Smyth
“Chicago's only three stars and North America's number one restaurant of 2026. The $420 tasting is the strongest booking in the city.”
About Smyth
John Shields and Karen Urie Shields met in the kitchen at Charlie Trotter's, spent years cooking in rural Virginia, and returned to Chicago in 2016 to open Smyth in a West Loop loft. In November 2023 Michelin gave them the third star inspectors had circled for years; in November 2025, when Alinea dropped to two, Smyth became the only three star restaurant in Chicago. Then in May 2026 North America's 50 Best ranked it the number one restaurant on the continent. No American kitchen holds a stronger current hand.
The cooking is farm literate without costume drama. Produce arrives from a dedicated partner farm south of the city and from the couple's own garden, and it gets treated with a jeweler's patience: a doughnut of trout belly with kumquat, caviar set against green walnut, a bittersweet chocolate and maitake tart that reads like a dare and eats like a classic. The egg yolk aged in salted licorice remains the most argued about dessert in Chicago, which is exactly what a signature should be.
The tasting runs $420 before drinks, booked prepaid on Tock, and the room holds few enough seats that prime dates vanish quickly. What the money buys is a kitchen at its absolute peak: the third star won in 2023 and retained through two subsequent guides, the 2026 continental title, and a dining room where the chefs themselves walk courses to the table and answer questions like people who still enjoy them. For once, the hype and the plate agree.
The Room
A single lofted room on Ada Street with the kitchen open along one side, timber beams, wool and leather instead of white linen, and music kept low. It reads more like a very serious farmhouse than a temple, which is the point. Dress is smart casual done properly; ties are rare. The hearth throws real warmth in winter, and the best seats face the pass.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
Some rooms flatter any calendar. Smyth rewards specific plans. Start with these.
For the guest who keeps score
Some clients need a famous room; the rarer ones track the lists. For them Smyth is checkmate: the only three stars in Chicago, retained through the November 2025 guide, plus the number one spot on North America's 50 Best in 2026. The prepaid Tock ticket means no bill ever reaches the table, and the open kitchen gives conversation a natural focus. Ask for a table facing the pass and let the chefs, who run their own food, do the talking.
For terms that need three unhurried hours
Deals close in rooms that feel generous rather than watched, and Smyth's single loft keeps sound low and tables far enough apart that numbers can be said aloud. The tasting paces itself around conversation; tell the team you are working and courses stretch or tighten to match. A weeknight seat is the move: easier to book at $420, quieter in the room, and the hearth end of the loft is the natural corner to shake hands in.
For the year that deserves the city's best table
An anniversary at the number one restaurant in North America is not subtle, and it does not need to be. What makes Smyth right for it is warmth: wool and timber instead of starch, chefs who talk like humans, and a dessert sequence that ends gently rather than with fireworks. Note the anniversary on the Tock booking and the kitchen marks it without theatre. Spring and summer menus, when the garden drives the produce, are the most romantic.
What to order
The menu is one fixed tasting, so the levers are the date, the seat and the pairing. Pull them deliberately.
- A seat facing the open kitchen
The loft has no bad tables, but the pass side seats turn dinner into a quiet masterclass. Request them in the Tock notes when you book.
- The trout belly doughnut
The dish that shows the house register in one bite: farm produce, real technique, zero solemnity. When the season carries it, the menu opens strong.
- The egg yolk in salted licorice
Chicago's most debated dessert, aged yolk against black licorice. Come in on its side; it is the menu's thesis in a single spoon.
- The pairing over bottles
The list is strong, but the pairing tracks a menu built on small ferments and garden herbs better than any single bottle can.
Practical
- Address
- 177 North Ada Street, West Loop, Chicago
- Reservations
- Tock · prepaid, book well ahead
- Tasting
- $420 before drinks
- Pairings
- Tiered wine pairings · zero proof available
- Dress
- Smart casual, no jacket needed
- Room
- Single loft, open kitchen, hearth
- Dietary
- Accommodated with notice on Tock
- Nearby
- Fulton Market, five minutes on foot
Questions diners ask
Is Smyth worth $420?
Yes, on current form more than any tasting menu in America. It holds Chicago's only three Michelin stars, was named North America's number one restaurant in 2026, and the room stays warm where its peers go stiff. The Value score of six reflects the raw spend, not doubt about the kitchen.
How hard is it to book Smyth?
The hardest table in Chicago right now. Seats sell prepaid on Tock at $420 and prime weekend dates go almost immediately after release. Aim for weeknights, watch for returned tables midweek, and book the moment your date opens rather than hoping for a walk in.
What is the dress code at Smyth?
Smart casual, genuinely. The loft runs to wool, timber and an open hearth rather than white linen, and nobody wears a tie. Polished trainers pass; shorts do not. The room is about the food and the farm, and the staff meet you at whatever level of polish you bring.
What makes Smyth three Michelin stars?
Total command plus a point of view. Produce from a dedicated farm and the chefs' own garden, dishes like the trout belly doughnut and the egg yolk aged in salted licorice, and a husband and wife team cooking their own food nightly since 2016. The third star arrived in November 2023 and has held since.