Discover the restaurants ranked 1-50 in the second edition of the regional list.
No.50 Diane's Place – NEW ENTRY
Minneapolis
Located within Minneapolis' Food Building – one of the city's most exciting gastronomic hubs – Diane's Place is the first solo venture from Diane Moua, a highly regarded pastry chef. Yet there's far more than exceptional baking on offer here (tempting though the pastry counter may be): this much-talked-about restaurant is a refined, quietly ambitious dining destination where traditional Hmong flavours are reimagined through a contemporary lens.
No.49 Kato
Los Angeles
Image: Colleen O'Brien
Kato's 10-course tasting menu combines elements of chef Jon Yao's Taiwanese heritage with his upbringing in southern California's San Gabriel Valley. Expect new interpretations of seemingly familiar dishes, such as beef noodle soup or basil and clams stir-fry made with sablefish, imaginatively presented and backed by precise culinary technique.
No.48 The Pine – NEW ENTRY
Collingwood
The Pine is a little restaurant that knows how to tell a tall tale or two. The passion project of husband-and-wife team Jeremy and Cassie Austin – the former handling the duties of head chef, the latter those of general manager – it's a restaurant that charts the couple's travels around China, each dish a poignant portrayal of a memory of a place. Although inspiration may come from far-flung points, the ingredients are all as locally sourced as possible, with much of the fresh produce delivered straight from the family's farm.
No.47 Wild Blue – NEW ENTRY
Whistler
Image: Leila Kwok
A triple-threat collaboration between veteran restaurateur Jack Evrensel, hospitality expert Neil Henderson and Alex Chen, winner of the inaugural Iron Chef Canada competition, Wild Blue has become one of Whistler's most acclaimed fine-dining destinations since it opened its doors in 2022. A must-visit for outdoor-enthusiast tourists and locals alike, it serves a menu centred around seasonal, sustainable Pacific Northwest fare – in particular, sparklingly fresh seafood.
No.46 Somni – NEW ENTRY
Los Angeles
Image: Christina Gandolfo
From the whimsical giraffe sculpture that greets guests on arrival to the restaurant's cocoon-like secret courtyard – dimly lit, lined with trees and flecked with floating, cloud-like artworks – LA's Somni is built on a sense of the unexpected and slightly surreal. Inside, a palette of soft whites and glossy surfaces add to the trance-like ambience, while the curved counter, which seats just 14 people, offers up-close views of the chefs' culinary sorcery. As each dish is served, a wall-mounted rainbow bull's head, a subtle Spanish motif salvaged from the original location, watches over proceedings.
No.45 Sons & Daughters – NEW ENTRY
San Francisco
Image: Jesse Cudworth
Opened as a monument to New American gastronomy in 2010, Sons & Daughters gained a Michelin star under Teague Moriarty in 2012 – and 12 years later, with British chef Harrison Cheney at the helm, it secured its second. Now a temple of New Nordic cooking, this fine-dining destination is proof that the Scandi ideals of hyper-seasonal ingredients, preservation techniques and minimalist aesthetics can stand out in a place as sun-soaked and abundant as San Francisco.
No.44 Atelier Crenn
San Francisco
'Atelier' – meaning an artist's workshop or studio – is an apt way to describe decorated chef and activist Dominique Crenn's self-titled restaurant. Based on the concept of 'Poetic Culinaria', an eight-table space adorned with family photos and her father's artwork envelops guests as they experience an artistic menu, presented in the form of a poem written by Crenn, before ample tableside theatrics begin.
No.43 Gramercy Tavern – NEW ENTRY
New York
Opened in 1994 by restaurateur Danny Meyer, Gramercy Tavern has stockpiled so many awards and accolades over the last 30-plus years that almost everyone has heard about its coveted Dining Room's prix-fixe menu, overseen by executive chef Michael Anthony. But perhaps not so many have heard about its equally exquisite a la carte menu, – also guided by Anthony,, and served in the more casual Tavern area. Together, these two distinct spaces form a restaurant of two halves, each delivering refined American cuisine to the same exacting standard.
