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There are a lot of lists out there, but I always check Tripadvisor
Much like the People’s choice award, I like to see who, where, and what the people choose. I almost always check Tripadvisor before booking a hotel and read several of their reviews to get a feel for what real life people are choosing. Not some snobby blogger 😉 or hoity toity critic which is why I found this list to be pretty interesting. That and my Dad has become a mega tripadvisor contributor with restaurants and I’ve since started referring to the site for dining reviews as well. He gave me a heads up to this list and some surprises. The #1, Daniel, in NYC has long been a fine dining institution, but creatives like Alinea ( featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table) out of Chicago came in at #2: I’ve wanted to experience Alinea since seeing it on the show. The big shocker to me…The Carolinas picking up 3 of the top ten, and 2 in Charleston alone. Scroll down to the see the list and click the link to see writeups.
Miles was lucky enough to eat at the #2 Restaurant a couple years back: Victoria and Albert. HIGHLY recommend the experience.
The List:
- Daniel, NYC
- Victoria & Albert’s, Orlando
- Charleston Grill, Charleston
- Alinea, Chicago
- Chef and the Farmer, Kinston, North Carolina
- Hall Chophouse, Charleston
- Geronimo, Santa Fe
- Mama’s Fish House, Paia Hawaii
- Restaurant Gary Denko, San Francisco
- Merriman’s, Kapalua Hawaii
Which restaurant would you vote on to the list? Have you eat at any of these?
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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