Best restaurants: OpenTable’s ‘Top 100' list names popular Palm Beach County eatery

Liz Balmaseda, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·4 min read

A destination restaurant that shattered Palm Beach clichés when it opened in 2011 once again won national acclaim. Buccan, the innovative American bistro led by Chef Clay Conley, landed a spot on OpenTable’s “Top 100 Restaurants” in the United States.

The restaurant, led by the trendsetting chef and his Ember Group partners Sam Slattery and Piper Quinn, is one of seven restaurants in the state to make this year’s list, released Nov. 14. (Buccan also earned a spot on the list in 2019.)

“It’s an honor to make this list because we know it’s driven by diner reviews and ratings, which means that, after 12 years and an influx of new restaurants, we are still creating something unique and special,” said Slattery. “In the minds of our guests, we’re still getting it right, and that’s all that matters to our team.”

Clay Conley, a partner at Buccan bistro in Palm Beach, is a nationally acclaimed chef.
Clay Conley, a partner at Buccan bistro in Palm Beach, is a nationally acclaimed chef.

The national spotlight should come as no surprise to Buccan fans and regulars. A dozen years after its debut, the lively bistro continues to excite diners. Conley, who has earned semifinalist distinctions for a James Beard Award for “Best Chef” in the South six times, continues to set culinary standards on the island and beyond.

Diners flock in for Buccan favorites (such as the short rib empanadas with salsa criolla and Peruvian ají amarillo), fresh crudo starter dishes (like hamachi tiradito with Peruvian chilies, lotus root, mojo-scented onion and yuzu vinaigrette) and refined comfort plates (such as Conley’s sweet corn agnolotti with bacon, ricotta and Espelette pepper butter, a dish pasta lovers will return to).

Buccan joins six other Florida restaurants on the OpenTable “Top 100” list.

The menu at Palm Beach's Buccan bistro features homemade pastas. This seasonal special is fusilli with Maine lobster and uni butter.
The menu at Palm Beach's Buccan bistro features homemade pastas. This seasonal special is fusilli with Maine lobster and uni butter.

They are Stubborn Seed, the Michelin-starred, Miami Beach restaurant by acclaimed chef Jeremy Ford (who also leads The Butcher’s Club steakhouse at the PGA National Resort), Tampa’s legendary Bern’s Steak House and Michelin-starred Lilac restaurant, Tallahassee’s eclectic Savour restaurant, St. Augustine’s Peruvian-inspired Llama Restaurant and Key West’s Latitudes restaurant, located on private Sunset Key, just off of Key West.

Florida and California have the largest amounts of restaurants on the list. (California boasted 14 of the “Top” restaurants.)

OpenTable's 'Top 100' restaurants list methodology

Buccan restaurant partners (from left) Piper Quinn, Clay Conley and Sam Slattery share a portrait in 2021, when the popular bistro celebrated its 10th year in Palm Beach.
Buccan restaurant partners (from left) Piper Quinn, Clay Conley and Sam Slattery share a portrait in 2021, when the popular bistro celebrated its 10th year in Palm Beach.

OpenTable, a global dining site that manages restaurant reservations, creates the annual list by analyzing verified diner ratings, five-star reviews, advance reservations and other metrics, according to the site.

More than 12 million verified OpenTable diner reviews, posted from Sept. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023 helped generate the list.

2023’s hot trends: African and East Asian food, mocktails

OpenTable also spotted some noteworthy national trends this year, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, as compared with 2022 findings.

Kimchi fried rice is served at Buccan's "little sister" sushi restaurant, Imoto in Palm Beach.
Kimchi fried rice is served at Buccan's "little sister" sushi restaurant, Imoto in Palm Beach.

◾ The year’s top trending cuisines included West African (up by 72%), African (up by 23%) and Lebanese (up by 18%).

◾   Diners chattered more about East Asian dishes and terms (such as omakase, lychee, crispy rice, yuzu, kimchi, ramen and miso) in their reviews.

◾   Mocktail mentions dramatically increased (up 48%) in diner reviews.

Site analysts also found a rise in solo dining, particularly on Thursdays and Fridays, and learned that special-occasion and holiday dining “held steady”, according to OpenTable.

“Diners showed up in full force for occasions like Valentine's Day and Mother’s Day this year — we expect this trend will continue through to a strong holiday season for restaurants," OpenTable’s CEO, Debby Soo, said in a news release.

Buccan restaurant

Located: 350 S. County Rd., Palm Beach

More information: Please call 561-833-3450, BuccanPalmBeach.com. The restaurant opens for dinner nightly at 5 p.m., and reservations are accepted via Buccan’s website.

Have a delicious weekend!

Liz Balmaseda

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Liz Balmaseda is The Palm Beach Post's food critic.
Liz Balmaseda is The Palm Beach Post's food critic.

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Liz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network. She covers the local food and dining beat. Follow her on Instagram and Post on Food Facebook. She can be reached by email at lbalmaseda@pbpost.com. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: OpenTable picks Buccan restaurant in Palm Beach as Top 100 in USA