No.42 Pascual – NEW ENTRY
Washington DC
Image: Deb Lindsey
The brainchild of Matt Conroy and Mexico City–born Isabel Coss, the trailblazing duo who brought you French neo-bistro Lutèce, Pascual is a hearth-focused Mexican restaurant with exacting standards: each of its flame-licked dishes is prepared with obsessive attention to detail, cutting-edge technique and a sense of storytelling and the sentimental. The name? A fitting tribute to San Pasqual, the patron saint of cooks and kitchens.
No.41 Semma – NEW ENTRY
New York
Image: Paul MacDonough
Semma is part of the Unapologetic Foods group (the team behind acclaimed restaurants Adda and Dhamaka) – and it's clear this is a place that takes the 'unapologetic' formula seriously. A haven of hyper-regional south Indian cuisine (particularly from chef Vijay Kumar's native Tamil Nadu), this sought-after spot doesn't tailor its bold, spicy dishes to meet US expectations; instead, it makes stars of lesser-known ingredients and traditional techniques rarely seen in this corner of the world.
No.40 Friday Saturday Sunday
Philadelphia
Image: Jason Varney
In an intimate, checkerboard-floored dining room with stained glass windows and mustard velvet banquettes, chef Chad Williams pours his resume and heritage into a thoughtful, lively, eight-course tasting menu. Here, classic French technique (Williams' sauce-work especially impresses) is recontextualised with coconut, plantain and other ingredients and ideas from the African diaspora. But Williams isn't in this alone. His wife and business partner, Hanna Williams, is a Philly front-of-house veteran leading the team providing the natural and engaging service that makes Friday Saturday Sunday so loved.
No.39 Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi – NEW ENTRY
New York
Image: Alex Staniloff
Kwame Onwuachi grew up surrounded by food. His Jamaican mother, a chef, introduced him early to the tastes of the Caribbean, while time spent with family in Nigeria rooted him in the rituals of traditional home cooking. Back in the Bronx, a mix of influences – from Italian restaurants to Chinese takeaways – further shaped his palate. At Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi, named for his beloved older sister, he draws on all these eclectic influences to create a menu that serves as a heartfelt tribute to his youth.
No.38 Torrisi – NEW ENTRY
New York
Torrisi may officially be an Italian restaurant – but it's simultaneously as New York as can be, drawing inspiration from the city's abundance of red-sauce joints, Jewish delis, Chinatown restaurants and West Indian patty shops to create a menu that could only possibly make sense in the Big Apple. A tangle of apparent contradictions, it's playful yet precise, traditional yet modern, showy yet stylish; so it's no surprise that it has food lovers clamouring to come and judge it for themselves.
No.37 Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi
Washington DC
Image: Star Chefs
Dōgon, opened by chef Kwame Onwuachi in 2024 along DC's Southwest waterfront, showcases and honours bold cuisine that pulls from his Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian and Creole roots. Dishes focus on contemporary cuisine from the African diaspora; every dish layered with vibrant herbs and spices. Expect the likes of chargrilled oysters, hoe crab and a bowl of crispy lamb, tamarind glaze and chickpea curry, or berbere-laced chicken and rice.
No.36 Corima
New York
Fidel Caballero opened Corima in 2024 – its name meaning 'circle of sharing' in northern Mexican culture. The intimate restaurant honours Caballero's heritage through a modern lens, drawing on inspiration from the Chihuahuan desert and the culinary traditions of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, with nods to Asia and Europe. The menu showcases northern Mexican ingredients and techniques, reimagined with precision and creativity.
No.35 AnnaLena – NEW ENTRY
Vancouver
Image: Allison Kuhl
A Kitsilano stalwart since 2015, AnnaLena's interiors may have had a dusky makeover over the past year or so, but you can still depend on it to deliver the same contemporary Canadian cooking and special-occasion spirit as ever. Headed up by owner and executive chef Mike Robbins (and named after his two grandmothers), the informal fine-dining spot oozes warmth, whimsy and a sense of comforting nostalgia, from the narrative-driven plates it serves to the Lego Star Wars figurines strewn about the shelves.
