Tasting menus have spread to all 50 states, survey finds

Tasting Table's survey of the priciest tasting menu in every U.S. state shows that a chef-driven, multi-course format now reaches far beyond New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The survey lists Rêve in Birmingham, Alabama, with a 10-course menu for $165; H Chophouse at Henderson Castle in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with a 17-course menu for $199 without beverages; and Harvester Kitchen in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with a four-course chef's menu at $99 and a seven-course signature menu at $190. All prices, the survey notes, come from official restaurant websites or booking platforms and exclude beverages, tax, and gratuity.

That list also documents Michelin and James Beard ambitions outside traditional hubs. Somni in West Hollywood, California, holds three Michelin stars and has a $600 base fee before mandatory drink pairings; Bosq in Aspen, Colorado, has one Michelin star with five courses for $215 and at least nine for $305; The Catbird Seat in Nashville, Tennessee, has one Michelin star and a 13-course menu for $195. In Birmingham, Rêve is recommended by the Michelin Guide and is billed as the first tasting menu in the city, according to Tasting Table.

In San Francisco, Noahpinion's restaurant guide documents a wave of affordable tasting menus below the city's top Michelin tier. The guide names Mijoté, a French-Japanese restaurant with a prix fixe menu at $84 per person, and 7 Adams, a one-Michelin-star New American restaurant that the author says is “significantly cheaper than a lot of other Michelin places while being every bit as good”. The guide also puts several restaurants, including Rich Table, Maria Isabel, Aziza, and Dalida, in a category where prices usually range from $90 to $120 per person.

Major hubs continue to add high-end tasting menus. Condé Nast Traveler's August 14 guide to new New York City restaurants highlights “an immaculate Flatiron tasting menu from an already acclaimed chef” among the openings. Time Out's September 1 list of Los Angeles restaurants includes n/naka's 13-course kaiseki at $395, Hayato's two-Michelin-star kaiseki at $450 per head, and Kato's seasonal tasting menu at $325.

The Infatuation's guide to New York City's most expensive tasting menus ranks Le Bernardin at $350, Atomix at $385, and Eleven Madison Park at $385. The same guide notes that Aska first opened in 2012, Jungsik opened in 2011, and Daniel opened three decades ago, showing the long history of high-end dining in the city.

Taken together, these reports show that as of early September 2026, the tasting menu has become a national rather than coastal phenomenon. Tasting Table's survey found a candidate in all 50 states, from Idaho's Candle in the Woods ($195 for 12 to 14 courses) to Nebraska's Casa Bovina ($185) to Oklahoma's Grey Sweater ($137 for seven courses). The survey's methodology states it included “acclaimed establishments” and “various cuisines and concepts”.