Vanmag Restaurant Awards 2026: Reader’s Choice FAQ

We’re excited to announce that the Reader’s Choice division of our annual Restaurant Awards is back for 2026. If you didn’t catch our inaugural Reader’s Choice division last year, this is what you can expect: in addition to our traditional cuisine-focused categories (which will still be judged by our expert panel), we’ll be awarding 18 Reader’s Choice awards. The restaurants will be nominated and voted on by you—yes, you reading this—and awards will be presented at our 2026 Vanmag Restaurant Awards ceremony in May 2026. (Ticket link coming soon!)

Below is all the information you’ll need to nominate and vote in this year’s Vanmag Restaurant Awards People’s Choice division.

FAQ

Reader’s Choice Awards: The Categories

The 2026 Reader’s Choice Awards are divided into two areas of focus: types of dining and neighbourhoods.

Dining Categories

Best Cocktail Bar
Best Steakhouse
Best Brunch
Best Sushi
Best Pizza
Best Plant-Based

Best of the Neighbourhoods

Best Chinatown
Best Commercial Drive
Best Downtown
Best Fraserhood
Best Gastown
Best Hastings-Sunrise
Best Kerrisdale
Best Kitsilano
Best Mount Pleasant
Best West End
Best Yaletown
Best Neighbourhood Wildcard

Reader’s Choice Awards: How to Nominate and Vote

Our online voting platform will ask you for your first and last name, postal code and email. You will need to enter this information only once. Once you hit “vote” on that first vote, we’ll send you an email to confirm that you’re not a bot. Hit the confirmation link and you’ll be officially logged in—from there, the rest of the voting will be a breeze.

Reader’s Choice Awards: FAQs

Have a question? Maybe we’ve answered it.

How do I nominate a restaurant in Vanmag’s Reader’s Choice Restaurant Awards?

Nominations were made online through our digital nomination tool. That process ended in late November. Stay tuned in late Fall for the opportunity to nominate someone for our 2026 competition.

What if I spell a restaurant’s name wrong when I am nominating?

We’ve got both robots and humans on the case—rest assured, making a typo in your nomination won’t affect that restaurant’s chances of winning.

How do I vote for a restaurant in Vanmag’s Reader’s Choice Restaurant Awards?

Stay tuned for when our voting goes live.

Why do I have to enter my email and postal code when I am nominating?

We take your email to ensure that people aren’t voting multiple times. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s the best way to ensure that everyone has a fair shot. The postal code information will only be used internally—we’re curious about which Vancouver neighbourhoods are most engaged with the restaurant scene.

If I give you my email address, are you going to spam me with emails?

No! We’ll send you an email to let you know when voting is open. Other than that, you’ll only hear from us if you opt in to our newsletters (which you should, we’re very entertaining).

What happened to the category I voted in last year? It was my favourite!

Our Reader’s Choice Awards are ever-evolving, and we’ll be moving categories in and out to celebrate restaurants in many categories every year.

My neighbourhood isn’t listed. Why don’t you care about me?

Hey, we had to draw the line somewhere—according to the city of Vancouver there are 22 neighbourhoods, and the boundaries vary depending on who you ask. We listed as many of the hot dining ‘hoods as we could and also left a write-in spot, so if your favourite neighbourhood restaurant didn’t fit into the listed categories, it wound up in Wild Card for consideration.

What about the usual Restaurant Awards, like Best French, Best Chinese and Best New Restaurant?

We’re still doing our regular awards—you know, the ones that are judged by esteemed food writers, restaurant critics and industry leaders. The Reader’s Choice Awards will be presented in addition to our regular awards in May. (Stay tuned for event details!)

Still have a question we haven’t answered? Drop us a line at [email protected].