No.34 Sabayon – NEW ENTRY
Montreal
Sabayon may be one of Canada's most acclaimed restaurants, but that doesn't mean dining here is a grand, fussy affair. In fact, with pastry chef extraordinaire Patrice Demers and sommelier Marie-Josée Beaudoin at the helm, it's more like spending an epicurean evening at your favourite couple's house. He cooks, she provides the drinks, and both take on the role of host, ensuring their guests – just 14 at a time – are looked after with a level of warmth and attentiveness that feels deeply personal.
No.33 Benu
San Francisco
Benu, helmed by Korean-American chef Corey Lee, shows off his fusion-based cooking approach, where innovation and bold flavours are met with restraint. The ever-evolving tasting menus are centred around San Francisco and its rich cosmopolitanism, featuring dishes like Lee's iconic faux shark's fin soup.
No.32 Providence
Los Angeles
Sustainably sourced American seafood is the main draw at chef and co-owner Michael Cimarusti's luxe LA restaurant. At the iconic Cali spot, diners can expect a multi-course voyage starting with bites of caviar and sashimi, cruising through clever interpretations of comfort food classics such as scallop with cauliflower and scallop XO, drifting by a catch of the day perhaps dressed with chanterelle and pickled burdock and docking at desserts, some of which feature house-processed Hawaiian cacao.
No.31 Addison by William Bradley – NEW ENTRY
San Diego
Image: Eric Wolfing
William Bradley has held the position of chef-director of Addison by William Bradley since its inception in 2006, shaping a menu built entirely around his culinary philosophy of 'California Gastronomy': an approach emphasising seasonality, precision, global techniques and locally sourced ingredients. Each dish is carefully conceived to reflect California's unique climate, cultural diversity and coastal proximity, resulting in a style of cooking that feels firmly rooted in place – and quite unlike anything found elsewhere.
No.30 Acamaya – NEW ENTRY
New Orleans
Image: Denny Culbert
A love letter to Mexican mariscos – vibrant hot and cold seafood – Acamaya is the vision of sisters Lydia and Ana Castro, the latter of whom first made her mark as head chef of Lengua Madre, the now-closed New Orleans restaurant famed for its inventive modern Mexican tasting menus. Opened in 2024, the venture treats Mexican takes on the Gulf's bounty with the same sense of reverence as New Orleans' own storied seafood traditions, carving out a distinctive place within the city's dining scene.
No.29 Avize – NEW ENTRY
Atlanta
The name offers something of a hint as to what this much-lauded restaurant is all about; 'aviser' is an Old French word that translates poetically as 'to take notice'. However, it's not just French cuisine that's prepared with great attention to detail here – an eclectic array of Alpine-inspired Italian, Swiss, Austrian and German dishes are also executed with precision and flair, overseen by chef Karl Gorline. The menu is a showcase of hyper-seasonal, farm-to-table cooking, each dish the product of European imagination, meticulous technique and Southern ingredients.
No.28 Mhel
Toronto
Image: Kue Shioyaki
Mhel, meaning anchovy – a key ingredient in Korean and Japanese cuisines – is the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Young Hoon Ji and Seung-min Yi. The Japanese izakaya-cum-Korean bar serves small plates using seasonal produce on ceramic dishware from Korea and Japan, as well as sake-dominant drink list that's peppered with refreshing sparkling tea alternatives.
No.27 Beba
Montreal
In 2019, brothers Ari and Pablo Schor opened their restaurant as a tribute to their grandmother Vera, who the family lovingly knew as 'Beba'. Tucked into a residential corner of Verdun, diners won't find artifice or overcomplication here. Chef Schor's deeply personal cooking champions traditional preparations inspired by his Argentine-Jewish heritage.
No.26 Holbox
Los Angeles
Image: Frank Won Ho
Set in a bustling market, diners at Holbox may find themselves sharing communal tables with visitors to other vendors at this vibrant cultural hub. The informal restaurant's dishes conjure chef Gilbert Cetina's oceanic summer adventures in his native Yucatán Peninsula with zippy, clean flavours and well-considered heat. Naturally, the tacos, tostadas, ceviches and aguachiles found here are all prepared with conscientiously sourced fish and seafood.
