Atlanta

Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q - best BBQ in town; try their smoked chicken salad

South City Kitchen - best southern restaurant in Atlanta; the size of entrees may beat you

Wrecking Brewpub - really nice selection of local beer; not far from Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q so you can grab a pint while waiting for a table

Barcelona

Caelis - contemporary European cuisine; great bargain for lunch; make sure to reserve kitchen table

Xerta - Mediterranean food with focus on seafood

Berlin

Facil - creative cuisine with very good wine pairings

Madami - good Vietnamese food

Chicago 

Avec - good Mediterranean food

El Ideas - crazy food and chefs but really good; foie gras in white chocolate and blueberry compote really blew my mind; they are (still) BYOB 

Elizabeth - likely my favorite tasting menu in Chicago; new American foraging (sadly closed; Iliana Regan is probably one of the top 10 U.S. chefs of my generation - you can still get her cooking in Milkweed Inn but (a) it's in the middle of nowhere and (b) it's a pretty penny)

Elske - Scandinavian influenced food

Girl and the Goat - if you can score reservation the food is fantastic and reasonably priced

Mogadishu - home style Somali food; really tasty and cheap

Spacca Napoli - probably best pizza in Chicago

Cracow

Alchemia - blend in with locals and get apple pie (the drink not the cake) 

Hawaii

Aloha Shrimp (Oahu) - no web page, cash only, food truck with the best shrimp on the island (53-534 Kamehameha Highway)

Ahi Assassins (Honolulu) - best poke on Oahu; no tables and you need a car to get there

Da Fish House (Hawaii) - one of two awesome poke stores on Big Island 

Da Poke Shack (Hawaii) - the other awesome poke store on Big Island

Kona Coffee Purveyors (Honolulu) - local store where you can get the best coffee from sister island; morning stroll distance from Waikiki 

Marukame Udon (Honolulu) - main street; line up; food much cheaper and actually way better than in any of the other surrounding restaurants; it's a chain so you can get it in other US cities these days

Shirokiya Japan Village (Honolulu) - think hawker center with good Japanese food and obscenely cheap beer 

Sushi II (Honolulu) - in the middle of a small shopping center but what an amazing sushi spot; try their tuna salad

Hong Kong

Kam's Goose - just get half goose takeout, grab a beer from a nearby store, and be happy

Tim Ho Wan - char siu bao

Lai Ching Heen (Yan Toh Heen) - probably the best Cantonese food I have ever eaten; there is a tea menu, and at the end they give you a small baggie with high quality tea

London

Barbary - cool African restaurant

Borough market - just a fun place to go for food and drinks (some better restaurants include Elliot's, Padella,  and the Market Porter)

Brawn - reasonably priced modern European cooking 

Core - probably one of the two 3* restaurants that I'd say is worth spending money (along with Kei below); Smyth is Ramsay protege but actually focuses more on food than fanfare 

Harp - really good pub in central London (although it got touristy recently - yes, I get the irony of being part of the problem)

Harwood Arms - best gastropub in the city 

Hide - modern European cooking 

Maureen's Pie and Mash - name tells it all and you should try mushy peas when in England 

St. John - London institution for meat eaters (try their main restaurant in Barbican)

Ye Olde Mitre - amazing pub that is not as touristy as Harp

Melbourne

Act of Wine - really nice wine store stocking many small scale Aussie producers 

Amaru - probably the best fine dining restaurant in the city

Ceylon Wok - very good Sri Lankan food (it's in a food court so you'll have to search a bit)

Butchers Diner - probably my favorite low key place in Melbourne (try their blood sausage)

Lentil as Anything - vegan restaurant that is actually delicious 

Pt Leo Estate - Yarra Valley must see: wine is fine, Laura is amazing but overpriced restaurant, but you should go to see their amazing sculpture park including works by Takeshi Murakami, Lynn Chadwick, KAWS, and Yayoi Kusama among others. 

Walrus - my favorite wine bar in the city 

New York City

Atoboy - not as fancy as Atomix two blocks up but it's a great creative Korean cooking for quarter of the price 

Broad Nosh Bagels Deli - base bagels in town

Cabinet Mezcal Bar - pretty much the only place in the country that has really small scale artisanal agave spirits producers on the shelves (actually you want to ask for stuff that is not on the shelves; also you should drink your negronis with mezcal instead of gin)

Cafe China - my favorite Chinese place in NYC; last time I went waiter did not know how to open a wine bottle but the string beans were as good as aways!

Eileen's Special Cheesecake - I generally do not eat sweets but this place is exceptional

Joe's Pizza - it's cheap, it's good and it's close to Washington Square Park where you can enjoy it (also available in other locations)

La Vara - my favorite Spanish restaurant in NYC; brunch is particularly good deal

Los Tacos No.1 - best tacos in NYC; I usually go to the Chelsea market location

Tabare - fantastic Uruguayan restaurant; try their churrasco

Tonchin - best ramen I had in NYC (it's now a chain so you can get it in other places)

Tuome - one of the more reasonably priced Michelin stars in the city 

Paris

CopperBay - great bar with creative cocktails; insanely packed in the evenings 

Kei - amazing mix of Japanese perfectionism with French cuisine; my all time favorite restaurant in the world

