Nominations open for Irish Restaurant Awards - will there be a Kilkenny winner?

The Restaurants Association of Ireland are delighted to announce that the nominations for the 12th annual Irish Restaurant Awards 2020 are now open. The public can choose their favourites across 21 categories including Best Restaurant, Best Casual Dining, Best Chef, Best Seafood Experience, Best World Cuisine and more.

Head over to the Restaurant Association of Ireland’s Instagram page now to enter our Competition, where you could win dinner for two in 2020’s Best Restaurant, as well as an overnight stay in a hotel.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland celebrated the launch on Wednesday 8th January in Dax Restaurant, Dublin.

Nominations can now be made via www.irishtimes.com/ irishrestaurantawards from 12 noon, Wednesday 8th of January until 12 noon, Wednesday 22nd of January 2020.

The Irish Restaurant Awards showcase the true talent that Ireland’s hospitality industry has to offer by acknowledging outstanding performers in the sector. Growing steadily from its humble beginnings back in 2009, the awards are now a five-month long process consisting of online public nominations, judging panels, mystery guest inspections and regional and national events.

In 2019, the awards received 90,000+ online public nominations. This number is expected to grow exponentially with the continued support of our media partner, The Irish Times. 

Last year, the Irish Restaurant Awards consisted of a roadshow of four regional events – Kildare, Monaghan, Limerick and Sligo – with over 2000 guests in total. The final event was held in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road and saw 1000+ guests sit down for a six-course gala dinner cooked by 5 renowned chefs (previous award winners).  

Adrian Cummins, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association commented; “The aim of the Irish Restaurant Awards is to recognize excellence within the Irish hospitality industry. The restaurant industry is the biggest employer within the Irish tourism sector, employing over 74,000 people and these awards are a celebration and acknowledgement of the hard work put in by restaurateurs year round.”

This year, there are 21 categories in which the general public can nominate. These categories are made up of 16 Main award categories and five National award categories.

Main categories are as follows:

Best Restaurant – Sponsored by Tindal Wine Merchants

Best Chef – Sponsored by BWG Foodservice

Best Restaurant Manager – Sponsored by AIB MS

Best Hotel & Guesthouse Restaurant – Sponsored by Frylite

Best Casual Dining – Sponsored by Just Eat

Best Gastro Pub – Sponsored by Elavon

Best Newcomer – Sponsored by Monin

Best Customer Service – Sponsored by Dolmen Insurance Brokers

Best Wine Experience – Sponsored by Gilbeys with Bibendum

Best Emerging Irish Cuisine –

Best World Cuisine – Sponsored by Stafford Lynch with San Pellegrino

Best Café – Sponsored by Illy

Best Kids Size Me -

Best ‘Free From’ – Sponsored by Peroni Libera

Local Food Hero – Sponsored by The Irish Times

Pub of the Year – Sponsored by Jameson

National Categories

Best Cocktail Experience – Sponsored by Coca Cola HBC

Best Private Dining & Club Restaurant – Sponsored by Wild Irish Game

Best Cookery School – Sponsored by Avonmore

Best Seafood Experience – Sponsored by Musgrave

Best Digital Marketing –

Official Partners

Official Media Partner – The Irish Times

Official HR Partner – Peninsula

Official Entertainment Partner – IMRO

Official Environmental Partner - Repak

In the first stage of the judging process, online nominations are given a weighting of 20%, while the remaining 80% is made up from a regional judging panel assessment. Both of these results are combined and reviewed by an independent auditor (BDO) to give an overall county winner per category. These winners will be announced at a number of regional events held in March.

Each county winner then goes forward to the Regional and All-Ireland stage whereby they will then each receive a mystery guest inspection.  They will be assessed on their menu, customer service, and the overall dining experience from the moment the booking is made until the customer receives the bill. Full details on the judging process can be found on the official Awards website www.irishrestaurantawards.com.

National Categories will not receive a mystery guest inspection. They will be judged by the National Academy with the exception of Best Cocktail Experience which will be judged by the Bartenders Association of Ireland at a live competition.

The All-Ireland final of the Irish Restaurant Awards 2020 takes place on Monday 18th of May 2020 in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road.