In Charleston, S.C., this inventive and spirited New South concept (with an original location in Atlanta) brings a sense of buzz to its location in the Renaissance Charleston Historic District Hotel.

Website: 1kept.com

Address: 68 Wentworth St., Charleston, S.C.

Phone number: 843-203-3563

Number of seats: 104

Entrée price range: $20-$26

Popular dishes: Pimento cheese board with grilled sourdough, tomato jam, grain mustard, bacon jam and pickled vegetables; warm kale salad with chorizo, quinoa, carrots, golden raisins and chile-oil vin; chicken schnitzel and herb spätzle with braised red cabbage, kale and caramelized onion cream; shrimp and grits with smoked pimento cheese, arrabbiata sauce and crawfish butter.

What others say: “We chose this restaurant because it showed up in a search as "new and trendy." While in the Renaissance Hotel, you don't feel like you are in a hotel once you step inside (I usually steer away from hotel dining). The atmosphere is really beautiful.” — comment on Open Table

Pimento cheese board and Summer White Negroni at 1Kept in Charleston, S.C.

Former Houston Astros baseball star Craig Biggio opened this big, splashy two-level sports bar with sophisticated food to match the many screens in the downtown Houston Marriott Marquis.

Website: biggioshouston.com

Address: 1777 Walker St., Houston

Phone number: 346-229-2577

Number of seats: 392

Entrée price range: $10-$22

Popular dishes: B.G.O.: two filet mignon steaks sandwiched between an English muffin with herb garlic aïoli, topped with onion straws: smoked brisket, raja y papas, and fish street tacos; Tex-Mex Burger with housemade guacamole, jalapeños, pepper Jack cheese, pecan smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and onions on a brioche bun; Loaded Nachos with housemade bison chili, green chile queso, bacon, sour cream, cilantro, cotija, refried beans, pico de gallo and jalapeños.

What others say: “The first-floor bar area features walls of television screens that form a two-level canyon that draw your eyes up to the second floor. Those loud walls of nonstop sports and news might draw attention from other sports-minded design details such as wood paneling made from reclaimed bleachers and the front of the bar that boasts a slugger's lineup of baseball bats.” — Greg Morago, Houston Chronicle

In downtown Dallas’s recently renovated Adolphus Hotel, this worldly bistro sets its sights primarily on southern European cuisine doled out with an emphasis on shared plates.

Website: cityhallbistro.com

Address: 1321 Commerce St., Dallas

Phone number: 214-651-3686

Number of seats: 108

Entrée price range: $12-$29

Popular dishes: Cavatelli with braised short rib, peas and Parmesan; whole bronzino semi-deboned with pickled fennel, arugula and sumac vinaigrette; paella Valenciana with clams, mussels, chorizo, chicken, peas, piquillo peppers and saffron.

What others say: “The menu reads a bit like a riff on a trendy restaurant of the moment — snapper crudo, squid ink pasta, Spanish octopus, harissa vinaigrette, sea urchin and truffle risotto — with a couple of less-expected twists.” — Beth Rankin, Dallas Observer

At this warm and hearty eatery in Park City, Utah, chef John Murcko works a big exhibition wood-fired grill in service of the spirit in the motto “where wood fire brings flavor to life.”

Website: firewoodonmain.com

Address: 306 Main St., Park City, Utah

Phone number: 435-252-9900

Number of seats: 150

Entrée price range: $29-$43

Popular dishes: Pork belly with micro kale greens, blue cheese mousse, potato salad and warm mustard vinaigrette; tomahawk short rib with street corn salad, garlic mashers and frisée; lamb chop and belly with forest mushrooms, wilted spinach, red smashed potatoes and chimichurri.

What others say: “There’s a new restaurant in town and it’s ready to fire up — literally — some of the best food not just in Park City, but probably in the country. — Michaela Wagner, Park City Magazine

In the chic new Pendry San Diego hotel, this dazzling new restaurant by the Las Vegas-based group Clique Hospitality is a haven for seafood and buzz of the kind that can make a hotel eatery a destination for more than just guests upstairs.

Website: lionfishsd.com

Address:  435 Fifth Ave., San Diego, Calif.

Phone number: 619-738-7200

Number of seats: 150 in the dining room, 50 on the patio

Entrée price range: $14-$34

Popular dishes: Spicy grilled octopus with fermented chile, crispy garlic, marble potatoes and cilantro aïoli; New Zealand king salmon nigiri with truffle, marinated honshimeji mushrooms, Meyer lemon kosho, trout roe, sake marinade and smoked salt; Maple Leaf duck breast with fole butter, seaweed potato gnocchi, citrus-duck jus, bok choy and orange.

What others say: “An elegant expanse of warm wood, leather seating and brass fixtures welcomes guests to Lionfish — the largest of six new dining and entertainment venues at San Diego’s poshest new hotel, Pendry. Chef JoJo Ruiz (formerly with Ironside Fish & Oyster) is sharing his take on refined coastal cuisine using seasonal, local and responsibly sourced ingredients in everything from his small plates to his entrees and craft cocktails.” — Brendon Matzek, Modern Luxury

A second location of this intensely inventive bakery in Los Angeles joins others in San Francisco, Orange County, and Seoul, South Korea — all of which traffic in hybridized pastry delights divined by founder Aaron Caddel.

Website: mrholmesbakehouse.com

Address: 248 N Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif.

Phone number: 213-712-6308

Number of seats: 0

Entrée price range: $3-$5

Popular dishes: Cruffin: hybrid croissant and muffin with cream; California Croissant with smoked salmon, ginger, wasabi and nori; plain croissant with matcha and white chocolate coating.

What others say: “At Mr. Holmes, I recommend getting a Cruffin which is a hybrid of a croissant and a muffin. The Cruffin menu changes each day with very diverse flavors. When we came in the filling in the Cruffin was grapefruit and ginger.” — comment on Yelp

In Portland, Ore., chef Ryan Fox has divined an elaborate kind of edible art doled out via elaborate tasting menus or simpler presentations that, even at their most basic, signal singular flights of fancy.

Website: nomadpdx.com

Address: 575 NE 24th Ave., Portland, Ore.

Phone number: 503-206-4085

Number of seats: 24 in the dining room, 13 at the chef’s counter, 10 at the bar

Price range: $95-$160 for tasting menus; $5-$31 à la carte

Popular dishes: Salmon poke with avocado and wasabi; The Nomad Burger with Sriracha fries and nutritional yeast; filet-o-fish, Taylor pork and bbq chicken sandwich flight; bo ssam Korean pork lettuce wraps.

What others say: “Is this place … A) Delusional? B) A parody? C) Making the food Portland’s been missing? That question dances through the mind at Nomad.PDX, a high-minded hideaway serving 15-course tasting menus in near obscurity, four nights a week.” — Karen Brooks, Portland Monthly

In Kansas City, this lush, luxe home for Italian food of the most refined kinds brings diners to a new destination in the Hotel Phillips, a historic institution opened in 1931 and subject this year to a $20 million renovation.

Website: tavernonna.com

Address: 106 W 12th St., Kansas City, Mo.

Phone number: 816-346-4410

Number of seats: 102

Entrée price range: $15-$38

Popular dishes: Rigatoni with braised beef chuck Bolognese, pancetta, pomodoro and grana padano; brisket meatballs with pomodoro and lemon ricotta; thyme basted scallops with prosciutto, roasted sweet corn, fregola, mussel sugo and micro greens.

What others say: “The food here is The Business. Most definitely not your ‘typical’ Italian food, this is three notches up.” — comment on Yelp