Peruvian restaurants won international awards.
Peru in International Gastronomy Rankings
Peruvian cuisine is consolidating itself among the best in the world, competing at the level of Italian and Mexican cuisine. Peruvian restaurants receive recognition in prestigious rankings such as Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, World Culinary Awards, Taste Atlas, and Premios Summum.
THE WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS 2025
Maido Restaurant by Mitsuharu Tsumura was awarded as the best in the world on June 19, 2025, stepping onto the champions’ podium and entering the Best of the Best Hall of Fame, where the restaurant Central is also included. The list is compiled by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and is made up of those that have previously held the number one position. Maido specializes in Nikkei cuisine, which is the result of the fusion between Japanese and Peruvian culinary traditions.
Renowned chef Gastón Acurio stated, upon learning the ranking results, that beyond being an exceptional restaurant, Maido represents an entire proud nation. The restaurant Kjolle also ranked ninth; this establishment highlights Peru’s biodiversity in its dishes and is led by chef Pía León, the only woman in the Top 10. At number 26 appeared Mérito, whose chef, Juan Luis Martínez, combines Peruvian and Venezuelan ingredients. The 39th spot was taken by Mayta, founded by Jaime Pesaque, which uses ingredients from Peru’s highlands, coast, and Amazon.
The 2024 edition of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking was held on June 5 at the Wynn Las Vegas. The event was organized by the media company William Reed, founded in 1862. Peru had a strong presence in the top fifty, with Maido in fifth place, Kjolle in 16th, and Mayta in 47th. Chef Mitsuharu “Micha” Tsumura of Maido also received the Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2024 at the same ceremony. Additionally, in the 51–100 list, Mérito ranked 55th and Mil 73rd.
Mérito specializes in Peruvian–Venezuelan cuisine; its chef Juan Luis Martínez once again secured a spot among the world’s top 100. Another restaurant by Virgilio Martínez and Pía León, Mil, located in Cusco in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, at 3,600 meters above sea level, is also among the top 100. Meanwhile, Central has now entered the prestigious Best of the Best Hall of Fame of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, which gathers past winners. This exclusive list was inaugurated in 2019.
The list is compiled by about 1,000 people dedicated to the culinary world. The first World’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking appeared in 2002 in London. The voting panel is composed of journalists, chefs, and gourmands who remain anonymous, cannot vote for restaurants with which they have financial ties, and must have visited the establishments within the past 18 months. The second part of the list (places 51–100) is also important and is published one week earlier.
In 2023, Central was crowned the best restaurant in the world, taking the number one spot and moving into the Hall of Fame. That year, Maido ranked 6th, Kjolle 48th, and Mayta 47th.
SOURCES:
The Gourmet Journal
El Comercio
WORLD CULINARY AWARDS 2025
In the sixth edition of the central ceremony held in Sardinia, Italy, culinary excellence was celebrated. Central, by Virgilio Martínez, was chosen as the best restaurant in Latin America and Peru. La Gloria restaurant was recognized as the best iconic establishment in Latin America.
Meanwhile, Ortega y Huamán, from the SOUMA Hotel, was nominated as the best hotel restaurant in Latin America, while Kusikay received the award for the best Peruvian cuisine restaurant in Latin America. Likewise, Hawa, from the Tambo del Inka Sacred Valley Hotel in the city of Cusco, was selected as the best hotel restaurant in Peru.
In addition, on this occasion, Peru was distinguished as the best culinary destination in Latin America, and its capital, Lima, as the best urban gastronomic destination in Latin America.
In its fifth edition, Peru and its capital, Lima, were honored with two major awards in a ceremony held at Summersalt Jumeirah Al Naseem, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on October 2, 2024. Peru was chosen as the best culinary destination in Latin America, and Lima received the award for best urban gastronomic destination in Latin America, recognitions that elevate the national cuisine.
On this occasion as well, Mayta restaurant was chosen as the best in Latin America, and La Gloria was again recognized as the best iconic restaurant. In the category of Peruvian cuisine, La Mar Dubai, by Gastón Acurio, was named the best in the world, while La Coruña, located in Colca Canyon, Arequipa – Peru, was nominated as the best hotel restaurant.
The World Culinary Awards select their winners through a voting process conducted by prestigious professionals in the gastronomic field, and they are said to be closely linked to the World Travel Awards, which also recognize achievements in tourism. The first edition took place in 2020.
In the 2023 edition, Peru was nominated as the best gastronomic destination in Latin America, and its capital, Lima, was recognized as the best culinary city in the region.
SOURCES:
Andina
Infobae
World Culinary Awards
TASTE ATLAS 2025
In the current year, 2025, Taste Atlas has published several rankings, among which the 10 best dishes in Latin America include pollo a la brasa in 7th place, and on a global scale, it ranked 37th. Another dish, lomo saltado, took 9th place, and within the top 5, arroz tapado received a score of 4.47 among Latin American countries.
During the 2024–2025 period, Lima ranked 12th among cities as one of the best gastronomic destinations within the top 20, obtaining a rating of 4.69, placing ahead of cities like Tokyo and Palermo.
