2026 North America's 50 Best Restaurants

Smyth is John Shields and Karen Urie Shields' restaurant in Chicago's West Loop.

EIGHT is Calgary's most serious tasting-menu counter: eight stools, one seating per night, four nights a week, with Chef Darren MacLean cooking through Canada's multicultural identity; Indigenous, Korean, Chinese, South Asian, French. The format and the cooking both earn the occasion. Book well ahead; availability is the only real obstacle.

Restaurant Pearl Morissette is a destination restaurant in Jordan Station, Ontario.

Dakar NOLA is the hardest reservation in New Orleans right now; and the most decorated, with the 2024 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant and a Michelin Plate (2025). The eight-course tasting menu maps Senegalese coastal cuisine onto South Louisiana cooking with genuine authority. Less formal than its award tier suggests, more ambitious than its Magazine Street address implies.

Mon Lapin is a restaurant on Rue Saint-Zotique Est in Montréal.

Albi is a restaurant on Fourth Street SE in Washington, D.C.

Atomix is a Korean tasting-menu restaurant in New York City.

Quetzal is Toronto's most technically serious Mexican restaurant, built around an eight-metre open fire pit and in-house nixtamalised tortillas. La Liste ranked it globally in 2026 (76 points) and Opinionated About Dining has recommended it three consecutive years. Book Wednesday through Sunday from 6 PM; the tasting menu is the right call for a first visit or celebration dinner.

Tanière³ is a restaurant in Old Québec City.

César is a restaurant on Hudson Street in New York City.

Kalaya is the clearest yes in Philadelphia for Southern Thai cooking that operates with real ambition. Chef-owner Nok Suntaranon's Fishtown restaurant is Michelin-recognised, built around house-made pastes and authentic heat, more bookable than its reputation suggests. The bar seats work well for solo diners and walk-ins. Go hungry and stay for the shaved-ice desserts.

Le Veau d'Or is a French restaurant on East 60th Street in New York City.

Le Bernardin is a seafood restaurant in Midtown Manhattan.

Kabawa is Paul Carmichael and Momofuku's Caribbean restaurant in New York City.

Le Violon holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and, making it one of Montreal's most credible $$$ openings in recent years. Co-chefs Danny Smiles and Mitch Laughren run a seasonal, produce-led menu in a well-designed Plateau Mont-Royal room. Book 2-3 weeks out; the soft-serve sundae is non-negotiable.

SingleThread is a restaurant in Healdsburg, California.

Published on Main is a restaurant on Main Street in Vancouver.

Jungsik New York is a restaurant on Harrison Street in New York City.

Penny is a restaurant on East 10th Street in New York City's East Village.

Emeril's is Emeril Lagasse's flagship restaurant in New Orleans' Warehouse District, serving a refined approach to Louisiana cooking.

Chubby Fish doesn't take reservations and seats just 40 people, but seven years of lines around the block on Coming Street tell you everything about the cooking. James London's daily-catch seafood menu; built around direct relationships with local fisherpeople and recognised on Resy's 2025 Hit List; makes the wait worthwhile. Arrive by 4 p.m., add your name to the list, wait next door.

Saison is a restaurant at 178 Townsend Street in San Francisco.

Aska is a restaurant on South Fifth Street in Brooklyn, New York.

Chef Kevin Tien's modern Vietnamese restaurant on F St NW is one of Washington D.C.'s most decorated at the $$$ price tier; Michelin Plate, World's 50 Best North America No. 17 (2025), and a Michelin-awarded cocktail programme. Book well in advance: tables are near-impossible to secure. The Vietnamese-Cajun cooking, anchored by dishes like the mochi beignet and fried quail with duck sausage, gives it a profile no direct peer in the city matches.

Edulis is a restaurant on Niagara Street in Toronto.

Holbox is a casual Mexican seafood counter inside Mercado La Paloma in Los Angeles.

Beba is the right call for a special occasion dinner in Montreal if Argentine-Jewish cooking sounds more interesting to you than another French bistro. With a 2025 Michelin Plate, only 28 seats in a convivial Verdun dining room, it books out fast. Plan two to three weeks ahead and consider the tasting menu on your first visit.

