It’s that time again – the launch of the annual Good Food Guides.
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It → ’ → Guides
The 42nd Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards are announced on Monday, October 26, presented by Oceania Cruises and T2 Tea.
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Awards → announce → Cruises
The ceremony will be live-blogged via the Herald from 3pm, and all Guide reviews will be available on the Good Food app from 8pm.
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reviews → blogge → pm
You can download the Good Food app here.
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You → download → app
For more than 40 years, the Good Food Guide has been Australia’s unrivalled annual dining guide, designed to inform the public about the best restaurants, bars, pubs and cafes.
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Guide → design → restaurants
Published by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, it’s a collection of reviews across various price points, cuisines, styles and suburbs, offering a snapshot of the most exciting, outstanding venues you need to know about.
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you → publish → venues
Our main goal isn’t to tell you whether we like a restaurant.
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we → tell → restaurant
It’s to paint a picture of the experience so you can decide whether you might like it.
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you → ’ → it
Every single Guide review lives in the Good Food app, where users can search for venues via the map, filter by signature collections and save restaurants in lists.
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users → live → lists
The main goal of our reviewers isn’t to tell you whether we like a restaurant.
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we → tell → restaurant
It’s to paint a picture of the experience so you can decide whether you might like it, and to explain how it sits within Australia’s dining landscape.
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it → ’ → landscape
With money tighter than ever for most diners, users of the Guide want to know where they should spend their money, and be able to trust those recommendations.
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they → want → recommendations
The Guide is produced by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, owned by Nine Publishing.
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Guide → produce → Publishing
Its editors are bound by the Nine Publishing Charter of Editorial Independence, whose first point states: “Nine publicly declare a commitment to the fundamental and longstanding principle of editorial independence.”
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Nine → bind → independence
The two annual editions are the work of a team that includes editors, senior food critics and a diverse group of freelance reviewers in each state.
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that → include → state
Our national reviewing team is made up of more than 88 people of varying ages, cultural backgrounds and life experiences.
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team → make → ages
In each state, a panel of critics and editors with many decades of combined experience finalises scores, hats and awards.
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panel → combine → scores
How the Good Food Guide works
Any restaurant that scored 15 or more in the previous edition is reassessed each year.
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that → work → edition
A new venue is considered for inclusion if it looks interesting and exciting, has proven talent at the helm or is doing something that sets it apart.
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that → consider → it
We visit many others that don’t make the cut.
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that → visit → cut
We’re often asked if we tell restaurants when we’re coming in, if we get free meals or if we get paid by the venues we review.
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we → ask → venues
We don’t.
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We → do → ?
Just as we have done for more than 40 years, reviewers book under a pseudonym and pay their bill like everyone else.
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reviewers → do → everyone
Every venue is scored according to a strict set of criteria (see below), and scores are discussed by a panel of senior reviewers.
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scores → score → reviewers
It must be nice to be paid to eat free meals
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It → pay → meals
It’s true that Good Food covers the bill, but contrary to popular belief, our reviewers are paid nothing for eating a meal.
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reviewers → ’ → meal
They’re paid for writing the reviews, and there are guidelines on how much food and drink reviewers can expense.
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reviewers → pay → food
Given the time, expertise and labour that goes into visiting venues and writing the reviews and notes, filing receipts and invoicing, many reviewers are doing it simply because they’re passionate about the industry, and are dedicated to celebrating it.
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they → give → it
Heard the expression, “It’s a hatted restaurant”?
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It → ’ → expression
The chefs’ hat rating system was created by the Good Food Guide more than 40 years ago to give readers a sense of what to expect in terms of food, service and experience.
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system → create → food
How hats and scoring work
Each restaurant reviewed in the Guide is scored out of 20: 10 points for food, five for hospitality, three for setting and experience, and two for value.
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restaurant → work → value
Our reviewers are guided by what the venue sets out to achieve when determining scores.
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venue → guide → scores
Not all restaurants that have the same score will necessarily look and feel the same.
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that → have → score
It’s more about whether the venue is succeeding in being the best version of itself.
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venue → ’ → itself
Restaurants scoring 15 or above are awarded one hat, those scoring 16 or 17 receive two hats, and those between 18 and 20 receive three hats.
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those → score → hats
Why “what a restaurant is trying to achieve” is important for scoring
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trying → try → scoring
From 2023 to 2025, we did not publish the score for restaurants reviewed at 14/20 or less.
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we → publish → 14/20
We’ve since brought all scores back and hope they will be seen in the context of what a restaurant is trying to achieve.
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restaurant → bring → what
13/20 is a great score for a food court operation where there’s no table service, say, but not so good for a CBD seafood grill that cost millions to build.
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that → ’ → millions
The French-based restaurant guide launched in South Australia in 2026, under a contract financed by the state government to help boost tourism.
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guide → base → tourism
…and 90 more, not listed.
The Aporia
