The First-Ever Top 50 New Zealand Gastropub Awards Will Reward Aotearoa's Best Places for a Bite with a Pint

The hunt is on to find New Zealand's best gastropub, with entries to the inaugural Estrella Damm Top 50 New Zealand Gastropub Awards officially open.

The concept of a gastropub is pretty simple: a pub that champions food as well as pints. While the competition has already made a name for itself in the UK, this will be the first time the best gastropub will be crowned in Aotearoa, with Hospitality New Zealand getting behind the awards.

The deciding factor in the top 50 list will be the beer-drinking, pie-eating New Zealanders themselves, with public votes determining who will land on the coveted list. The supreme gastropub winner will be crowned at a ceremony in April 2024, which will be decided by a group of hospitality experts. As well as this, seven gastropubs will be named as the best in their region.

Hospitality New Zealand Chief Executive Steve Armitage said it was time to celebrate the more than 1000 gastropubs Aotearoa has to offer. "They're often where locals and visitors go to enjoy restaurant-quality food with a relaxed but lively atmosphere," Armitage said.

"Restaurants are celebrated with various awards, but gastropubs are rarely acknowledged. This is a chance for us to recognise and applaud the hard work that goes into them."

Hospitality New Zealand, as well as the competition's sponsor Estrella Damm, hope that the 50-strong list will be used as a gastropub guidebook, for chicken parma fans to reference whenever they might want to try something new or re-discover an old favourite.

Entries to Estrella Damm Top 50 New Zealand Gastropub Awards are now open, and an entry form can be found on its website. Entries close on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, with the awards ceremony set to be held in April 2024.