On Monday, June 15, the James Beard Foundation revealed the remaining winners of the 2026 James Beard Awards at its annual ceremony in Chicago, bringing the restaurant industry\u2019s greatest annual honors to a close after months of anticipation. The awards, widely considered among the highest accolades for chefs and restaurateurs in the United States, recognize excellence across categories spanning Outstanding Restaurant, Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Chef, and regional Best Chef awards, as well as America\u2019s Classics and other categories. This year\u2019s host is cookbook author and Top Chef host Gail Simmons, and the event took place at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.<\/p>\n
This evening\u2019s Restaurant and Chef Awards follow the foundation\u2019s Media Awards announcements this past weekend, which celebrated achievements in cookbooks, journalism, broadcast, social media, and other food storytelling. The 2026 restaurant and chef finalists were announced on March 31, narrowing down a field that included honorees from across the country.<\/p>\n
The foundation previously recognized several 2026 honorees outside of tonight\u2019s competitive categories, including No Us Without You founders Dami\u00e1n Diaz and Oth\u00f3n Nolasco, who received the Humanitarian of the Year Award, and chef and restaurateur Nancy Silverton, who was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The recipients of this year\u2019s Impact Award were the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, ReFED, and the Southern Smoke Foundation.<\/p>\n
Top honors went to Michael Tusk of San Francisco\u2019s Quince (Outstanding Chef), Philadelphia\u2019s Kalaya (Outstanding Restaurant), Adrian Torres of Maximo (Emerging Chef), New York City\u2019s Lei (Best New Restaurant), Bozeman, Montana bakery Wild Crumb (Outstanding Bakery), and Providence, Rhode Island bar Loma (Best New Bar), among others.<\/p>\n
The star-studded event featured appearances from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson, hip hop duo Run the Jewels, and more familiar faces from politics and culture. Heartfelt speeches from both presenters and winners emphasized the immeasurable contributions immigrants have made to America, and especially to the world of food and dining. \u201cOur industry is an industry of immigrants,\u201d said No Us Without You co-founder Damian D\u00edaz. \u201cImmigrants are what make this America great\u2026 the system, as broken as it is, is carried by immigrant arms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other moments were more lighthearted; two-time James Beard Award winner Mashama Bailey threw out a \u201cgo Knicks!\u201d from onstage, while the Scotch Lodge folks, in their acceptance speech for Best New Bar, declared, \u201cWe\u2019ll see you at karaoke afterward. The gauntlet\u2019s been thrown down.\u201d<\/p>\n
See the full list of winners in each category below.<\/p>\n
2026 James Beard Awards: Restaurant and Chef Winners<\/p>\n
Adrian Torres, Maximo, West University Place, TX<\/p>\n
Dana Street (Fore Street, Scales, Standard Baking Co., and others), Portland, ME<\/p>\n
Michael Tusk, Quince, San Francisco, CA<\/p>\n
Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker<\/p>\n
Susan Bae, Moon Rabbit, Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Providence, Los Angeles, CA<\/p>\n
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program<\/p>\n
Scotch Lodge, Portland, OR<\/p>\n
Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service<\/p>\n
Lee Campbell, Borgo, New York, NY<\/p>\n
Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service<\/p>\n
Kevin Diedrich, Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco, CA<\/p>\n
Dave Beran, Seline, Santa Monica, CA<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)<\/p>\n
Jacob Potashnick, Feld, Chicago, IL<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)<\/p>\n
Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, PA<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)<\/p>\n
Loryn Nalic, Balkan Treat Box, Webster Groves, MO<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)<\/p>\n
Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton, Denver, CO<\/p>\n
Best Chef: New York State<\/p>\n
Hooni Kim, Meju, Queens, NY<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)<\/p>\n
Evan Hennessey, Stages, Dover, NH<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)<\/p>\n
Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland, OR<\/p>\n
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)<\/p>\n
Serigne Mbaye, Dakar NOLA, New Orleans, LA<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)<\/p>\n
Taylor Montgomery, Montgomery Sky Farm, Leicester, NC<\/p>\n
Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)<\/p>\n
Sarah Thompson, Casa Playa, Las Vegas, NV<\/p>\n
Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, J\u016aN, Houston, TX<\/p>\n
No Us Without You LA, Dami\u00e1n Diaz and Othon NolascoCoalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)Jon Bon Jovi Soul KitchenSenator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1nReFEDSouthern Smoke Foundation<\/p>\n
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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