No.25 Edulis – NEW ENTRY
Toronto
Run by husband-and-wife, chefs-owners team Michael Caballo (who oversees operations and guest experience) and Tobey Nemeth (who leads the kitchen), Edulis is a restaurant centred around seasonality, simplicity and genuine hospitality. Its tasting menu changes regularly – so regularly, in fact, that it's not even printed – to highlight the freshest local vegetables, seafood and wild-foraged ingredients, all prepared without gimmicks to allow natural flavours to shine.
No.24 Moon Rabbit
Washington DC
Chef-owner Kevin Tien's modern Vietnamese cuisine centres on seasonal ingredients prepared with precision, taking diners on a culinary journey from land to sea. Highlights include the mochi beignet and a dish made with Szechuan-spiced snapper, pepper, plantain, herbed freekeh and charred caulilini. Desserts also shine, notably the green curry sponge cake with avocado sorbet, soursop mousse, fish sauce caramel and finger lime.
No.23 Aska
New York
Images: TomvCorremans
Diners at chef Fredrik Berselius' Aska, which means 'ashes' in Swedish, can feast on a procession of 12-14 dishes, each expressing the rhythms of Northeastern US seasonality and Scandinavian terroir. Signature dishes at the modest Williamsburg spot include sea oak with blue mussel emulsion, grilled langoustine with red gooseberry and live scallop with white turnip and blackcurrant leaf.
No.22 Saison
San Francisco
Image: Adalhia Cole
Opened in 2009 under founding chef Joshua Skenes, Saison was an early pioneer of upscale open-hearth cooking and elements like sauces made with bones and livers of animals. Now, under chef Richard Lee, it showcases northern California's superb ingredients, farmers, ranchers and fishers, weaving in Lee's Chinese heritage and a vivid East-meets-West ethos on seasonal menus that heavily employ open-cooking in front of diners.
No.21 Chubby Fish
Charleston
This no-reservation spot is the toast of Charleston. The Chubby Fish kitchen coordinates with fishers to get the best, freshest catch every day. The menu changes as a result, but expect an assortment of raw bar, oysters and dishes such as triggerfish tempura or braised grouper. The beverage selection is thoughtful, designed to pair perfectly with the exemplary seafood on offer.
No.20 Emeril's
New Orleans
Originally opened by chef Emeril Lagasse in 1990, this Warehouse District restaurant is now helmed by his son, EJ. EJ's menu celebrates the best of Louisiana produce and Southern culinary tradition while also embracing more forward-looking dishes like the po' boy, lobster gumbo, oyster stew and beignets forming a distinctly contemporary Louisiana menu.
No.19 Penny
New York
Image: Colin Clark
Penny's menu is a love letter to seafood, with the bar seating giving diners a front-row seat to some of the freshest produce in town – oysters, clams and mussels escabeche, or specials like stuffed squid with Sswiss chard and tuna in a harissa-like sauce, and dover sole finished with bone marrow. Meanwhile, the 6,000-bottle wine list is enough to keep any oenophile happy. While Penny's seafood spans both coasts and beyond, the ethos is rooted in seasonality and responsible sourcing, with many items arriving daily from small-scale purveyors.
No.18 Jungsik
New York
While New York – and America in general – is currently experiencing a boom in haute Korean cookery, chef Jung Sik Yim's Jungsik was the first, more than a decade ago, to introduce the style. Diners here can expect classic Korean ingredients and flavours – kimchi, fermented vegetables, and seafood – with artful plating, French technique-based sauce-making and pristine ingredients.
No.17 Published on Main
Vancouver
Image: Sarah Annand
Foraged ingredients are pivotal to the menu at this upscale spot by chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson; nettles, spruce tips and chanterelles – all cherished in Western Canada – are part of the experience, depending on the season. From openers like the Foie Gras NRG bar made with strawberry, rose and cashew, to the intriguing Too Many Plums dessert with plum kernel and sumac kombucha, and the fun Birch, Please! cocktail made with Japanese whisky, bitter vermouth, riesling, birch sap and spruce cherry, there's a real playfulness across the menu.
