The 2023 finalists for the local restaurant industry awards are out, and nominees run the gamut from The Green Zone to Founding Farmers.

For the uninitiated, the RAMMY Awards are an annual industry hoorah for the local hospitality community to glad-hand and receive accolades for their years running local haunts or the new up-and-coming spots they’ve opened in the past year.

You’ve probably heard of the James Beard Awards, or the Michelin Guide, which chefs and restaurateurs chase for years. So where does a local restaurant awards program fit in? Do the RAMMYs actually matter?

The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, which has hosted the event since 1982, has tried to professionalize the RAMMYs from earlier years where restaurants went as far as to take out ads to win votes. While bars and restaurants have admitted that the RAMMYs don’t necessarily bring in larger or newer crowds, they have also said that the awards are good for staff morale. National awards programs are not honoring the “Employee Of the Year,” for example.

Nominees were announced Monday evening at a party of several hundred at The Hamilton in downtown D.C. It was the kind of occasion where chefs, bartenders, journalists, and PR types circled the room to network (sometimes awkwardly) and enjoy complimentary food and drinks, including from some of the nominees.

There are a couple changes this year: the addition of baker in the pastry category, so Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year; and the addition of a Best Bar category. The winners will be announced on July 9th.

Nominees must be members of RAMW, which is why you may not see some popular restaurants on the list. There are also other prerequisites, like needing to be in business for a minimum of one year by December 2022. A panel of anonymous local judges selected by the restaurant industry chose the finalists and will again select the winners in most of the 20 categories.

But a few categories are chosen by the public — and nominees in those do not need to be RAMW members. Those categories are Favorite Gathering Place, Best Brunch, Best Bar, Favorite Fast Bites, and Hottest Sandwich Spot. This year, the public will have selected both the finalists and winners for the five groups — in the past they only voted on the winners. Some establishments are already asking for votes. Votes can be submitted on NBC Washington until May 31.

Here are the 2023 RAMMY Award Finalists: 

Joan Hisaoka Allied Member of the Year:

• Ecolab
• Harmony Group
• Keany Produce and Gourmet
• MarginEdge
• Saval Foodservice

New Restaurant of the Year:

• Bar Ivy
• Causa/Amazonia
• Nama Ko
• Opal
• Rania

Cocktail Program of the Year:

• Jane Jane
• Salt
• Service Bar
• Silver Lyan
• The Green Zone

Beer Program of the Year:

• Boundary Stone
• Lost and Found
• The Midlands Beer Garden
• Shelter
• Solace

Wine Program of the Year:

• Era Wine Bar
• Lulu’s Wine Garden
• Primrose
• Reveler’s Hour
• St. Anselm

Rising Culinary Star of the Year:

• Marcelle Afram, Shababi Palestinian Rotisserie Chicken
• Masako Morishita, Perry’s
• Kat Petonito, The Duck & The Peach, La Collina, The Wells
• Jessica and Alfredo Solis, Anafre, Mariscos 1133, Mezcalero
• Elias Taddesse, Mélange, Doro Soul Food

Favorite Gathering Place:

• Chef Geoff’s
• Crazy Aunt Helen’s
• Moby Dick House of Kabob
• Ruthie’s All Day
• Tiki on 18th/The Game Sports Pub

Best Brunch:

• Circa
• Founding Farmers
• Maiz64
• Seasons at Four Seasons
• Urban Roast

Best Bar:

• Exiles
• Ivy and Coney
• McClellan’s Retreat
• Metrobar
• Tap99

Favorite Fast Bites:

• Chef Skip 202
• RASA
• Roaming Rooster
• Spice Kitchen West African Grill
• Stellina Pizzeria

Hottest Sandwich Spot:

• Compliments Only
• Fight Club
• FishScale
• Grazie Grazie
• Soko Butcher

Employee of the Year:

• Kodjo “Olivier” Etenda, The Popal Group
• Crescencio Martinez, All Purpose Shaw
• Nabil Moussa, Le Diplomate
• Guillermo Mendoza, The Red Hen
• Veronica Rodriguez, Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood

Manager of the Year:

• Brittany Dye, Circa Foggy Bottom
• Christine Kim, Service Bar
• Snjezana Jaksic, Ambar Clarendon
• Javier Perez, Jaleo
• Cesare Sanchez, Maiz64

Service Program of the Year:

• Chef Geoff’s
• Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
• Lutèce
• Reveler’s Hour
• Unconventional Diner

Casual Restaurant of the Year:

• Bammy’s
• Destino
• Maketto
• Pennyroyal Station
• Tonari

Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year:

• Anju
• Dauphine’s
• L’Ardente
• Moon Rabbit
• Rooster and Owl

Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year:

• Rochelle Cooper, The Duck & The Peach, La Collina, The Wells
• Sam Cooper, Bread Alley, Le Diplomate, St. Anselm
• Bridie McCulla, Liberty Restaurant Group
• Mary Mendoza, Bantam King, Hole in the Wall, Tonari
• Teresa Velazquez, Baked and Wired, A Baked Joint

Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year:

• Blue Rock
• Jônt
• Oyster Oyster
• The Dabney
• Xiquet by Danny Lledó

Chef of the Year:

• Matt Adler, Caruso’s Grocery
• Matt Conroy, Lutèce
• Ryan Ratino, Bresca, Jônt
• Jon Sybert, Tail Up Goat, Reveler’s Hour
• Kevin Tien, Moon Rabbit

Restaurateur of the Year:

• Kyle Bailey, Jon Ball, Jeremy Carman, Gavin Coleman, and Paul Holder, Long Shot Hospitality
• Greg Casten and Tony Cibel,  Fish and Fire Food Group
• Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira, Timber Pizza, Call Your Mother, Turu’s, Mercy Me
• Zubair, Omar, Fatima, and Shamim Popal, The Popal Group
• Rose Previte, Compass Rose, Maydan, Kirby Club