The World's 50 Best Restaurants

The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the UK media company William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine Restaurant in 2002. The list and awards are no longer directly related to Restaurant, though they are owned by the same media company.^[1][2]

In addition to the main 1–50 ranking, the organisation awards a series of special prizes for individuals and restaurants, including the One To Watch Award, the Icon Award, the Best Female Chef Award ^[3] and the Chefs' Choice Award, the latter based on votes from the fifty head chefs from the restaurants on the previous year's list. In specific regions the organisation also pre-announces a 51–100 list, showcasing more venues in the area.^[4] Often working as a barometer of global gastronomic trends, the list showcases a variety of cuisines from all over the world.^[5]

History

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list first appeared as a feature in the British magazine Restaurant in 2002. Shortly afterwards, an awards night was established to celebrate the release of the list.^[6] The results are published via the World’s 50 Best Restaurants social media channels and on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants website on the awards night.

The World's 50 Best Restaurants list is the result of a poll of over 1,000 independent experts, who each cast votes for establishments where they have enjoyed their best restaurant experiences. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy is gender-balanced and contains 27 regions around the world. Each region has a chairperson (Academy Chair), and that chairperson assembles 40 people (including themselves) to vote. This panel is an equal mix of leading chefs and restaurateurs in that region, food journalists and critics, and well-travelled gourmets. Under usual circumstances, at least 25% of the panellists from each region change each year.^[7][8]

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ voting process and results are subject to independent adjudication by Deloitte.

There are no criteria for voting. The organisation allows the 1,080 voters to make up their own minds, and collates their votes to create the list.^[6]

Since 2013, William Reed has also published regional restaurant lists Asia's 50 Best Restaurants and Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, and launched Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants in February 2022.^[2]

A rule introduced in 2019 disqualifies previous winners from competing. Noma qualified again in 2021 because it closed in 2016 and reopened in a new location and concept.^[9]

Best restaurants

El Bulli

Noma's former storefront

World's Best Restaurants

Year	1st	2nd	3rd	Reference
2002	El Bulli	Gordon Ramsay	The French Laundry	[10]
2003	The French Laundry	El Bulli	Le Louis XV	[11]
2004	The French Laundry	The Fat Duck	El Bulli	[12]
2005	The Fat Duck	El Bulli	The French Laundry	[13]
2006	El Bulli	The Fat Duck	Pierre Gagnaire	[14]
2007	El Bulli	The Fat Duck	Pierre Gagnaire	[15]
2008	El Bulli	The Fat Duck	Pierre Gagnaire	[16]
2009	El Bulli	The Fat Duck	Noma	[17]
2010	Noma	El Bulli	The Fat Duck	[18]
2011	Noma	El Celler de Can Roca	Mugaritz	[19]
2012	Noma	El Celler de Can Roca	Mugaritz	[20]
2013	El Celler de Can Roca	Noma	Osteria Francescana	[21]
2014	Noma	El Celler de Can Roca	Osteria Francescana	[22]
2015	El Celler de Can Roca	Osteria Francescana	Noma	[23]
2016	Osteria Francescana	El Celler de Can Roca	Eleven Madison Park	[24]
2017	Eleven Madison Park	Osteria Francescana	El Celler de Can Roca	[25]
2018	Osteria Francescana	El Celler de Can Roca	Mirazur	[26]
2019	Mirazur	Noma	Asador Etxebarri	[27]
2021	Noma	Geranium	Asador Etxebarri	[28]
2022	Geranium	Central Restaurante	Disfrutar	[29]
2023	Central Restaurante	Disfrutar	DiverXO	[30]
2024	Disfrutar	Asador Etxebarri	Table by Bruno Verjus	[31]

Best of the Best

As of 20 June 2023^[32]

In 2019, the Best of the Best category was created, a hall of fame for restaurants that have reached the pinnacle of the No.1 position in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. With the creation of this list, No.1 winners are no longer eligible to be voted on new editions of the list.

The new iteration of Noma was eligible for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021 list due to three key changes from the original restaurant: its location, concept and ownership. As such, it was considered a new restaurant and eligible for the No.1 position in 2021. The previous version of Noma topped the 50 Best list on four occasions, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.

The following restaurants have been named No.1 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants since the list’s inception and were therefore no longer eligible for voting:

• El Bulli (2002, 2006–2009)
• The French Laundry (2003–2004)
• The Fat Duck (2005)
• Noma (2010–2012, 2014, 2021)
• El Celler de Can Roca (2013, 2015)
• Osteria Francescana (2016, 2018)
• Eleven Madison Park (2017)
• Mirazur (2019)
• Geranium (2022)
• Central Restaurante (2023)

See also

• Companies portal
• Food portal

• The World's 50 Best Bars
• List of Michelin 3-star restaurants
• Lists of restaurants
• La Liste

References

1. "William Reed, what we do". William Reed. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
2. "TheWorld's 50 Best Restaurants". The World's 50 Best. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
3. "France's Anne-Sophie Pic named World's Best Female Chef". Bog Hospitality. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
4. "51-100". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
5. "The World's Best Restaurant Is in a Football Stadium". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
6. Collins, Lauren (26 October 2015). "Who's to judge". The New Yorker. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
7. "The Voting System". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
8. "The Academy". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
9. "Noma wins world's best restaurant as Denmark claims top two spots". the Guardian. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
10. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
11. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
12. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
13. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
14. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
15. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
16. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
17. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
18. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
19. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
20. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
21. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
22. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
23. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
24. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
25. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
26. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
27. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
28. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
29. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
30. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
31. "The World's 50 Best Restaurants | Previous Lists". 50B - Restaurants - GLOBAL.
32. "Best of the Best". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 20 June 2023.

External links

• Official website