In 2024, the restaurant Cevichería La Mar by Gastón Acurio was awarded as the best traditional restaurant in Peru, achieving a score of 4.7. Other Peruvian establishments such as Isolina Taberna Peruana, El Bodegón de Miraflores, Astrid y Gastón, and Rafael, among others, obtained a score of 4.6.
Taste Atlas also recognized pollo a la brasa as one of the ten best chicken dishes in the world, and Lima as one of the 100 cities where you can eat best. It is a guide based on opinions from culinary professionals and conducts evaluations to rank where one can eat well around the world. This platform was created by Croatian journalist Matija Babic in 2015 and is an American publication.
In 2022, Peruvian cuisine ranked 10th, ahead of Chinese, Brazilian, and Portuguese cuisines. Dishes such as ceviche, pollo a la brasa, and lomo saltado, as well as beverages like pisco, chicha morada, chicha de jora, and canelazo, were among the most highly valued—along with arroz chaufa and anticuchos de corazón.
In 2023, leche de tigre was crowned as one of the best dishes, ranking 18th on its list.
SOURCE:
La Republica
PREMIOS SUMMUM 2025
The fusion of Peruvian cuisine with that of migrants is recognized by the SUMMUM event, which values topics related to gastronomy by awarding prizes in different categories. The awards are based on surveys conducted among gastronomy experts, a process that has been carried out since 2007, the year this event was created. Its goal is to reward not only restaurants across Peru but also the products used in the preparation of dishes, as well as women chefs. Among the winners are Pía León and others.
The list corresponding to the year 2025, prepared by Summum on September 30, awarded Astrid & Gastón as the best restaurant of the year, under the direction of chefs Gastón Acurio and Astrid Gutsche. It was followed in the ranking by La Mar, Osaka, Mayta, and Jolle.
La Mar, owned by chef Gastón Acurio, was honored as the best cevichería. Primos Chicken Bar received the award for the best rotisserie chicken, while Titi was recognized for offering the best chifa (Chinese-Peruvian cuisine). Meanwhile, Osaka was chosen for its outstanding nikkei cuisine, and Alana Repostería Café received the award for the best café.
Likewise, Mónica Huerta was chosen as Chef of the Year. She leads the Arequipa-based picantería Nueva Palomino, known for preserving and representing the authentic traditional cuisine of the city of Arequipa.
In 2024, the award for best restaurant in Lima went to Maido, and in the category of best new restaurants, the winners were: Rocco, specializing in Italian cuisine by Rafael Osterling; Demo Lima by Juan Luis Martínez and Michelle Sikic, specializing in Peruvian-Venezuelan cuisine; and Clon Restaurante, also by Juan Luis Martínez, offering dishes that combine Peruvian ingredients with Venezuelan culinary influence.
In 2023, the restaurants recognized as the best were: Mayta, La Mar, Costanera 700, Rafael, and Maido.
SOURCES:
Premios Summum 2024
La Trastienda.pe
Perú 21
LATIN AMERICA’S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS 2024
This culinary event took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the second consecutive time. The Peruvian restaurants that appeared in the list from number 1 to 50 were: Maido in 2nd place, being chosen as the second-best in Latin America and the best in Peru; Kjolle in 4th place; Mérito in 8th; Mayta in 13th; Rafael in 19th; Cosme in 28th; La Mar in 30th; and Mil in 49th. In the list from 51 to 100, three Peruvian restaurants were named: Osso Carnes in 71st place, Astrid y Gastón in 76th, and El Mercado in 93rd. The sponsor of this ranking is S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, both of which are used in fine dining.
Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants compiles the list of the 100 best restaurants in Latin America based on the votes of 300 gastronomy experts, who are selected for their knowledge and experience in the field. Members of the Latin American panel vote for the restaurants they consider most outstanding in the last 18 months, and at least four of each member’s votes must go to restaurants outside their own country.
This prestigious list began in 2013, ranking the best restaurants in Latin America. Last year, the Peruvian restaurant Astrid y Gastón was crowned the winner, being chosen as the best in the region. In 2022, Peru was well represented in the Top 10 of Latin America’s Best Restaurants: Mayta ranked 9th, Kjolle 8th, Maido and Central—whose chefs are Virgilio Martínez and Pía León—with Central taking first place. That year, Peruvian gastronomy completed its ranking with Osso in 38th place, Rafael in 32nd, Astrid y Gastón in 30th, and Mérito in 11th.
In 2023, the restaurant Maido took first place, led by chef Mitsuharu “Micha” Tsumura, specializing in Nikkei cuisine. On this occasion, the Peruvian restaurants that made it into the Top 50, raising the profile of Peruvian cuisine, were: Cosme in 50th place, Rafael in 46th, La Mar in 42nd, Mil in 39th, Osso in 33rd, Mérito in 13th, Mayta in 10th, and Kjolle in 7th. The sommelier of Maido, Florencia Rey, also received the Beronia Latin America’s Best Sommelier Award 2023.
SOURCE:
El Comercio Perú