It’s a long list, but it is one that is definitely worth bookmarking: La Liste, which bills itself as “the most selective global guide of restaurants, pastry shops and hotels, for gourmets and international travelers,” has just released its list of top 1,000 eateries in the world for 2025, based on a “compilation of thousands of publications, hundreds of guidebooks and millions of online reviews.” And six Chicago spots have made the ranking.
According to the website, the staff aggregates reviews from over 1,000 guidebooks and publications, puts them in a database and then gives all entries a score from 0 to 100 based on standard grades.
It gets even more specific than that: Chefs around the globe are asked their opinions about the various guidebooks so that the outlets themselves can be given a “trustworthiness index” score that will affect the standard grade given to the restaurant. After all that, customer reviews are taken into account and a final “La Liste score” is given to all entries.
This year, the top Chicago restaurant to make the list with a 95.5 La Liste score is Smyth, the Michelin-starred eatery from chefs John Shields and Karen Urie Shields. At the prestigious destination, the staff collaborates with small farmers and select meat purveyors to offer some of the freshest, highest quality and most natural dishes across town, accompanied by a stellar wine list.
With a slightly lower score of 95, Alinea is also on the list. Regularly named the best restaurant in Chicago since first debuting almost two decades ago, Alinea comes courtesy of chef Grant Achatz, who creatively works on his New American tasting menu to provide a truly memorable multi-course experience.
Next up is Ever (score: 92.5), a fine dining beacon in the West Loop that offers a “prix-fixe menu with eight to 10 courses focused on proteins from land and sea that are whipped into edible masterpieces.”
Oriole, chef Noah Sandoval’s fine dining destination also in the West Loop, lands on the list with the same score.
Then there is Boka, which boasts a slightly less expensive menu that is still worthy of its Michelin-starred status. With a La Liste score of 81, the eatery is the second-to-last Chicago appearance on the ranking, right above The Dining Room at Moody Tongue (score: 75.5)—an intimate 28-seat restaurant headed by chef Jared Wentworth that offers a 12-to-15-course tasting menu based on seasonal ingredients and paired with the brewery’s beverages.
If you haven’t yet visited the above-mentioned culinary outposts, which are some of the best restaurants in Chicago, now is clearly the time. And if you have already dined at them, consider this a sign to book another reservation.
