Chicago's Smyth named North America's best restaurant for 2026
Chicago’s Smyth jumped from No. 4 to No. 1, as North America’s 50 Best widened beyond the usual coastal centers and crowned 18 new entries.
Chicago moved to the center of North American fine dining on Thursday night, as Smyth was named No. 1 on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel. The result lifted the restaurant from No. 4 on the inaugural 2025 list and pushed a Chicago kitchen past New York City’s Atomix, which had taken the top spot when the ranking debuted in Las Vegas last year.
The second edition of North America’s 50 Best Restaurants stretched across 20 cities, with 36 restaurants from the United States and 14 from Canada. Eighteen new entries joined the list, a sign that the ranking is no longer reading as a contest between a few dominant dining capitals. Instead, it is beginning to map a wider fine-dining geography, one that now includes strong showings from Chicago, Calgary, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Savannah and New York City. The event was presented in partnership with New Orleans & Company and sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.
Smyth is led by John Shields and Karen Urie Shields, who met while working in Chicago’s culinary scene and built the restaurant into one of the country’s most closely watched destinations. 50 Best has described Smyth as a distillation of two decades of experience at the forefront of Chicago dining, and its rise to No. 1 gives the city a new claim in a category that has often been framed by New York and Los Angeles. In this ranking, Chicago did not simply place well. It set the pace.
The rest of the awards reinforced how the region’s judges are weighing excellence beyond a single tasting menu. Eight in Calgary won Highest New Entry, while Albi in Washington, D.C., took Highest Climber. Atelier Crenn in San Francisco earned the Sustainable Restaurant Award. Mashama Bailey of The Grey in Savannah was named North America’s Best Female Chef, Eunji Lee of Lysée in New York City won Best Pastry Chef, Aldo Sohm of Le Bernardin and Aldo Sohm Wine Bar received Best Sommelier, Corey Lee of Benu in San Francisco won the Chefs’ Choice Award, and Emeril Lagasse of Emeril’s in New Orleans received the SevenRooms Icon Award.
Taken together, the 2026 list pointed to a broader shift in American fine dining. The winners showed that judges are rewarding not only prestige and technical ambition, but also regional depth, culinary identity, sustainability, and specialized craft. Smyth’s ascent from No. 4 to No. 1 made that shift impossible to miss.
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