2024 RAMMY Nominations Announced

Get ready to make your restaurant reservations! Tickets are already on sale for the 2024 RAMMY Awards in July, but in the meantime, you’ve got a lot of plates and places to start judging for yourself… The nominations are in!

The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) announced Finalists for the RAMMYs, which will be awarded on Sunday, July 21, 2024 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. This 42nd event which honors excellence in the restaurant and foodservice industry in the Washington, DC area is an annual foodie favorite as well.

There are many coveted categories, but this year the voting public will decide winners in five categories: Best Bar, Best Brunch, Favorite Fast Bites, Favorite Gathering Place, and Hottest Sandwich Shop of the Year. Public votes for these categories happen here through 5:00 pm, Wednesday, May 31, 2024.

And here are the 2024 RAMMY Awards Finalists (*denotes publicly voted category*):

New Restaurant of the Year: 

• Dear Sushi
• Ellie Bird
• Hiraya
• I Egg You
• Petite Cerise

Cocktail Program of the Year:

• Amazonia
• Bar Spero
• Jane Jane
• Mercy Me
• Silver Lyan

Beer Program of the Year:

• Atlas Brew Works
• Red Bear Brewing Co.
• TallBoy
• The Midland’s Beer Garden
• Zinnia

Wine Program of the Year: 

• Apéro
• ERA
• Irregardless
• Lulu’s Wine Garden
• St. Anselm

Rising Culinary Star of the Year: 

• Jennifer Castaneda-Jones, Marcel’s by Robert Wiedmaier
• Ria Montes, Estuary
• Masako Morishito, Perry’s
• Matt Sperber, Any Day Now
• Jovana Urriola, Café Unido

*Favorite Gathering Place*: 

• Brookland’s Finest
• Glory Days Grill
• Lulu’s Winegarden
• Millie’s
• Mi Vida

*Best Brunch*:

• ala
• Duke’s Counter
• Makan
• Seasons at the Four Seasons
• The Park at 14th

*Best Bar*:

• Bar Chinois
• Residents Café and Bar
• The Green Zone
• Royal Sands Social Club
• Slash Run

*Favorite Fast Bites*:

• Andy’s Pizza
• Arepa Zone
• Bantam King
• Fava Pot
• Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ

*Hottest Sandwich Spot*: 

• Colada Shop
• Lucky Buns
• Queen Mother’s
• Roaming Rooster
• Your Only Friend

Employee of the Year: 

• Michael Wyatt, Annabelle Restaurant
• Kodjo “Olivier” Etenda, Lutèce
• Hilda Claro Duran, Residents Café and Bar
• Kristen Wilson, Causa
• Jonathan Aseff, Shilling Canning Company

Manager of the Year:

• Janice McLean, Estuary at the Conrad Hotels
• Rachid Hdouche, ilili DC
• Uros Jojic, Ambar Capitol Hill
• Angel Guillen, El Cielo
• Victoria Gradia, KNEAD Hospitality + Design

Service Program of the Year:

• Filomena
• Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
• Le Diplomate
• Reveler’s Hour
• Xiquet by Danny Lledó

Casual Restaurant of the Year:

• Kirby Club
• La Famosa
• Stellina Pizzeria
• Supra
• Taco Bamba

Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year:

• Anju
• Chez Billy Sud
• Lutèce
• Queen’s English
• Shilling Canning Company

Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year:

• Susan Bae, Moon Rabbit
• Gregory Baumgartner, Cranes
• Rochelle Cooper, Eastern Point Collective
• Isabel Coss, Lutèce, Pascual
• Mary Mendoza, (formerly) Bantam King, Hole in the Wall, Tonari

Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year:

• Blue Rock
• Causa/Amazonia
• Oyster Oyster
• Rania
• The Dabney

Chef of the Year:

• Angel Barreto, Anju
• Carlos Delgado, Causa/Amazonia
• Jeremiah Langhorne, The Dabney
• Katarina Petonito, Eastern Point Collective
• Jon Sybert, Tail Up Goat

Restaurateur of the Year:

• José Andrés, José Andrés Restaurants
• Kyle Bailey, Jon Ball, Jeremy Carman, Gavin Coleman, and Paul Holder, Long Shot Hospitality
• Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira, Timber Pizza, Call Your Mother, Turu’s, Mercy Me
• Enrique Limardo and Ezequiel Vázquez-Ger, Seven Reasons Group
• Zubair, Omar, Fatima, and Shamim Popal, The Popal Group

Joan Hisaoka Allied Member of the Year: (This award recipient is determined by RAMW’s Executive Committee.)

• Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School
• Ecolab
• Harmony Group, Inc.
• Keany Produce & Gourmet
• Preferred Insurance Services, Inc.