The 50 Best Rankings and Voting Guides

The 50 is a family of global and regional hospitality rankings rather than one award for all venues. The restaurant program began in 2002 and expanded into regional restaurant lists; the wider organization also publishes bar, hotel and vineyard rankings. The 2026 masterbrand change from 50 Best to The 50 did not convert older editions into a new methodology. Pearl retains each list's original year, geography and category. Ranking positions come from expert votes, not a universal Pearl score, Michelin inspection grade or common weighted rubric. The restaurant and hotel programs have different Academies and eligibility rules. For example, the global 2026 restaurant Academy has more than 1,100 members in 28 regions. Its voters rank ten restaurants where they ate in the previous 18 months; no more than six choices can be in their home country, territory or SAR. The hotel Academy has more than 800 members in 13 regions; voters rank seven individual hotels where they stayed in the previous three years. Both programs ask for proof of visits, bar voting has its own panel and rules, and the published rankings should be interpreted within their individual editions. The organizer says its global restaurant and hotel voting is confidential and independently adjudicated by Deloitte. Neither program lets a venue apply for a place, and voters cannot select venues in which they have a financial interest. The method for any specific regional or vineyard list should be read on that program's publisher page, not inferred from hotel or restaurant rules.

Explore Pearl's edition-specific The 50 collections without mixing hotel, restaurant, bar or vineyard ranks. A No. 1 hotel and a No. 1 restaurant are outcomes of different votes, not comparable point totals.

The original World's 50 Best Restaurants ranking began in 2002. Over time the organization developed separate regional restaurant lists and rankings for bars, hotels and vineyards. In 2026 it adopted The 50 as its broader identity. Pearl's source page is an index across those programs, including historic editions that still carry their original titles. The rankings are useful for discovering places, but each year's results are a dated snapshot of expert experience.

There is no single The 50 scoring formula. Dedicated Academies vote under rules for their own category and sometimes geography. The global restaurant Academy has more than 1,100 experts across 28 regions and uses ordered ten-restaurant ballots based on visits in the preceding 18 months. Its global hotel counterpart has more than 800 experts in 13 regions and ordered seven-hotel ballots based on stays in the preceding three years. Both request visit evidence and disallow financial conflicts. Deloitte independently adjudicates the restaurant and hotel processes. Do not carry either ballot size, travel window or eligibility rule over to a bar, vineyard or regional edition without checking its own rules.

A place on one of these lists is high-profile recognition within that list's hospitality category. It is not a permanent accreditation and does not guarantee the same experience for every visitor. Pearl preserves the publisher's rank, edition and venue identity so travelers can compare places without treating different programs as one combined hierarchy.