La Cafeotheque - good coffee and convenient location

La Derniere Goutte - very good wine store that stocks Domaine Ostertag wines (6 Rue de Bourbon le Chateau)

San Francisco

Cinderella - the only place I know in bay area to get traditional Eastern/Central European cuisine (barszcz checks out)

Dumpling Home - my favorite dim sum place

Prubechu - Guamian restaurant; very good food with a pacific twist 

Sequoia Sake - must visit for those who drink; Jake and Noriko are amazing artisans using local products (including Sacramento Valley rice!) to make sake (both traditional and one that would be banned in Japan for too much experimentation); they won multiple awards for their products including in Japan

Taniku Izakaya - likely my favorite place in the city for Japanese street food 

Trestle - Michelin star quality food without the hype and price of Michelin stars 

Seattle

Anchorhead Coffee - best coffee in Seattle

Chan - Korean gastropub; get their wings and house infused soju flight 

Maneki - traditional Japanese restaurant established pre-WWI; home style cooking with reasonable prices

Oriental Mart - tucked away opposite to where they throw salmon for tourists; home style Filipino food; great adobo and sausages

Paseo Caribbean Food - really good sandwiches in Fremont

Sake Nomi - bar and shop importing sake directly from small breweries in Japan; just tell the owner what you like and he'll prepare flight for you

Tacos Chukis - no-frills delicious tacos; Dexter location is short walk from Amazon campus

TeKu Tavern - pub and beer store; largest selection of beers and ciders I have ever seen including some small batch stuff

Shanghai 

Lei Garden - cheap compared to other goods you can buy at IFC; very nice Cantonese style duckling

Yi Long Court - best dim sum I have ever had

Sydney

Alchemy - traditional Polish food

Catalina - very good food in spectacular location 

China Doll - my favorite Chinese restaurant in the city 

Chuck Trailer's Bondi Beach - just a classic to visit when in Sydney 

Ezra - Jewish/Middle Eastern high quality cooking 

Ho Jiak - very good Malaysian cooking (they expanded to a chain now)

Midden by Mark Olive - Aboriginal cooking (kangaroo is actually pretty delicious)

Sofia on Cleveland - elevated home cooking 

Tokyo

Afuri - good ramen shop in Harajuku

カフェ・ド・ランブル - high-end coffee shop in Ginza (last time I was there smoking was allowed inside)

饗 くろ喜 - best ramen I had; they have specials every day; you'll most likely need to queue for some time

うどん 慎 - very good udon

Warsaw

Alewino - high quality cooking with extensive wine list (including natural wine and small scale producers)

Bez Gwiazdek - my favorite restaurant in Warsaw; fantastic local wine pairings 

Brac polskie wina - wine bar specializing in small scale Polish wine producers 

InFormal Kitchen - surprisingly reasonably priced for downtown Polish classics 

Koneser Grill - best steaks in town

Kufle i kapsle - my go to place for beer in Warsaw

Elsewhere in the world 

Ajidokoro - great kaiseki in a stunning location outside of Sapporo (not as crazy priced as Kyoto and Tokyo kaisekis) 

Almaysass - really good Lebanese restaurant in Abu Dhabi

Andrea Gail - amazing vegan restaurant in VA (the fact that it's punk themed is additional benefit)

Archibald James Wine and Ciderworks - imo the best cider in the country (small tasting room in Wenatchee, WA)

Assiette Blanche - really good Belgian/French restaurant in Bruges 

Burger Barn - food truck north of Stove (Jeffersonville) serving amazing burgers 

Colorado Cherry Company - amazing small chain of pie shops north of Denver (the only tart cherry pies I encountered in the US to date)

Contraste - fine dining restaurant in Milan (probably some of the most creative cuisine I've ever had)

Dad's Luncheonette - great burgers in train track in Half Moon Bay

Darkey Kelly's - traditional Irish pub in Dublin serving great bangers and mash

Din Tai Fung - it's a chain as it's great dumplings everywhere you go but the Taipei mothership is impressive 

Fish 101 - great fish restaurant in Encinitas CA

Fromagerie Abraham Kef - best cheese shop I've ever been to located slightly outside of central Amsterdam 

Holbox - probably the best value for money restaurant in LA

Islander Estate Vineyards - very small but very good wine producer on Kangaroo Island

Jin Shang Hsuan - probably the best traditional food I had in Taipei 

Lilla Ego - great Swedish restaurant in Stockholm 

Lucy and Howe Brewing Company - great small batch beer producer in Jericho Vermont (they expanded a bit now but I remember buying beer in owners shed)

Merhavia 7 - amazing Israeli food in Tel Aviv 

Mr Ahn's Makgeolli - best food I had in Seoul (better sakuraniku than I had in Japan)

Muttonbird - randomly amazing food in Wanaka (NZ)

Restaurant Tanière - amazing fine dining in Quebec City

Sabich Tchernikhovski - best sandwiches in Tel Aviv 

Salon de Agave - really fun place in Mexico City to learn about agave distillation 

Søllerød Kro - traditional Danish cuisine with a Michelin star but without the central Copenhagen crazy prices

Taqueria Orinoco - there are a lot of great taco shops in Mexico City but this is probably my favorite 

Tar and Roses - resonably priced (for LA!) fine dining restaurant in Santa Monica

Teuchters Landing - pub outside of Edinburgh that serves the best cullen skink I've ever had