Australia's diners don't just eat out. They vote on it.
Today, the Australian Good Food Guide reveals the winners of the 2026 Readers' Choice Awards, a national program celebrating the venues that diners right across Australia voted their favourites this year.
An award decided by the people who actually eat there
There are no judging panels behind these results. No critics, no invited tastings, no industry votes weighted behind closed doors. Every single result comes from the general public.
That's what sets the Readers' Choice Awards apart. A hat hanging in a kitchen tells you what a critic thought on one particular night. A Readers' Choice Award tells you where a whole region actually keeps going back.
How the vote works
The mechanic is refreshingly simple. Every establishment listed on AGFG carries a 'Vote Now' button, open to any member of the public who wants to back their favourite, whether they're a long-time AGFG subscriber or a first-time visitor to the site. Voting runs on a twelve-month cycle, from July to July, and the venue with the most votes in its category and region takes home the award.
This year, that meant 33 categories contested in every region across the country, from capital cities to regional communities, with every result reflecting the honest preference of the people who live, eat and dine there.
It's a simple mechanic, but a powerful one. Popularity contests can be gamed. A community of regular diners, voting on where they genuinely choose to spend their money, is a much more intentional award.
Why it matters more than ever
Dining out has never had more noise around it. Everyone has an opinion, an algorithm has a recommendation, and every venue has a highlight reel. The Readers' Choice Awards cut through that by asking a simpler question: forget the marketing, where do you actually go?
For the winning venues, that makes this one of the most meaningful accolades in Australian hospitality. It isn't a nomination or a shortlist. It's proof that, category by category and region by region, real customers picked them first, backed up by a certificate winners can display with pride.
For diners, it means a trustworthy answer to the question everyone asks before they book a table: is this place actually good, or just good at marketing?
A 50-year vantage point
AGFG has been part of Australia's dining conversation since 1977, and the Readers' Choice Awards sit alongside the AGFG Chef Hat Awards as one of the two pillars of its annual awards program. Where the Chef Hats reward culinary excellence as assessed by an independent panel, the Readers' Choice Awards belong entirely to the public. Together, they give the industry, and diners, a fuller picture of what's worth booking.
With over millions of monthly visitors to AGFG, the reach behind this year's vote is bigger than ever, and so is the confidence behind the result.
Haven't voted? Here's how
Voting for next year's Readers' Choice Awards is incredibly simple. Head to any venue's listing on AGFG and you'll find a 'Vote Now' button front and centre. If you don't already have an AGFG account, creating one takes just a name, email and postcode, and gets you set up to vote across every category and region you care about.
It's open to everyone, so if you've got a favourite venue that deserves recognition, now's the time to back them. The 2027 winners will be decided by whoever shows up to vote between now and next July, which means every vote cast between now and then counts toward next year's result.
The full winners list
