Other honorees include Cipriani Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Bamboo Bowls in Singapore. Prix Versailles doesn't rank its winners but recognizes each for architectural innovation and cultural impact. With its inclusion, Japón becomes the only restaurant in North America on this year's list and one of the few U.S. restaurants ever to receive the honor.
Japón, located inside the Setai, is the only restaurant in North America to make the 2025 list.
Photo via Facebook/The Setai, Miami Beach
The Only U.S. Restaurant to Make the Cut
This year, Japón, located inside the Setai, is the only restaurant in North America to make the 2025 list. The recognition places the Miami Beach newcomer in the same category as high-profile design standouts across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.Japón opened in 2023 inside the Setai and quickly stood out for its immersive aesthetic. Designed by Saladino Design Studios with chefs Vijayudu Veena and Iván Monzón, the South Beach restaurant blends traditional Japanese elements with bold Miami design.
At its core is the crane, a symbol of luck and elegance, featured across tiled mosaics, embroidered fabrics, and custom wallpaper. Inside, a gold-leaf ceiling crowns a private dining room lined with antique woodblock prints and vintage Japanese artwork. Outside, a towering pagoda anchors a mural-lined courtyard shaded by palms.
Japón at The Setai in Miami Beach has been named one of the World's Most Beautiful Restaurants of 2025, the only North American restaurant to make the list.
Japón photo
Why The Honor is a Big Deal
Launched in 2015, the Prix Versailles is a global architectural award program that highlights standout contemporary design projects around the world."When we have a meal, we remember the taste of the dishes, the scent of a venue, the soundtrack of a meeting, and perhaps the recollection of an object," according to a statement by Prix Versailles secretary general Jérôme Gouadain. "But who could really describe it all? What's certain is that a lived experience is, first and foremost, a human, inner experience that is shared and unique. In this arena, architecture has an eminently paradoxical, almost maternal, role to play, attracting guests into its warm embrace, enveloping them with its shapes and forms, and completely effacing itself to put the focus on the feast."
Historically, the Prix Versailles honors projects that push the boundaries of architecture and design across sectors, including hospitality, retail, and the arts. In the restaurant category, judges look not only at aesthetics but also at how a space contributes to a complete sensory experience.
Japón. 2001 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, at the Setai Hotel; thesetaihotel.com.