No.16 SingleThread
Healdsburg
The Best Restaurant in West USA 2026
Led by husband-and-wife team Kyle and Katina Connaughton – a chef and farmer respectively – SingleThread's Japanese-influenced, super-sustainable cooking has garnered it widespread attention. Both the exquisite tasting menu of kaiseki-style dining and the restaurant's five-bedroom boutique hotel operate based on the concept of omotenashi, namely going above and beyond to anticipate guests' needs.
No.15 Le Violon
Montreal
Image: Alex Lesage
Co-chefs Danny Smiles and Mitch Laughren, along with chef de cuisine Sara Raspa, are the talent at acclaimed restaurant Le Violon, with Smiles the best known of the bunch. Smiles' heritage is Italian and Egyptian, and while there are traces of the latter, it's the former that dominates the menu. Start with beef battuta, porcini aioli and champignon de Paris; continue with agnolotti del plin a la Milanese; and round things off with the photo-ready lemon and pistachio baked Alaska.
No.14 Kabawa – NEW ENTRY
New York
Kabawa may only have been around since 2025, but it's fast become one of New York's most talked-about restaurants. A circus of joyful Caribbean cuisine, it's a collaboration between Momofuku and Paul Carmichael, a Barbados-born chef known for crafting deeply personal, nostalgic dishes inspired by his upbringing, with bold spices, slow cooking and a sense of community around the table.
No.13 Le Bernardin
New York
Image: Daniel Krieger
Eric Ripert's New York stalwart offers a four-course dinner menu split into four sections – almost raw, barely touched, lightly cooked and 'upon request' – with dishes marrying French and global influences, especially those from Asia. Think warm scallop and uni with a seaweed-lemon marinière broth; or baked striped bass with braised daikon, pickled hon-shimeji and madeira-chestnut jus. There is also a popular vegetarian tasting menu, but those looking for the most complete experience should opt for the chef's menu, featuring the classics and Ripert's personal favourites.
No.12 Le Veau d'Or
New York
Established in 1937, chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette revamped this Manhattan institution in 2024. Honouring the restaurant's heritage with a contemporary touch, the duo brings precision and a modern sensibility to traditional French fare. Refined classics like pâté en croûte, golden-roasted poulet à l'estragon and apple tart are accompanied by a bold all-natural wine list curated by acclaimed wine director Jorge Riera.
No.11 Kalaya
Philadelphia
Kalaya's bold, exciting Thai cuisine, helmed by the luminous Chutatip 'Nok' Suntaranon, has made waves across North America since its opening in 2019. Periwinkle-blue, butterfly-pea dumplings, regal tom yum soup and other electric interpretations of traditional Thai recipes are stand-outs here, where the raison d'etre is to free the cuisine from the cheap ingredients and takeaway boxes.
No.10 César
New York
Born in a small town in Mexico City and raised in Chicago, chef César Ramirez draws, in part, on his culinary childhood memories and his great-grandmother's Spanish heritage for his seafood-focused menu. Coupled with French inflections from his travels in Europe, and a passion for Japanese precision and ingredients from trips to the country during his time at New York's Bouley, César has a truly international flavour.
No.9 Tanière3
Quebec City
Image: Audrey-Eve Beauchamp
Tanière3 celebrates Quebec's rich culinary heritage with a hyper-seasonal, terroir-driven tasting menu of 12-to-18 courses. From field, forest and estuary, each dish showcases the province's natural bounty. Beyond the plate, it's the hours-long, immersive journey which transforms the dining experience into a multi-sensory adventure. First, a personal code is used to enter the restaurant's unmarked entrance. Then, the evening progresses through a series of captivating spaces.
No.8 Quetzal
Toronto
Opened in 2018 and reimagined by chef Steven Molnar in 2019, Quetzal has earned acclaim for its upscale regional Mexican cuisine prepared with Canadian ingredients cooked over a custom-made, eight-metre-long indoor fire pit. But Quetzal offers more than refined plates, it boasts an ambitious bar programme, spotlighting mezcal and tequila in imaginative cocktails along with thoughtful non-alcoholic options of reimagined Mexican classics.
