Brighton's Best Restaurant Awards,

About the event

We set up Brighton’s Best Restaurants in 2016 because there were so many great restaurants in our city, but we felt they weren’t getting the attention they deserved. The idea was to champion independent restaurants and get the word out about what a great place Brighton & Hove was for eating out.

So, we asked people in the know to vote for their favourite restaurants, put on a big party and announced the Top 20 restaurants in the city. It got so much attention and was such good fun that we then decided to organise a restaurant festival called OctoberBEST, where the best restaurants put on special set-price menus for two weeks. Hundreds of people booked tables and ate out at restaurants they hadn’t tried before. 

We’re still doing the same today. Every spring we have a big party where we announce the best restaurants in the city as voted for by the city’s top foodies. And every autumn we run OctoberBEST. The difference now is that there are even more fantastic restaurants in the city than when we first started. Our Top 20 has been expanded to a Top 30. And OctoberBEST gets bigger and busier each year with thousands now booking tables.

We hope we’ve played a small part in helping to put Brighton on the food map, but there are still plenty more parties and meals to be had in the future. We still love championing the independent restaurants that make our city such a great place to live. 

Brighton’s Best Restaurants is run by four people, who share a passion for restaurants and their hometown. They are: Andy Lynes (food writer), Euan MacDonald (consultant), Patrick McGuigan (food writer and author) and Suzanne Lindfors (copywriter).

Why should you sponsor?

Brighton’s Best Restaurants is back on Monday 22nd April to celebrate the city's independent restaurant scene with a whole new approach to sharing the news about the award winners. In this our 8th year, we are putting a little breathing space between the award ceremony and the after-party, to ensure the awards get the attention they deserve. At 5pm we are hosting a 80-person invite-only awards show for owners, chefs and operators at a brand-new Brighton restaurant. The event will have as it happens coverage on our social media channels. Then at 7pm the attention moves to The Permit Room for a party with industry colleagues. There are some changes to the awards too: we’re no longer going to rank the restaurants in a chart placing (1-30) – winners are winners wherever they are in the list. We are however going to introduce more detailed category awards, to help differentiate who is the best in their style of dining. These will be then be used as part of a new website to help the public find the best restaurants in Brighton & Hove using easy-to-understand restaurant categories, from fine dining and pubs to casual dining and Sunday lunch. This opens up some fantastic sponsorship opportunities so brands can align with their areas of expertise. We know our new format will attract more interest than ever before, and will allow us to ensure the support of sponsors is recognised and acknowledged by the industry and the public

Andrew Lynes

I am a food writer and author specialising in food, drink and travel with over two decades of experience. I have a particular interest in restaurants, chefs and the UK hospitality industry in general and have made numerous contacts during the 20 years or so I have been commentating on it. 

I am the co-founder of Brighton's Best Restaurants. Since 2016, we have played a key part in helping to bring national attention to the city's restaurant scene and have helped nurture local interest in it.  

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