Apr 2, 2025 - Food and Drink
Here are Chicago's 2025 James Beard Award finalists
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A James Beard Award from 2024. Photo: Jeff Schear/Getty Images for James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation announced its list of finalists Wednesday, and five Chicago chefs and restaurants were among them.
Why it matters: The James Beard Awards are the Oscars of the culinary world, and the ceremony will take place in Chicago this summer.
Here are Chicago's finalists:
- Outstanding Restaurant: Galit.
- Best Chef: Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH): Thai Dang, HaiSous; Chris Jung and Erling Wu-Bower, Maxwells Trading; Noah Sandoval, Oriole.
- Outstanding Bar: Kumiko.
Between the lines: Even though Chicago has five finalists, three are in the same Best Chef: Great Lakes category.
- Semifinalist restaurants like Daisies, Boka and Cariño were snubbed.
What's next: Winners will be announced at Chicago's Civic Opera House on June 16.