Restaurant in a small Ontario town was just named best in Canada

Canada's 100 best restaurants have been named for 2026, and a restaurant located in a small Ontario town topped the entire list. Don't worry, though, Toronto restaurants showed up big time, too.

An annual ranking of the creme de la creme on the Canadian culinary scene, Canada's 100 Best is, inarguably, one of the industry's biggest nights: a Canadian restaurant Met Gala of sorts.

This year, the special ceremony to crown the 2026 winners went down on the evening of Monday, May 4, which, funnily enough, was the same night as the actual Met Gala.

The star (both in the celebrity and Michelin sense)-studded ceremony welcomed top food talents from Vancouver to Halifax, all hopeful to earn a coveted spot on the list, but it was a restaurant from Jordan Station, Ont., that took the top slot.

As Canada's only two Michelin-starred restaurant, it may come as no surprise that Restaurant Pearl Morissette topped the list. As it happens, it's defending the first-place spot that it earned in 2025, beating out Montreal's Mon Lapin and Quebec City's Taniere3 in the top three.

Located in Ontario's abundant Niagara region, Restaurant Pearl Morissette has been a standout for years, highlighting ingredients grown on its 42-acre plot of farmland, served with baked goods from its in-house bakery and served with wines from its in-house winery.

Like I said, that Restaurant Pearl Morissette found its way into a first-place slot on the list isn't entirely surprising, but seeing Jordan Station beat out major metropolitan centres like Toronto and Montreal most certainly is.

That's not to say that Toronto restaurants are unrepresented on the list, though. Longtime local stars Quetzal and Edulis rounded out the top five, landing in fourth and fifth place, respectively, while Alo and 20 Victoria landed in seventh and tenth.

In total, Toronto restaurants take 23 slots in the list, with other local favourites like Linny's, Dreyfus, Sushi Masaki Saito and Giulietta, to name only a few, all included, too.

New additions aKin, N.L. Ginzburg, Sammarco and Bar Eugenie all celebrated their first time on the Canada's 100 Best list, while fellow out-of-town Ontario additions The Pine (Creemore), Langdon Hall (Cambridge), Down Home (Markdale), Fat Rabbit (St. Catharines), Atelier (Ottawa), Antheia (Ottawa), Arlo (Ottawa) and Naagan (Owen Sound), also earned top marks.

The complete 2026 list can be found on the Canada's 100 Best website.