Alter and Palacio de Los Jugos Put Miami on the Southern 38

For the past three years, roaming Eater restaurant critic Bill Addison has scoured the country eating and latest and greatest restaurants (we’re jealous of his job, too) to put together his annual list of America’s 38 best restaurants.

But this year he is introducing something new: a regional 38 list, with the first one focused on the Southern United States, from Florida all the way to mid-Virginia.

The list dropped today and representing the Sunshine State on this inaugural list is two Miami favorites: Brad Kilgore’s haute-cuisine, Wynwood eatery Alter and longtime 305 staple Palacio de Los Jugos. Both can be found on Eater Miami 38 Essential Restaurants and Alter even made an appearance on Addison’s Best New Restaurants of 2016.

So what stood out to Addison about these two restaurants?

“Narrowing the South’s astonishing breadth of dining options, across a dozen states, down to 38 options was grueling. And of course the rest of the state has some outstanding dining options (Bern’s Steakhouse, one obvious standout, was on our list of America’s Essential Restaurants last year),” Addison notes. “But when it came down to it, Alter made the cut as a game-changer that’s raising the bar for dining in the whole state, and it seemed right to single out the city’s rich Cuban culinary culture; longtime local critic Lee Klein made the call on that one, though of course Palacio de Los Jugos is also on the Miami 38.”

Read the entire list in all its glory here.