Mhel is a 32-seat Korean-Japanese small plates room in Bloorcourt from ex-Pompette chef Young Hoon Ji and Seung-min Yi, built around Ontario-sourced fish, personal kimchi recipes, a sake-dominant drink list. It is easier to book than its quality warrants. The 12-seat counter is the seat to request; best for two to four diners who want to eat well without formality or a four-figure bill.

Avize earned a Michelin Plate in its first year (2025) by fusing Southern ingredients with Alpine European precision in Atlanta's West Midtown. The creative, tweezer-food menu; fermented carrot Bolognese, lemon pepper frog's legs, trout crudo; rewards curious diners willing to engage with an unconventional concept. Booking is currently easy; that window will close as the restaurant's profile grows.

Acamaya is a Michelin Bib Gourmand Mexican seafood restaurant in New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood, named to Esquire's Best New Restaurants list in 2024. Chef Ana Castro's cooking bridges Gulf Coast ingredients and Mexico City technique with unusual precision. It's easy to book relative to its reputation, which makes it one of the stronger value decisions on a New Orleans restaurant itinerary.

Addison serves William Bradley's California gastronomy in San Diego.

Providence is a seafood-focused restaurant in Los Angeles.

Benu is a San Francisco restaurant serving a fixed menu each evening.

A 14-seat tasting counter in Montreal's Saint-Henri neighbourhood, Sabayon earned a Michelin star in 2025 under chef Federico Michieletto. The wine program spans 1,150 bottles across Bordeaux, Burgundy, Italy, Australia, California, with three sommeliers guiding a list that prices at moderate markup. Two sittings serve lunch and dinner, with a weekend afternoon tea format.

AnnaLena holds a Michelin star and a decade of consistent ambition in Kitsilano, making it Vancouver's clearest argument for the seasonal tasting menu format. The continuously rotating menu and a wine program led by sommelier Reverie Beall separate it from peers at the same price point. Book three to four weeks ahead minimum; demand is real and growing.

Corima is a restaurant on Allen Street in New York City.

Dōgon is a restaurant at Salamander Washington DC on Maryland Avenue.

Torrisi is a restaurant on Mulberry Street in New York City.

Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi is a restaurant at Lincoln Center in New York City.

<p>Chef Chad Williams' Franco-African tasting menu in a Rittenhouse townhouse, winner of the 2023 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant. Reservations open thirty days out and disappear fast; the ground-floor Lovers Bar offers a first-come, first-served alternative with à la carte dining and one of Philadelphia's best cocktail programs. Expect eight courses built on French technique and African diaspora ingredients, served in a 30-seat dining room that feels like a dinner party.</p>

Semma is a South Indian restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village.

Pascual is the strongest case for contemporary Mexican cooking in Washington, D.C., with a Michelin Plate, an OAD Casual North America nod, a sharing-plate format anchored by the lamb neck barbacoa. At $$$, it delivers ambition that usually costs more. Book three to four weeks out; this one fills fast.

Gramercy Tavern is Danny Meyer's restaurant in New York's Flatiron District, serving seasonal American cuisine.

Atelier Crenn is Dominique Crenn's modern French restaurant in San Francisco.

Sons & Daughters is a restaurant on 18th Street in San Francisco.

Somni is a restaurant on Nemo Street in West Hollywood, California.

Wild Blue is Whistler's most technically ambitious dinner, backed by chef Alex Chen and the Toptable Group, with a White Star-recognised wine list and a kitchen focused on Pacific Northwest produce. Book ahead; it fills most nights. For food-forward diners who want more than a reliable resort meal, this is the top table in the village.

A Michelin-starred (2024) contemporary Chinese tasting menu in a 24-seat converted garage in Creemore, Ontario. Chef Jeremy Austin's 14- to 18-course format draws on Hong Kong and mainland China experience with strictly local ingredients. At $$$$ with four nights of service per week, book four to six weeks out minimum. One of Ontario's most purposeful fine dining destinations outside Toronto.

Kato is a restaurant in Los Angeles' Arts District.

Diane Moua's Northeast Minneapolis restaurant, open since April 2024, is the most compelling new Hmong restaurant in the city. The coconut-pandan croissants and pan-fried bean thread noodles alone justify a visit, but the full menu; rooted in Hmong home cooking and executed with a pastry chef's precision; makes it worth coming back. Booking is easy now. Go before that changes.