About Us

Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants was launched in 2013 to celebrate gastronomy across the region and to provide diners around the globe with local insight and culinary recommendations. The ninth edition of the list – a one-off retrospective named Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2013-2021: Pasado y Futuro – was announced on Monday, 22nd November 2021 during a series of live events held in key cities across the region. 

As a result of the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the restaurant sector in Latin America, and the curtailment of travel for diners and voters over the last year and a half, in 2021 50 Best pivoted to identify the greatest restaurants in the region of the last nine years. The distinctive list recognises 100 restaurants based on the aggregated votes of the previous eight editions of the ranking since the awards’ inception in 2013.

The annual Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants lists are created by the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, an influential group of 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Latin America, each selected for their expert opinion of Latin America’s restaurant scene. The Academy is divided into five separate regions: Mexico, Central America; South America (North); South America (South); and Brazil, covering the following countries: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guyana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela. Read more about the voting process and the Academy.

In November 2020, Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants presented for the first time El Espíritu de América Latina, a collection of casual restaurants that have had a positive impact on their communities and local cuisine (whether during the coronavirus crisis or over a sustained period of time), to spotlight the region’s diverse gastronomic scene and to support the recovery of the hospitality sector.

In May 2020, 50 Best launched the programme 50 Best for Recovery: Supporting restaurants worldwide in partnership with S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. Its aim is to provide tangible financial relief for the industry, as well as to offer helpful resources for restaurant businesses as they emerge from the coronavirus pandemic and seek actionable advice and support. Read more about our response to the Covid-19 crisis and visit our Recovery Hub.

As gastro-tourism rose in popularity, Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants earned its legitimacy as a compass for fledgling gourmets, unveiling up-and-coming chefs and culinary trends and showcasing the subtlety and complexity of various cuisines from around the region – with many more still to discover.

The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list is published by William Reed, which also publishes The World's 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2002, and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, launched in 2013.