The Voting System

Organised by William Reed, the people behind The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and Middle East & North Africa's 50 Best Restaurants, Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants is a snapshot of the opinions and experiences of 300 regional restaurant industry experts who form the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Academy.

How the voting works

The Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Academy is an influential group of leaders in the restaurant industry across Latin America, each selected for his or her expert opinion of Latin America’s restaurant scene. None of the employees of the organiser, or of any of the sponsors associated with the awards, is part of the voting Academy. What constitutes ‘best’ is left to the judgment of these trusted and well-travelled gourmets. The list is the result of a simple computation of votes.

The Academy is divided into five separate regions: Mexico; Central America; South America (North); South America (South); and Brazil, covering the following countries: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guyana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Each region has its own panel of members, including a chairperson to head it up. The division and number of voters in each region are designed to represent the Latin American restaurant scene as fairly as possible at the current time and are agreed with the Academy Chairs. The gender-balanced panel is made up of food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and highly regarded foodies.

The 2024 voting rules

• Voting is strictly confidential before the list announcement
• Each Academy member can nominate up to 10 restaurants, at least 4 of which must be outside their own country. If the voter has been unable to travel internationally in the 18 months before the voting, they must vote only for 6 restaurants in their own country. There is no limit on the number of international votes they can submit
• Academy members submit their 10 choices in order of preference (this weighting is used to decide on positions in the event of a tie)
• Academy members must have eaten in the restaurants they nominate in the last 18 months – and are asked to confirm this fact for each of their nominations
• Academy members must confirm the date of their last visit to each of the restaurants they nominate
• Academy members are not permitted to vote for restaurants they own or have a financial interest in
• Academy members cannot vote for a restaurant based on a dining experience that does not take place at the restaurant itself; for example, when a restaurant or chef stages dinners in different locations
• Academy members cannot vote for a restaurant that is closed or will close within 3 months of the list being published. They therefore cannot vote for a temporary restaurant or ‘pop-ups’
• Nominations must be made for the restaurant, not for the restaurateur or the chef (except in the case of special individual awards)
• Academy members should remain anonymous with regard to being on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants Academy

These criteria are designed to allow our panellists to vote far and wide. They could vote for a small, unknown restaurant in a secluded area of Latin America, or select the best-known restaurants in their own country or region – it is their opinion and the experiences they have had that matter.

This method means that restaurants cannot apply to be on the list, and cannot be nominated, and no external influences (from William Reed or our sponsors) can influence the list. It also means that every restaurant in Latin America is eligible, unless the restaurant is closed at the time that the list is announced, or we receive notice that it will be closing in the near future.

Having reached the No.1 position in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2023, Lima restaurant Central joined the Best of the Best ‘hall of fame’ group of venues and is therefore ineligible for voting in any future lists, including Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants.

There are no criteria that a restaurant has to meet. They certainly do not have to sell a certain product. They do not need to have been open a certain number of years and they do not need to have won any other culinary accolades.

Independent Adjudication

Professional services consultancy Deloitte is the official independent adjudication partner of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants. Deloitte has been granted full and independent access to the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants voting process and data and has performed certain procedures to confirm the integrity and authenticity of the voting process and the resulting list.

In order to guarantee a fair relationship between the percentage of votes a region receives and their proportionate representation in the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list, in the event of a significant variance, Deloitte will apply a normalisation process to the voting data.

About Deloitte

Founded in 1845, Deloitte has grown to become one of the world’s pre-eminent and most trusted professional services consultancies. As part of its wide-ranging portfolio, Deloitte works with companies in all areas of the licensed retail industry and has considerable experience in proving bespoke adjudication services for a number of internationally recognised awards.

It has a dedicated team devoted to the restaurant sector that specialises in a comprehensive range of audit and advisory services, complemented by industry-specific knowledge and the leverage of a network of specialist expertise across the UK, Europe, the US and Asia. In the sector Deloitte works with businesses spanning one-site start-ups through to FTSE-listed groups – and it is proud to be acting as independent adjudicator for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

deloitte.co.uk/travelhospitalityleisure