The New York Times placed two Michigan restaurants on its 2026 list of America’s 50 best restaurants released on Monday. Tacos Wuey and Rose’s Fine Food both made the list.
A team of 16 scouters from The New York Times traveled the country sampling foods from a variety of eateries to assemble the list. They book tables, walk in, and pay for meals without revealing who they are.
Tacos Wuey is located at 3970 W. Vernor in Southwest Detroit. It opened in July 2025 and serves regional cuisine with tacos from different parts of Mexico. Tacos Wuey also won Hour Detroit’s Best New Restaurant in Detroit for 2026. Chef Eddie Vargas, who came from Jalisco, Mexico, as a young boy, runs the kitchen. Tacos Wuey’s birria recipe comes from Vargas’ father, Jose. The restaurant prepares it in ways that include stuffing it into egg rolls and quesadillas and using it as the base for ramen with dark consommé.
“You’ll find housemade salsa macha on the menu — sometimes made with cranberries or hibiscus — and also on the tables, as you would chile crisp in a Sichuan place,” Anderson writes in the listicle. “Spoon some over the lard-fried chicken Milanese served with spaghetti verde, a home-cooking classic that’s finding a new audience at this highly personal restaurant in Southwest Detroit, also known as Mexicantown,” according to CBS News Detroit.
Rose’s Fine Food opened in September 2025 at 10551 E. Jefferson Ave. in Detroit. Molly Mitchell founded the diner, which serves fresh-baked goods and ethnic foods. “The burger, which is served on slabs of sourdough and has long been a favorite, is now joined by pierogi, kluski and kielbasa on this more Polish-inflected menu,” NYT’s Sara Bonisteel writes.
Bonisteel describes eating at the circa-1964 space, with its green walls and pink and orange curtains, as having a meal in Grandma’s sunroom. “Polish nachos unite two Midwestern powerhouses, potato chips and smoked whitefish, with a shower of pickles and trout roe and dollops of crème fraîche,” she said.
Dining and Cooking