At Smyth, the tasting menu on any given night might include petals from Chicago-grown magnolia trees atop caramelized eel on brioche toast or quail eggs marinated with spring onions, black walnut and caviar. There’s also the pistachio praline tart with a kombu (kelp) shell and passionfruit, or the braised abalone and maitake mushrooms, with a server-drizzled sauce made from abalone stock, mushrooms, brown butter, sea lettuce and ogo.
But head downstairs, and you’ll find Smyth’s more casual counterpart: The Loyalist. On the menu is the “OG cheeseburger,” often touted as one of Chicago’s best ($28).
The patty, made of beef chuck and pork bacon, is served on a sesame seed bun with American cheese and pickled and charred onions. During happy hour (5-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday), the burger combo comes with a Miller High Life and shot of whiskey for $28.
In today’s thin-margined restaurant economy, owners John Shields and Karen Urie Shields, the husband-and-wife duo behind the establishments, have learned a critical lesson: that you can’t run a high-end dining destination without a middle-of-the-road offset. Smyth can’t exist without burger-forward The Loyalist (which opened downstairs, one month before the fine-dining spot more than 10 years ago) and vice versa.
When Smyth first opened in 2016, the tasting menu cost $135 per person. A decade later, its tasting menu comes with a price tag that’s more than 200% of what it originally cost at $420 per person — all thanks to inflation, food supply chain issues, labor costs and rising prices that impact the restaurant economy.
The pair have learned they couldn’t do it alone: The success of their restaurants, much like their romantic relationship, is built on a strong foundation of friendship, creativity and teamwork.
But even after being named No. 1 restaurant in North America of 2026 in May by 50 Best, the Shieldses are feeling the strain of running a business. Smyth is also the only Chicago restaurant to bear three Michelin stars (after Alinea lost a star in November).
Despite rising inflation, shrinking margins and the ultra-competitive culinary scene in Chicago, Smyth has ascended to global prominence. And the fine-dining establishment at 177 N. Ada St. in the West Loop is celebrating another big milestone with its 10th anniversary on Wednesday.
But even with that designation, they’re facing increasing challenges, says John, who is executive chef. Karen is Smyth’s head pastry chef. Over the past decade, they’ve settled into a partnership that allows John to handle back-of-house operations, while Karen handles pastry and more of the business side. And a decade after opening, the city and world look significantly different than they did in 2016.
“[We] can adjust prices, especially with accolades,” John said. “But we try not to gouge either… labor’s expensive, product’s expensive.”
And in a city like Chicago, The Loyalist faces plenty of competition, especially in the burger world. “We always wanted [The Loyalist] to be a neighborhood place that was really loyal to classic cooking techniques,” Karen said. “We like to be authentic.”
But with skyrocketing beef prices, the burger should truly cost around $37, John said. Raising prices any higher is out of the question for now, however, as the Shieldses try to stay committed to their approach to food that elevated them to the echelon of the culinary world.
From local farms to your plate
At Smyth, the food is created with the farm-to-table model in mind. And to set themselves apart, the Shieldses have invested in sourcing produce that you can’t always find on your typical grocery store shelves.
Each Saturday morning, just a few people get up at the crack of dawn to get the first picks of produce from the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. John is one of those early risers.
“John is there in his chef’s whites, lugging produce from farms to his car on his way into work at 6:30 in the morning,” said Jason Hammel, owner and executive chef at Lula Cafe in Logan Square, in a recent chat. “And clearly, his day is not going to end for very many hours.”
One example of the unique and rare produce they’ve brought into Smyth is kakai, a small squash variety with light flesh. They were grown by Jerry Boone of Froggy Meadow Farm in Beloit, Wisconsin, who has also been working on a Japanese yam for the restaurant for about two years.
John said the kakai will be served in some fall dishes. Growing specialty produce is no small task and isn’t necessarily cheap, which adds to Smyth’s operating costs (he said that eggs from a particular farmer cost $45 per dozen). But working with farmers in and out of the Midwest is an investment, John says. It’s all about creating the best flavors possible.
“There’s no sort of limits to their inventiveness when it comes to developing flavor,” Hammel said.
John’s daily ritual even includes tending their rooftop garden by 7 a.m., which supplies many of the herbs and edible flowers found in Smyth’s dishes.
He developed his relationship with gardening when he and his wife moved to Virginia in the 2000s, when they opted to take a chance on a restaurant in Chilhowie, Virginia.
Through a Craigslist listing, the Shieldses got in touch with the owners of Town House, husband-and-wife team Kyra and Tom Bishop. Virginia was formative for the Shieldses. A 2009 New York Times review turned the restaurant into a destination for road trippers.
The chefs found their culinary niche and connection with ingredients and the land at Town House, Karen said.
In 2012, their now-business partner Keith Shapiro phoned the Shieldses and asked, “Why don’t you just give Chicago another try?” Their last dinner at Town House was on New Year’s Eve.
As a nod to the farm-to-table mentality they perfected in Virginia, John and Karen named their Chicago restaurant after the county they lived in for years: Smyth.
Chicago restaurants face tight margins
The Shieldses’ restaurants can’t survive without one another, they say. The Loyalist has become a popular spot for West Loop neighbors with approachable prices, while Smyth is a fine-dining establishment that draws in people from all over the world with its reputation.
But Grant Achatz, executive chef of Alinea in Lincoln Park and John’s former boss, says that all Chicago restaurants are feeling the pinch right now.
Navigating and working in the food and beverage world is significantly different after the COVID-19 pandemic, with “societal and financial shifts,” plus changes in the workforce and labor costs across the board, he said. And he acknowledges that “people have less disposable income.”
Lula’s Hammel agrees.
“Across the board, the costs have gone up quite a bit,” he said. “I mean, eggs that we use at Lula for brunch are up tenfold, and labor is a much higher portion of our expenses than it should be. The industry is still working out how to make those equations sustainable for all.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Hammel said, “We have a different way of thinking about managing costs.
“It’s just a new challenge. I think the biggest issue that we’re all facing is the difficulty of managing resources in agriculture and the food systems at large,” he added.
More expensive restaurants are “pinned into a corner,” Achatz said. “Your pricing is already at the ceiling. The price sensitivity is such that if Alinea went from $495 a person to $550, that would be a massive problem.”
From colleagues and friends to lovers and business partners
Karen met John while they were both working at the iconic Charlie Trotter’s, she said.
“The kitchen is intense … you’re working in close proximity,” Karen said.
They developed a solid friendship. However, John was so dedicated to his work, which made Karen think: “I feel bad for whoever marries this guy.”
Eventually, John left Trotter’s to work as sous chef on the opening team at Alinea. But “every once in a great while I might see Karen and we would just hit it off again,” John said.
In July, they celebrated 17 years of marriage. As Achatz puts it, chefs John and Karen have such a strong connection because “they speak the same language.”
A decade after opening Smyth, the Shieldses can’t believe how time flies. But looking ahead to the next 10 years is equal parts “exciting” and “daunting,” John said.
John and Karen are asking themselves questions like, “How do I evolve and work with the people of the next 10 years?” For them, that means focusing on inspiring the next generation of chefs and continuing to push the boundaries of flavor.