Lima Will Host the World’s 50 Best Restaurants for the First Time
Culture
Key Facts
—The event. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants will hold its 2026 awards ceremony in Lima on 4 November.
—The switch. The host was originally announced as Abu Dhabi, so this is a change of destination.
—The first. It is the first time the global awards will be staged anywhere in South America.
—The backdrop. Lima’s Maido was named the world’s best restaurant in 2025, after Central held the same title in 2023.
—The host partner. The event is backed by PromPerú, the country’s export and tourism promotion agency.
—The programme. A week of events precedes the ceremony, including talks, collaborative dinners and a chefs’ feast.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is the closest thing fine dining has to the Oscars. This year its ceremony is coming to South America for the very first time, and the city it chose is Lima.
Each year this ranking crowns the single best restaurant on the planet, and the reveal is watched worldwide. Where it holds the ceremony is a prize in itself, a spotlight on the host city’s food scene.
The ranking is compiled by a global academy of chefs, food writers and critics who vote based on their dining experiences. It has become one of the most influential forces in the restaurant industry, capable of transforming a kitchen’s fortunes overnight.
For 2026 that spotlight falls on the Peruvian capital. The awards will be handed out in Lima on the fourth of November.
Why the World’s 50 Best Restaurants chose Lima
The choice did not come out of nowhere, and it marks a change of plan. The organisers had originally named Abu Dhabi as the 2026 host earlier this year.
The reasons behind the switch have not been publicly detailed. What is clear is that Lima presented a compelling alternative case at a moment when its culinary reputation stood at a peak.
Moving the ceremony to Lima makes it the first edition ever held in South America. The awards have travelled the world, but never before to this continent.
That geographic milestone matters because South America, and Peru in particular, has reshaped global fine dining over the past decade. Bringing the ceremony here acknowledges that shift in a tangible way.
Lima’s claim rests on a remarkable run of success. Its restaurant Maido was named the world’s best in 2025, and another Lima kitchen, Central, held the same crown in 2023.
Two world titles for one city in three years is almost unheard of. It has made Lima, for now, the effective capital of high-end dining.
The city has form as a host too. Lima staged the very first Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants awards back in 2013, and its dining scene has only strengthened since.
What the World’s 50 Best Restaurants week involves
The ceremony is only the finale of a longer programme. The week builds up through a series of public and industry events across the city.
There is a talks forum on the industry’s big questions, and a run of collaborative dinners pairing visiting chefs with local ones. A chefs’ feast showcases regional ingredients and techniques.
These collaborative dinners are often one-off experiences where chefs who rarely work together create menus that blend their styles. For diners willing to book early, they offer a rare chance to taste experimental cooking that exists only for that week.
Some awards land before the main night. Prizes for hospitality, for the best newcomer to watch and an extended list of numbers fifty-one to a hundred all arrive ahead of the top-fifty reveal.
The finale itself is streamed live online. Viewers around the world will watch the countdown from fifty to one as it unfolds.
A footnote for anyone tracking Maido
There is a quirk worth knowing before the reveal. Having reached number one, Maido now joins a Best of the Best hall of fame and drops out of the ranking from 2026 onwards.
This rule was introduced to prevent the same handful of restaurants from dominating the list year after year. It creates space for new names to rise and keeps the ranking from becoming predictable.
So the restaurant that helped bring the ceremony to Lima will not be competing on the night. Its retirement from the list clears the way for a new name at the top.
Lima will still be well represented, though. Several other Peruvian kitchens have featured in the global top fifty in recent years, drawing on the country’s coast, Andes and Amazon.
Why it matters beyond the kitchen
For Peru, this is tourism strategy as much as a food story. The promotion agency framed hosting as a long-term bet to draw visitors who travel for gastronomy.
Food has become one of the country’s strongest travel draws, alongside Machu Picchu and the Andes. An event like this puts Lima at the centre of the global dining conversation for a week.
The economic ripple can be significant, from hotel bookings to restaurant reservations to media coverage that lasts well beyond the ceremony itself. Whether that translates into sustained visitor growth will depend on how Peru builds on the momentum after the spotlight moves on.
For a foreign resident or visitor, the practical upshot is a packed culinary calendar this November. Public dining events and a citywide buzz make it an unusually good moment to be in Lima and hungry.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026?
The awards ceremony takes place in Lima, Peru, on 4 November 2026. It follows a week-long programme of talks, collaborative dinners and other events across the city, and the top-fifty reveal is streamed live online.
Why is this edition significant for Peru?
It is the first time the global awards have been held anywhere in South America, and it was moved to Lima after Abu Dhabi was originally announced as host. It lands just after Lima’s Maido was named the world’s best restaurant, cementing the city’s status as a top dining destination.
Is Maido competing in the 2026 ranking?
It is not, because having been named the world’s best restaurant, Maido enters a Best of the Best hall of fame and is no longer eligible for the ranking from 2026 onwards, though other Peruvian restaurants remain in contention.
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