The 2025 James Beard Foundation Award finalists were unveiled on April 2nd, marking the 35th year of honoring the nation's finest chefs and restaurateurs. The winners will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 16th, at the iconic Lyric Opera of Chicago. In the meantime, explore career opportunities with this year's nominees and/or discover openings with past years' winners.  

Outstanding Restaurateur

• Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski - The Anchovy Bar, State Bird Provisions, and The Progress (San Francisco, CA)
• Cara Chigazola-Tobin and Allison Gibson - Honey Road and Grey Jay (Burlington, VT)
• Sue Chin and Jason Chin - Good Salt Restaurant Group (Orlando, FL)
• Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective (Washington, D.C.)
• Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr - Frenchette, Le Veau d’ Or, and Le Rock (New York, NY)

Outstanding Chef

• Lisa Becklund - FarmBar (Tulsa, OK)
• Gabriel Kreuther - Gabriel Kreuther (New York, NY)
• Josh Niernberg - Bin 707 Foodbar (Grand Junction, CO)
• Cassie Piuma - Sarma (Somerville, MA)
• Jungsik Yim - Jungsik (New York, NY)

Outstanding Restaurant 

• Coquine (Portland, OR)
• Frasca Food and Wine (Boulder, CO)
• Galit (Chicago, IL)
• Nonesuch (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Oberlin (Providence, RI)

Emerging Chef

• Kaitlin Guerin - Lagniappe Bakehouse (New Orleans, LA)
• Phila Lorn - Mawn (Philadelphia, PA)
• Nikhil Naiker - NIMKI (Providence, RI)
• Jane Sacro Chatham - Vicia (St Louis, MO)
• RJ Yoakum - Georgie (Dallas, TX)

Best New Restaurant

• Alma Fonda Fina (Denver, CO)
• Atoma (Seattle, WA)
• Bûcheron (Minneapolis, MN)
• Ema (Houston, TX)
• Fet-Fisk (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Mābo (Dallas, TX)
• Maude & the Bear (Staunton, VA)
• Ômo by Jônt (Winter Park, FL)
• Penny (New York, NY)
• The Union (Helena, MT)

Best New Bar

• Agency (Milwaukee, WI)
• Bar Colette (Dallas, TX)
• Identidad Cocktail Bar (San Juan, PR)
• Merai (Brookline, MA)
• ViceVersa (Miami, FL)

Outstanding Bakery

• Atelier Ortega (Jackson Hole, WY)
• Gusto Bread (Long Beach, CA)
• JinJu Patisserie (Portland, OR)
• Starship Bagel (Lewisville, TX)
• Super Secret Ice Cream (Bethlehem, NH)

Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker 

• Susan Bae - Moon Rabbit (Washington, D.C.)
• Cat Cox - Country Bird Bakery (Tulsa, OK)
• April Franqueza - The Dining Room at High Hampton (Cashiers, NC)
• Crystal Kass - Valentine (Phoenix, AZ)
• Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos - Poulette Bakeshop (Parker, CO) 

Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service

• Jacob Brown - Lazy Bear (San Francisco, CA)
• Jose Medina Camacho - Adios (Birmingham, AL)
• Arjav Ezekiel - Birdie's (Austin, TX)
• Cassandra Felix - Daniel (New York, NY)
• Cristie Norman - Delilah (Las Vegas, NV)

Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service

• McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright - Yacht Club (Denver, CO)
• Ignacio Jimenez - Superbueno (New York, NY)
• Dave Newman - Pint + Jigger (Honolulu, HI)
• Tobin Shea - Redbird (Los Angeles, CA)
• Mike Stankovich - Longfellow (Cincinnati, OH)

Oustanding Hospitality

• Archipelago (Seattle, WA)
• Aria (Atlanta, GA)
• Atomix (New York, NY)
• Harbor House Inn (Elk, CA)
• Mixtli (San Antonio, TX)

Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program

• Bar Brava (Minneapolis, MN)
• Campo at Los Poblanos (Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM)
• Charleston (Baltimore, MD)
• March (Houston, TX)
• Strong Water (Anaheim, CA)

Outstanding Bar

• Kumiko (Chicago, IL)
• Scotch Lodge (Portland, OR)
• The Lovers Bar at Friday Saturday Sunday (Philadelphia, PA)
• Water Witch (Salt Lake City, UT)
• Wolf Tree (White River Junction, VT) 

