It’s typical – as soon as the snow melts away, awards season begins heating up.
With voting already open in the 2024 Just Eat Awards (with NAMO and Caffe500, both with restaurants in Kilkenny, nominated), the nominations have opened for the Irish Times sponsored Irish Restaurant Awards for 2025.
Dubbed the ‘Food Oscars’ of the Irish food scene, getting a nod on the local, regional, or national level can be a huge boost to any food business. On the Kilkenny side of things, there will be a whole host of county winners, those progressing through to the regional stages to battle out to be crowned best in Leinster, before hoping for All-Ireland glory at the culmination of the awards in May.
You can see a list of the 2024 winners from Leinster (including Kilkenny) here and regional and All-Ireland winners here. On the local front, Kilkenny winners in 2024 included Nóinín (Innovator of the Year), Fennelly’s of Callan (Best Café) and Statham’s by Pembroke (Best Contemporary Irish Cuisine) with Tabú in Thomastown nailing Best Newcomer.
The Leinster awards night will be first in the diary this year and while Kilkenny hosted the event last year, the 2025 outing heads to the Killashee Hotel in Naas on Tuesday 11 March.
Overall Leinster winners and the All-Ireland awards will be announced at gala event in Dublin on 19 May.
Nominations are open now until 29 January at 12 noon and you can make yours here.
Irish Restaurant Awards 2025 key dates and venues
- Leinster Regional Awards: Tuesday 11th March, Killashee Hotel, Naas (Kildare)
- Munster Regional Awards: Tuesday 25th March, Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Little Island (Cork)
- Ulster Regional Awards: Tuesday 1st April, Hillgrove Hotel, Old Armagh Road (Monaghan)
- Connaught Regional Awards: Tuesday 8th April, Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Rosses Point (Sligo)
- All Ireland Final Irish Restaurant Awards: Monday 19th May, Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road (Dublin)
