AWARDS NEWS
Open call for entry and recommendations for the 2025 James Beard Awards will be from October 1 through November 29, 2024.
Watch our videos on how to submit entries and recommendations:
The mission of the James Beard Awards is to recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.
For press information, including accessing media credentials for the 2024 ceremonies, please click here.
2024 Announcements:
- Restaurant and Chef Award Winners (livestream, blog post, and/or press release)
- Leadership Award Winners (press release and YouTube playlist)
- Media Award Winners (Livestream, blog post, and/or press release.
- Media Award Nominees (blog post and/or press release)
- Restaurant and Chef Awards Nominees and Achievement Award Honorees (blog post and/or press release)
- Restaurant and Chef Awards Semifinalists (blog post and press release)
- America's Classics Winners (blog post and/or press release)
About the James Beard Awards
About the James Beard Awards
Established in 1990 with the first awards given in 1991, the James Beard Awards are among the nation’s most prestigious honors recognizing leaders in the culinary and food media industries, and those in the broader food systems. The Awards are overseen by the Awards Committee. Each Awards program (Book, Broadcast Media, Journalism, Leadership, and Restaurant and Chef) has its own subcommittee members who volunteer their time to oversee the policies, procedures, and selection of judges for their respective program. All James Beard Award winners receive a certificate and a medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. For additional information on the Awards, please visit the Policy and FAQ pages.
Categories, Eligibility, and Submission Guidelines
Categories, Eligibility, and Submission Guidelines
RESTAURANT AND CHEF AWARDS
Restaurant and Chef (Click here for guidelines)
- Outstanding Restaurateur
- Outstanding Chef
- Outstanding Restaurant
- Emerging Chef
- Best New Restaurant
- Outstanding Bakery
- Outsanding Pastry Chef or Baker
- Outstanding Hospitality
- Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Outstanding Bar
- Best Chefs (by region):
- California
- Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
- Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
- Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
- Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
- New York State
- Northeast (CT, MA, ME, MH, RI, VT)
- Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)
- Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
- South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
- Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)
- Texas
- America's Classics
MEDIA AWARDS
- Baking and Desserts
- Beverage with Recipes
- Beverage without Recipes
- Bread
- Food Issues and Advocacy
- General
- International
- Literary Writing
- Reference, History, and Scholarship
- Restaurant and Professional
- Single Subject
- U.S. Foodways
- Vegetable-Focused Cooking
- Visuals
- Cookbook Hall of Fame
- Emerging Voice
- Audio Programming
- Audio Reporting
- Commercial Media
- Documentary Visual Media
- Docuseries Visual Media
- Instructional Visual Media
- Unscripted Visual Media
- Visual Media—Short Form
- Visual Media—Long Form
- Social Media Account
- Emerging Voice
Journalism (Click here for guidelines)
- Beverage
- Columns and Newsletters
- Craig Claiborne Distinguished Criticism Award
- Dining and Travel
- Feature Reporting
- Food Coverage in a General Interest Publication
- Foodways
- Health and Wellness
- Home Cooking
- Innovative Visual Storytelling
- Investigative Reporting
- Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award
- MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award
- Personal Essay with Recipes
- Personal Essay
- Profile
- Emerging Voice
LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Leadership (Click here for guidelines)
- Sustainability
- Policy Advocacy
- Industry Culture and Practices
- Food Security and Access
- Emerging Leadership
Open Call Process
Open Call Process
Media Awards (Book, Broadcast Media, and Journalism)
The deadline for Broadcast Media and Journalism has been extended to Thursday, December 7, 2023, at 11:59 EST.
Open Call for Entries are conducted and require a fee of $85.00 per entry (waivers provided upon request). Winners and nominees are selected from the entries.
Learn more on our Policies and Procedures page.
Restaurant and Chef, and Leadership Awards
Open Call for Recommendations are conducted in addition to recommendations provided by the Awards program’s voting body. Recommendations from the public are reviewed and considered by the Subcommittees when compiling the semifinalist list. There are no entry fees for these programs.
Learn more on our Policies and Procedures page.
Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian of the Year Awards
There is no open call for entries. Prospective candidates are researched and recommended by Awards Committee members, subcommittee members, and judges from all Awards programs.
For all Awards programs: Committees meet after the open call for entries and recommendations close to review and confirm the eligibility of the entries and recommendations.
The voting body, including judges chosen for their expertise per program, then review and vote on the entries to determine the nominees and winners, as applicable to each program.
Learn more on our Policies and Procedures page.
Code of Ethics and Awards Audit
Code of Ethics and Awards Audit
The 2022 Awards were the first since changes to the Awards were made as a result of an audit of our policies and procedures, including establishing a Code of Ethics and an independent review process conducted by our volunteer Ethics Committee.
For information about our Code of Ethics, policy, and process, please click here.
2023 Awards Highlights
2023 Awards Highlights
Watch the recorded Ceremonies:
- Restaurant and Chef Award Winners (blog post and press release)
- Leadership Award Winners (blog post and press release)
- Media Award Winners (blog post and press release)
- Media Award Nominees (blog post and press release)
- Restaurant and Chef Award Nominees, Leadership Award Winners, Humanitarian of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees (blog post and press release)
- America's Classics Winners (blog post and press release)
- Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists (blog post and press release)
- Open Call for Entry and Recommendation period (blog post and press release)
For press information, please click here.
Follow us on our social channels: @beardfoundation on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #jbfa. For features and stories related to the James Beard Awards click here.
AWARDS KEY DATES
2025 James Beard Awards Presented by Capital One
Media Awards:
June 14, 2025
Impact Awards:
June 15, 2025
Restaurant and Chef Awards:
June 16, 2025
AWARDS KEY DATES
2025 James Beard Awards Presented by Capital One
Media Awards:
June 14, 2025
Impact Awards:
June 15, 2025
Restaurant and Chef Awards:
June 16, 2025
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