Maine Restaurant Named to ‘America’s Best Restaurants 2024′ List

While we love all the restaurants in our Pine Tree State, one in particular has been named to a list featuring restaurants from across the country.

Here in Maine, we take a lot of pride in our food. So, when one of our restaurants lands on an end-of-year award list, you can bet we’re going to celebrate it.

So, with that in mind, how do we determine the best restaurants in America, and what are the qualifications?

The New York Times' annual ‘The Restaurant List’ is created through a thorough and unbiased process. Over the past year, reporters and editors visited restaurants across nearly every state to find their 50 favorite spots in America.

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The focus this year emphasized the restaurant spaces and the overall dining experience as much as the food itself.

They paid for all their meals, visited unannounced, and made reservations just like regular diners to ensure authenticity.

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With those questions answered, let’s get to the exciting part: which restaurant in Maine has been named one of 2024’s best in America?

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According to The New York Times’ annual ‘The Restaurant List’—where they highlight their 50 favorite places to eat in America—only one restaurant in Maine made the cut. That honor goes to The Alna Store in Alna. Melissa Clark of The New York Times had this to say about The Alna Store:

On a rural crossroads covered in white clapboard, the Alna Store looks like the old-time country shop that it was for decades. But now, the shelves in back are stocked with natural wines, imported tinned fish and bracing housemade ferments (kimchi, hot sauce, curry kraut). And in front, an ambitious restaurant serves a thoroughly of-the-moment, local menu that’s full of sophisticated touches without being at all pretentious.

And there you have it—The Alna Store in Alna has been named one of The New York Times’ best restaurants in America for 2024!

Have you ever been to The Alna Store? Or even heard of it? What are your thoughts on The New York Times’ selection? We’d love to hear from you! Join the conversation by messaging us on the app.