Smyth in Chicago was named No. 1 among the top 50 restaurants in North America on Thursday night, according to the 50 Best organization, and a surprise new entry at No. 2 was Eight, an eight-seat, 20-course speakeasy in Calgary, Alberta, that attempts to put all of Canadian history and culture on its plates.
A subset of the popular and powerful World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the North America list covers the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Mexico falls under the list of Latin America’s 50 best restaurants.
Overall, Canada continued to overperform on the list, occupying 14 spots, including five of the top 10.
In 2025, the first year the awards were given out, two restaurants in the Caribbean were included; this year, there were none. The new list tilts further toward the kind of tiny, tasting-menu-only restaurants where the cost of a meal often reaches $500 per person.
New York City was a notable winner, with five new additions to the list: Gramercy Tavern, Torrisi, Semma, Tatiana and Kabawa. Eunji Lee of Lysée won the award for best pastry chef, and the veteran Aldo Sohm of Le Bernardin was named best sommelier. But Atomix, last year’s No. 1, dropped to No. 7, and popular spots like Via Carota and the Four Horsemen fell off.
The ceremony announcing the 2026 World’s 50 Best Restaurants will be held in November in Abu Dhabi, a decision that prompted criticism from some chefs who criticized the human rights record in the United Arab Emirates, even as the restaurant industry is under pressure to make its workplaces more humane, democratic and diverse.
The North American list is compiled according to entries submitted by 300 voters, all of them “independent culinary experts” divided among eight regions. Unlike inspectors for the Michelin Guide, who dine anonymously and pay for their meals, many of the 50 Best voters are food writers, influencers and chefs. They are not supposed to identify themselves as voters, but are allowed to accept free meals and travel.
According to the organization, the voters have no formal system for evaluating restaurants — “given no criteria whatsoever, they are simply asked to name their eight best restaurant experiences” during the previous year.
Here is the 2026 list in full (asterisks denote restaurants new to the list this year):
50. *Diane’s Place, Minneapolis
49. Kato, Los Angeles
48. *The Pine, Collingwood, Ontario
47. *Wild Blue, Whistler, British Columbia
46. *Somni, Los Angeles
45. *Sons & Daughters, San Francisco
44. Atelier Crenn, San Francisco
43. *Gramercy Tavern, New York City
42. *Pascual, Washington, the district
41. *Semma, New York City
40. *Friday Saturday Sunday, Philadelphia
39. *Tatiana, New York City
38. *Torrisi, New York City
37. Dōgon, Washington, D.C.
36. Corima, New York City
35. *AnnaLena, Vancouver, British Columbia
34. *Sabayon, Montreal
33. Benu, San Francisco
32. Providence, Los Angeles
31. *Addison, San Diego
30. *Acamaya, New Orleans
29. *Avize, Atlanta
28. Mhel, Toronto
27. Beba, Montreal
26. Holbox, Los Angeles
25. *Edulis, Toronto
24. Moon Rabbit, Washington, D.C.
23. Aska, New York City
22. Saison, San Francisco
21. Chubby Fish, Charleston, S.C.
20. Emeril’s, New Orleans
19. Penny, New York City
18. Jungsik, New York City
17. Published on Main, Vancouver, British Columbia
16. SingleThread, Healdsburg, Calif. (Best in West)
15. Le Violon, Montreal
14. *Kabawa, New York City
13. Le Bernardin, New York City
12. Le Veau d’Or, New York City
11. Kalaya, Philadelphia
10. César, New York City
9. La Tanière3, Quebec City
8. Quetzal, Toronto
7. Atomix, New York City
6. Albi, Washington D.C.
5. Mon Lapin, Montreal
4. Dakar NOLA, New Orleans
3. Restaurant Pearl Morissette, Lincoln, Ontario
2. *Eight, Calgary, Alberta
1. Smyth, Chicago