tl;dr – The list was announced on May 28, 2026.
The World’s 50 Best recently announced its 2026 list of the Best Restaurants in North America. In the past, I’ve profiled different versions of the World’s 50 Best of lists – whether it be the best restaurants in the world, the best hotels in the world, or the North America’s best bars. This year’s list features five restaurants that I’ve dined at – three of which are unsurprisingly in New Orleans – Emeril’s, Dakar NOLA (fly by review of Dakar here), and Acamaya.
The other two are Cesar (NYC) and Published on Main (Vancouver).
Some interesting takeaways:
Claiming the top of the list is Chicago’s ‘Smyth’, followed by Calgary’s ‘Eight’.
Canada and the US share the top-10 – each country registers five restaurants.
Buzzy chef Kwame Onwuachi claims two spots – Tatiana in NYC (#39), which put him on the map, and his newer spot in DC – Dōgon (#37).
It’s also interesting to compare this year’s list with last year’s. Lots of newcomers.
You can check out the full 2026 list here.
