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Chicago’s Smyth, led by John and Karen Urie Shields, was crowned No. 1 on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list at Thursday’s New Orleans ceremony.
Chicago has the best restaurant in North America. Smyth, the tasting-menu destination run by husband-and-wife chefs John Shields and Karen Urie Shields, was crowned No. 1 on the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 list at a Thursday night ceremony in New Orleans.
The leap is steep. Fine Dining Lovers’s recap of the New Orleans ceremony at the Sheraton and Smyth’s climb from No. 4 to No. 1 notes that the Shields’ restaurant moved up three spots from the inaugural 2025 ranking to take the top position this year.
The surprise was the runner-up. Eight, an eight-seat, 20-course speakeasy in Calgary that tries to put Canadian history and culture on the plate, debuted at No. 2 in its first year of eligibility.
The New York Times caught the moment. NYT’s writeup of the Eight Calgary debut and the broader Canadian showing across the top 10 reports that the regional list, a subset of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking, covers the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
Canada showed up in force. Half the top 10 are Canadian, with Restaurant Pearl Morissette in Lincoln, Ontario, holding No. 3; Mon Lapin in Montreal at No. 5; Quetzal in Toronto at No. 8; and Tanière3 in Quebec City at No. 9.
The United States held the rest. Dakar NOLA in New Orleans came in at No. 4, Albi in Washington at No. 6, Atomix in New York at No. 7 (dropping from last year’s No. 1 slot), and César in New York at No. 10.
Eater carried the full list. The site’s breakdown of the 36 U.S. restaurants, 14 Canadian restaurants, and the absence of Caribbean entries from this year’s bill notes that last year’s only Caribbean inclusion, Buzo Osteria Italiana in Barbados, did not return to the list.
The special awards spread the recognition further. Wildweed in Cincinnati took the One to Watch award, Atelier Crenn in San Francisco was named Sustainable Restaurant, and Restaurant Pearl Morissette took Art of Hospitality.
The career-tribute awards went to industry institutions. Corey Lee of San Francisco’s Benu received the Chef’s Choice Award, John Jones of Barbados took Champions of Change, and Emeril Lagasse picked up the Icon Award on home turf.
The Best Female Chef title went to a Savannah veteran. Mashama Bailey of The Grey was named North America’s Best Female Chef for 2026.
The Shields’ format is the throughline. Smyth runs on a tasting-menu structure built around close relationships with growers and producers, with the menu evolving with the seasons and the ingredients available on any given day.
The World’s 50 Best announcement is still ahead. The global list will be revealed in November at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi, with last year’s North America showing translating directly: all five North American restaurants on the World’s 50 Best in 2025 also reappeared on the regional list that year.
For Chicago, the recognition is rare air. Smyth’s leap from No. 4 to No. 1 lands the Chicago dining scene on the same map as San Francisco, New York, and Montreal in a way that few non-coastal cities have managed.