Best Chef: California

• Daniel Castillo - Heritage Barbeque (San Juan Capistrano, CA)
• Richard Lee - Saison (San Francisco, CA)
• Tara Monsod - ANIMAE (San Diego, CA)
• Kosuke Tada - Mijote (San Francisco, CA)
• Jon Yao - Kato (Los Angeles, CA)

Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH)

• Jennifer Blakeslee and Eric Patterson - The Cooks' House (Traverse City, MI)
• Thai Dang - HaiSous (Chicago, IL)
• David Jackman - Wildweed (Cincinnati, OH)
• Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower - Maxwells Trading (Chicago, IL)
• Noah Sandoval - Oriole (Chicago, IL)

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA)

• Henji Cheung - Queen's English (Washington, D.C.)
• Carlos Delgado - Causa and Amazonia (Washington, D.C.)
• Jesse Ito - Royal Sushi & Izakaya (Philadelphia, PA)
• Dan Richer - Razza (Jersey City, NJ)
• Amanda Shulman - Her Place Supper Club (Philadelphia, PA)

Best Chef: Midwest (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI)

• Shigeyuki Furukawa - Kado no Mise (Minneapolis, MN)
• Diane Moua - Diane's Place (Minneapolis, MN)
• Loryn Nalic - Balkan Treat Box (Webster Groves, MO)
• Karyn Tomlinson - Myriel (St. Paul, MN)
• David Utterback - Ota and Yoshitomo (Omaha, NE)

Best Chef: Mountain (CO, ID, MT, UT, WY) 

• Joshua Adams - Campione (Livingston, MT)
• Salvador Alamilla - Amano (Caldwell, ID)
• Brandon Cunningham - The Social Haus (Greenough, MT)
• David Wells - The Tasting Room at Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa (Pray, MT)
• Penelope Wong - Yuan Wonton (Denver, CO)

Best Chef: New York State

• Nasim Alikhani - Sofreh (Brooklyn, NY)
• Ryan Fernandez - Southern Junction (Buffalo, NY)
• Eiji Ichimura - Ichimura (New York, NY)
• Atsushi Kono - Kono (New York, NY)
• Vijay Kumar - Semma (New York, NY)

Best Chef: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)

• Avery Buck - May Day (Burlington, VT)
• Sky Haneul Kim - Gift Horse (Providence, RI)
• Brian Lewis - The Cottage (Westport, CT)
• Erin Miller - Urban Hearth (Cambridge, MA)
• Derek Wagner - Nicks on Broadway (Providence, RI)

 Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific (AK, HI, OR, WA)

• Jay Blackinton - Houlme (Orcas Island, WA)
• Joshua Dorcak - MÄS (Ashland, OR)
• Ryan Roadhouse - Nodoguro (Portland, OR)
• Beau Schooler - In Bocca Al Lupo (Juneau, AK)
• Timothy Wastell - Antica Terra (Amity, OR)

Best Chef: South (AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, PR)

• Nando Chang - Itamae AO (Miami, FL)
• Matthew Cooper - Conifer (Bentonville, AR)
• Kevin Garcia - La Faena AgroCocina (Guaynabo, PR)
• Angel David Moreno Zayas - El Gallo Pinto (Guayama, PR)
• Rafael Rios - Yeyo's El Alma de Mexico (Bentonville, AR)

Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV)

• Noam Bilitzer - MeeshMeesh Mediterranean (Louisville, KY)
• Sara Bradley - Freight House (Paducah, KY)
• Jake Howell - Peninsula (Nashville, TN)
• Silver Iocovozzi - Neng Jr.'s (Asheville, NC)
• Robbie Robinson - City Limits Barbeque (West Columbia, SC)

Best Chef: Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, OK)

• Olivier Bouzerand - Fait Maison (Edmond, OK)
• Yotaka Martin - Lom Wong (Phoenix, AZ)
• Sarah Thompson - Casa Playa (Las Vegas, NV)
• Eleazar Villanueva - Restaurant de Joël Robuchon (Las Vegas, NV)
• Zack Walters - Sedalia's (Oklahoma City, OK)

Best Chef: Texas

• Thomas Bille - Belly of the Beast (Spring, TX)
• Emmanuel Chavez - Tatemó (Houston, TX)
• Emil Oliva - Leche de Tigre (San Antonio, TX)
• Regino Rojas - Purépecha (Dallas, TX)
• Michael Anthony Serva - Bordo (Marfa, TX)