. 8)
- Ambassadors Clubhouse (Indian, NYC, No. 10)
For regional American cooking with a story:
- Dorothy’s Downtown (New Orleans scratch kitchen, Jacksonville, No. 9)
- Lobby Bar (American, Washington D.C., No. 17)
- The Farmhouse Tuscan (farm-to-table, Alexandria, No. 21)
Steakhouse fans have options: Piedra in Indianapolis (No. 15) offers dark beer-marinated lamb chops and ribeye tacos with roasted bone marrow, while The Crunkleton in Raleigh (No. 20) anchors its menu around a 42-ounce Tomahawk board. European imports round things out: Fish Shop in Washington D.C. (No. 22) is the U.S. outpost of a Scottish original that earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and Gianni & Mac’s in Marietta (No. 23) keeps it simple with best and worst handmade pasta.
Rounding out the list:
- Agnes and Sherman (Asian-American, Houston, No. 12)
- Oh London (British pub fare, Creve Coeur, No. 13)
- Society Swan (American brasserie, Scottsdale, No. 14)
- Ah Ma’s Kitchen (Hong Kong comfort food, San Francisco, No. 16)
- Johin’na (Japanese, Birmingham, No. 18)
- Lucia (seasonal Caribbean, Los Angeles, No. 19)
- Palm Palm (grilled-cheese-and-tomato-soup dumplings, Pittsburgh, No. 24)
- The Chapman (fine dining, Winter Park, No. 25)
- Toro Bravo (Latin-inspired, Reno, No. 11)
What Yelp measures is crowd-sourced enthusiasm — review volume plus ratings, not an anonymous critic’s single visit. A restaurant generating that kind of early, sustained engagement is clearly resonating with its community. That’s a distinct signal, and for diners, arguably a useful one.
How to Use This List
Match your city to the ranking, then book accordingly.
The complete ranking is available on Yelp’s site. If your metro didn’t make the cut, treat it as a snapshot, not a verdict. The list reflects where diners were most engaged between January 2025 and June 2026 — a specific window, a specific methodology, and 25 restaurants worth knowing about.