No.7 Atomix
New York
Led by Junghyun 'JP' and Ellia Park, this compact New York restaurant sees no detail left untended. Food, drinks and design are combined at such an elevated level as to forge a new narrative for Korean cuisine across the globe. Diners can expect a well-paced 12-course tasting menu, featuring world-class flavour and texture combinations. Each dish is served in beautiful bespoke ceramics accompanied by an explanatory card providing accessible information on the ingredients, origin and inspiration.
No.6 Albi
Washington DC
The Best Restaurant in Northeast USA 2026
Highest Climber Award 2026, sponsored by Lee Kum Kee
Image: Rey Lopez
Chef-owner Michael Rafidi opened Albi in 2020 with a live-fire, wood-burning hearth as its centrepiece. The restaurant, located in DC's Navy Yard neighbourhood, offers Rafidi's alternate take on traditional Palestinian cuisine using modern techniques through a five-course tasting menu. Every dish is evocative of his grandparents' ancestry in Ramallah, Palestine and their home cooking. The hearth isn't just for show – it's a functioning fire that touches almost every dish before it hits the plate.
No.5 Mon Lapin
Montreal
The Best Restaurant in East Canada 2026
Mon Lapin is the epitome of the casual-on-the-outside, brilliant-on-the-inside dining Montreal is famous for. Chef Marc-Olivier Frappier and sommelier Vanya Filipovic are a husband-and-wife team that understands the collaborative power that food and wine can have. Working alongside them is co-chef Jessica Noël, who joined forces with Frappier to put forward the creatively prepared daily-changing small plates the restaurant is known for.
No.4 Dakar NOLA
New Orleans
The Best Restaurant in South USA 2026
Image: Jeremy Tauriac
You'll find buzzy chatter coming from the communal tables throughout the intimate and brilliant Dakar NOLA, a tasting menu restaurant inspired by the coastal cuisines of Senegal and South Louisiana. As dinner service begins, co-owner Afua 'Effie' Richardson is generally seen greeting guests with a smile, laying a foundation of comfort extended by excellent service staff. Richardson handles front-of-house, while chef Serigne Mbaye leads a stellar kitchen through seven progressive courses, delivered to each table with care that feels familial.
No.3 Restaurant Pearl Morissette
Lincoln
Art of Hospitality Award 2026
The Best Restaurant in Central Canada 2026 
Image: Alex Creglia
Opened in November 2017 by chef-owners Daniel Hadida and Eric Robertson, Restaurant Pearl Morissette is renowned for the thoughtfully crafted, French-inspired farmhouse cuisine it serves. Located in a prized wine region, the dining room is perched on the second floor above Pearl Morissette Estate Winery and offers sweeping views of the property's large regenerative farm, peach orchard and expansive vegetable, herb and flower gardens, where much of the produce on the menu is sourced.
No.2 Eight
Calgary
The Best Restaurant in West Canada 2026
Highest New Entry Award 2026
Hidden away behind a discreet door in the lobby of the Alt Hotel East Village, Eight is scintillatingly speakeasy-like in its exclusivity. Helmed by Darren MacLean, one of the country's most influential culinary figures, this tiny restaurant offers a chef's table experience like no other. Cooking, storytelling and impeccable service come together in one theatrical performance, designed – as the name suggests – for just eight lucky people a night.
No.1 Smyth
Chicago
The Best Restaurant in North America 2026, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna
The Best Restaurant in Midwest USA 2026
Smyth is all about partnership: of the couple at the helm (Karen Urie Shields on pastry and John Shields on savoury), but also between ingredients, instinct and technique. The warm bittersweet chocolate and maitake mushroom tart is a frequently commented on example, something diners feel surprised to find they love. But it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Shields really know what they're doing.
The Shields partner with farms across the US, ensuring the highest quality ingredients land on diners' plates. Marrying both consistency and creativity, dishes on the multi-course tasting menu are rooted seasonality and the flavours of the Midwest, with intriguing pairings and unique takes on ingredients all part of the experience.Expect the unexpected at The Best Restaurant in North America, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.
Discover more about the 1-50 list of North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna and all the special awards.
