Smyth in Chicago is The Best Restaurant in North America for 2026. Per the list revealed live in New Orleans on May 29, 2026, the tasting-menu room of chefs John Shields and Karen Urie Shields took the top spot, while EIGHT of Calgary, Alberta — debuting at No. 2 — became the list's highest new entry. Fourteen of the 50 restaurants are Canadian, 36 American, per the published list.
What were the night's other markers?
Mashama Bailey, the chef behind The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, was named North America's Best Female Chef for 2026, and Wildweed took the One To Watch Award, per the organization's announcements. The ceremony returned to New Orleans — a city whose own dining culture, from the Creole grand dames to the new-guard Bywater kitchens, sits well inside the list's upper tiers.
How should a food traveler read this list?
As a demand forecast more than a checklist. The academy-voted rankings reliably drive booking pressure: the top ten — Smyth included — will see reservation windows compress through summer, and a June announcement means autumn tables in those rooms are effectively a plan-ahead purchase. The Canadian strength is the news with itinerary consequences: with 14 restaurants on the list and Calgary's EIGHT at No. 2, a western-Canada route now pairs Vancouver's Asian-inflected dining rooms with a Calgary fine-dining anchor that did not register with traveling diners five years ago.
Related stories: Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2026: Gaggan Tops the List in Hong Kong · Evvai and Tuju Become Latin America's First Three-Star Michelin Restaurants.
Which cities performed best?
The usual deep benches held: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and the San Francisco Bay Area populate the middle and upper list, while Savannah, Asheville-class smaller cities, and the Pacific Northwest hold single entries that reward detours. The list's coverage spans the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean-and-Mexico tier, though Mexico's entries concentrate in Mexico City.
What is the caveat?
North America's 50 Best is compiled from the votes of an academy of chefs, food writers, and traveling gourmets, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna — an opinion snapshot with real booking consequences but no inspection methodology behind it. Read it alongside Michelin's city guides, and treat the list's per-city clustering as a sign of density rather than a ranking of cities themselves. The global World's 50 Best list publishes later in 2026, when the North American entries will be recontextualized on the world stage.