About Us

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants has reflected and celebrated the richness and diversity of the world's culinary landscape since 2002. Thanks to its panel of 1,080 culinary experts, as well as its structured and audited voting procedure, the annual list of the world's finest restaurants provides a snapshot of some of the best destinations for unique culinary experiences, in addition to being a barometer for global gastronomic trends.

Back in 2002, British magazine Restaurant – the leading publication dedicated to the UK’s restaurant trade – decided to create a list of the best restaurants in the world, based on the advice of 150 experts. The following year, that same team decided to host a celebration commemorating the announcement of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants; thus, the spirit of the awards ceremony and celebration was born.

Before this, no one had dared take on the task of including the entire restaurant industry, in all its global diversity, in a single ranking system. This system has been honed over time, growing first to a panel of 300 experts, then eventually to more than 1,000, with structural improvements being made along the way. Soon afterwards, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants became independently run from Restaurant magazine.

The strength and originality of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants lies in the relevance of its geographical network and the level of expertise of its voters, who together comprise The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy. The world is divided into 27 voting regions, each headed up by an Academy Chair. The panel in each region is made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and well-travelled gourmets, each of whom has 10 votes. Read more about the voting process and the Academy, and consult our FAQs. 

The annual awards ceremony for The World's 50 Best Restaurants was held in London from 2003 to 2015 before starting a global tour with stops in New York in 2016, Melbourne in 2017, the Basque Country in 2018, Singapore in 2019, Flanders in 2021 and London in 2022. The awards programme was hosted in Valencia in 2023, when the list was unveiled at a live awards ceremony on Tuesday 20th June. Each year, the celebration creates a unique opportunity to bring an incredible community of chefs together from around the world.

The World's 50 Best Restaurants has earned its legitimacy by providing guidance to aspiring gourmets, inspiring diners to travel and explore restaurants and bars, unveiling up-and-coming chefs and culinary trends, and showcasing the subtlety and complexity of various cuisines and cultures from around the world – with many more still to discover and celebrate.

The World's 50 Best Restaurants is part of the 50 Best brand, published by William Reed. Read more about 50 Best here.