Texas’ best restaurants and bars reign at 2023 Tastemaker Awards
May 29, 2023 | 10:30 am
It’s another one for CultureMap’s history books. The 2023 Tastemaker Awards, which recognized Texas’ best chefs, restaurants, and more culinary superstars of the year, have finally come to a close.
The series kicked off April 13 with our sold-out Houston Tastemaker Awards at Silver Street Studios, then we moved to Cowtown for our Fort Worth event on April 27. The Texas culinary tour steered us home to Dallas, at the Fashion Industry Gallery, on May 4. From there, we took a drive to the Hill Country for Austin’s evening festivities at Fair Market on May 11, then concluded our journey with our second-ever fête in San Antonio on May 18.
The Tastemaker Awards honor the state’s most innovative culinary pioneers, allowing nominated chefs and restaurants to showcase their talents for guests before announcing the winners during a live ceremony.
Guests sampled chefs’ specialty bites and imbibed a variety of creative cocktails or mocktails, with a few Topo Chicos sprinkled in throughout the evening. But as always, our nominees and winners are the main focus of our program and are the reason we can bring these celebrations to life.
While a panel of local food and beverage pros choses a majority of the winners, the winner of Best New Restaurant is determined by our readers in an online, bracket-style tournament. New this year in each city, a sizzling on-site Burger Throwdown sponsored by Goodstock Beef by Nolan Ryan.
Without further ado, let’s meet our 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners, listed by city:
- Restaurant of the Year: Shoyo
- Chef of the Year: Junior Borges, Meridian
- Bar of the Year: Lounge Here
- Best New Restaurant: Quarter Acre
- Rising Star Chef of the Year: Mike Matis, Fearing’s
- Pastry Chef of the Year: Maricsa Trejo, La Casita Bakeshop
- Bartender of the Year: Haley Merritt, Midnight Rambler
- Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: El Rincon del Maiz
- Wine Program of the Year: Pappas Bros.
- Best Burger: Wulf Burger
- Brewery of the Year: Manhattan Project Beer Co.