On Monday, June 15, the James Beard Foundation revealed the remaining winners of the 2026 James Beard Awards at its annual awards ceremony in Chicago, wrapping up the restaurant industry’s biggest annual honor after months of anticipation. Widely recognized as the highest honor for chefs and restaurateurs in the United States, the awards recognize excellence across categories such as Outstanding Restaurant, Best New Restaurant, Outstanding Chef, and Best Chef by Region, as well as American Classics and other categories. This year’s host is a cookbook author and top chef The host was Gail Simmons, and the event took place at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
This evening’s Restaurant and Chef Awards follows last weekend’s announcement of the Foundation’s Media Awards, which celebrate achievements in cookbooks, journalism, broadcasting, social media and other areas of food storytelling. The 2026 Restaurant and Chef finalists were announced March 31, narrowing the field to include winners from across the country.
The foundation has previously recognized several 2026 honorees in addition to tonight’s competition, including No Us Without You founders Damián Diaz and Othón Nolasco, who received the Humanitarian of the Year Award, and chef and restaurateur Nancy Silverton, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Recipients of this year’s Impact Awards were the Coalition for Humanitarian Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Luján, ReFED, and the Southern Smoke Foundation.
Top honors went to Michael Tusk of Quince in San Francisco (Outstanding Chef), Kalaya in Philadelphia (Outstanding Restaurant), Adrian Torres of Maximo (Emerging Chef), Lei in New York City (Best New Restaurant), Bozeman, Montana bakery Wild Crumb (Outstanding Bakery) and Providence, Rhode Island bar Loma (Best New Bar).
The star-studded event featured appearances by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, hip-hop duo Run the Jewels, and other familiar faces from politics and culture. Heartfelt speeches from both presenters and honorees highlighted the immeasurable contributions immigrants have made to the United States, and especially to the world of food and dining. “Our industry is an immigrant industry,” said No Us Without You co-founder Damian Díaz. “Immigrants are what make this America great. The system, although broken, is carried by immigrant weapons.”
Other moments were lighter. Mashama Bailey, a two-time James Beard Award winner, shouted “go Knicks!” “See you later at karaoke, the duel is down,” the Scotch Lodge folks declared in their acceptance speech for Best New Bar.
See the full list of winners in each category below.
2026 James Beard Awards: Restaurant and Chef Winners
Adrian Torres, Maximo, West University Place, Texas
Dana Street (Fore Street, Scales, Standard Baking Co., and others), Portland, Maine
Michael Tusk, Queens, San Francisco, California
Excellent pastry chef or baker
Susan Bae, Moon Rabbit, Washington, DC
Providence, Los Angeles, California
Excellent wine and other beverage program
Scotch Lodge, Portland, Oregon
Excellent expert in beverage service
Lee Campbell, Borgo, New York, NY
Outstanding expert in cocktail service
Kevin Diedrich, Pacific Cocktail Haven, San Francisco, California
Dave Beran, Celine, Santa Monica, California
Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)
Jacob Potashnick, Feld, Chicago, Illinois
Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)
Jesse Ito, Royal Sushi & Izakaya, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)
Loryn Nalic, Balkan Treat Box, Webster Groves, Missouri
Best Chef: Mt. (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY)
Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton, Denver, Colorado
Best Chef: New York State
Honey Kim, Mayor of Queens, New York
Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
Evan Hennessey, Stages, Dover, NH
Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)
Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro, Portland, OR
Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)
Serigne Mbaye, Dakar NOLA, New Orleans, LA
Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)
Taylor Montgomery, Montgomery Sky Farm, Leicester, North Carolina
Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)
Sarah Thompson, Beach House, Las Vegas, Nevada
Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, JŪN, Houston, Texas
- LA, without Damián Diaz and Othon Nolasco, we are nothing
- Coalition for Humanitarian Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
- Jon Bon Jovi Soul Kitchen
- Senator Ben Ray Luján
- mentioned again
- Southern Smoke Foundation
Disclosure: Some Vox Media employees are part of the James Beard Awards voting organization.
