Canada's 100 Best Restaurants

Canada's 100 Best Restaurants is a list produced by Canadian media company and magazine Canada's 100 Best, owned and operated by veteran food writer and journalist Jacob Richler.[1]

History

The list is published each spring as an annual ranking highlighting the top dining establishments across Canada.[2][3] It was first published in 2015, curated by a panel of culinary experts, including chefs, restaurateurs, food critics, and industry professionals.[4] It is considered one of the more comprehensive guides to Canadian cuisine, recognizing a wide range of restaurants from coast to coast.

Since 2015, the rankings have been published annually, with the exception of 2021 when restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic kept most restaurants in Canada closed for dining during the preceding year.[5]

Alongside the best restaurants overall, Canada's 100 Best also publishes lists for the 50 Best Bars and 10 Best New Restaurants in the country.[6] The lists are published both online through the magazine's official website and in physical print editions.[7]

Scoring

The ranking process involves votes from a national panel of experts, who evaluate restaurants primarily on food quality, but also on other criteria including service, ambiance, and overall dining experience.[4] To ensure the list captures Canada's geographic diversity, judges are required to vote for at least three restaurants outside of their home region.[4] For the 2024 list, the selection panel was made up 150 voting judges.[4]

According to Richler, the selection process for the list is slightly modified each year, with tweaks to improve the selection model and arriving at a consensus on rankings based on the judges votes.[6] In 2020, Richler stated the impacts of the pandemic on fine dining could result in further adjustments to the scoring model of the list, to focus more on food quality and less on the other criteria being evaluated.[7] By the 2024 publication, more restaurants outside of the traditional fine dining model and considered more "casual and approachable" were included in the list.[6]

Best restaurants

Canada's Best Restaurants
Year 1st 2nd 3rd
2015[8] Quebec Toqué! British Columbia Hawksworth Restaurant Ontario Buca Yorkville
2016[9] Quebec Toqué! Ontario Buca Yorkville British Columbia Hawksworth Restaurant
2017[10] Ontario Alo Quebec Toqué! Quebec Joe Beef
2018[11] Ontario Alo Quebec Toqué! Quebec Joe Beef
2019[12] Ontario Alo Quebec Joe Beef Quebec Toqué!
2020[13] Ontario Alo British Columbia St. Lawrence Quebec Joe Beef
2021 No List
2022[14] British Columbia Published on Main Ontario Alo British Columbia St. Lawrence
2023[15] Quebec Mon Lapin Ontario Alo British Columbia Published on Main
2024[16] Quebec Mon Lapin Ontario Edulis Ontario Alo

Canada's best bars

In 2018, Canada's 100 Best introduced a standalone annual ranking of the country's top 50 bars, published alongside the Best Restaurants list.[17]

Canada's Best Bars
Year 1st 2nd 3rd
2018[18] Ontario Bar Raval British Columbia The Keefer Bar Quebec The Coldroom
2019[19] Ontario Bar Raval British Columbia The Keefer Bar Ontario Civil Liberties
2020[19] Ontario Bar Raval British Columbia The Keefer Bar Quebec Atwater Cocktail Club
2021 No List
2022[20] Ontario Civil Liberties British Columbia Botanist British Columbia The Keefer Bar
2023[21] Ontario Civil Liberties Quebec Cloakroom Quebec Atwater Cocktail Club
2024[22] Ontario Bar Pompette Ontario Civil Liberties Quebec Cloakroom

Best new restaurants

Starting in 2022, the magazine also published a 'Best New Restaurants' list, ranking 10 restaurants in Canada which opened in the year prior.[23]

Canada's Best New Restaurants
Year 1st 2nd 3rd
2022[23] Alberta Major Tom Ontario Osteria Giulia Alberta D.O.P.
2023[24] Ontario Prime Seafood Palace Quebec Cabaret L'Enfer Newfoundland and Labrador Portage
2024[25] British Columbia Marilena Ontario Casa Paco Ontario Sushi Yūgen

References

  1. ^ "Editor's Note | Jacob Richler | Canada's 100 Best". Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, Bars and Chefs.
  2. ^ Postmedia News (14 May 2024). "Canada's 100 Best restaurants list snubs Edmonton; three bars crack top 50". Edmonton Journal. Postmedia. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  3. ^ Goodman, Rachel (14 May 2024). "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants and Bars lists just dropped- A French-inspired cocktail spot in Toronto ranked #1". Now Toronto. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Dabu, Christl (14 May 2024). "Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed". CTV News. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  5. ^ Liu, Karon (31 May 2022). "Toronto's Alo bumped to second place on Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list". Toronto Star. toronto.com. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Brownstein, Bill (1 June 2024). "Montreal tops Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list — again". Montreal Gazette. PostMedia. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  7. ^ a b Liu, Karon (19 June 2020). "Toronto's Alo tops Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list for fourth consecutive year". Toronto Star. TorStar. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2015". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2016". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  10. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2017". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2018". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  12. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2019". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  13. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2020". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2022". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  15. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2023". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  16. ^ "Canada's 100 Best Restaurants - 2024". Canada's 100 Best Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  17. ^ "The 50 Best Bars in Canada have been ranked for the first time ever". Dished Vancouver. Daily Hive. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  18. ^ "Canada's 50 Best Bars - 2018". Canada's 50 Best Bars. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Canada's 50 Best Bars - 2019". Canada's 50 Best Bars. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Canada's 50 Best Bars - 2022". Canada's 50 Best Bars. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  21. ^ "Canada's 50 Best Bars - 2023". Canada's 50 Best Bars. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  22. ^ "Canada's 50 Best Bars - 2024". Canada's 50 Best Bars. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Canada's Best New Restaurants - 2022". Canada's Best New Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  24. ^ "Canada's Best New Restaurants - 2023". Canada's Best New Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  25. ^ "Canada's Best New Restaurants - 2024". Canada's Best New Restaurants. Canada's 100 Best. Retrieved 15 December 2024.