The James Beard Foundation has opened a formal competitive bid process to determine which U.S. city will host the James Beard Awards for a five-year run from 2029 through 2033, marking the first time the Foundation has publicly solicited destinations through a structured Request for Information and Request for Proposal framework.
The RFI launched July 15, 2026, with cities that clear the initial screening notified in mid-August before advancing to the full RFP stage. The Foundation has not disclosed a timeline for the final selection or the contractual and financial terms it expects from prospective host destinations.
What's at Stake
The James Beard Awards are widely regarded as the highest culinary honor in the United States, drawing national media attention, high-profile industry attendance, and significant hospitality spending to the host market each year. A five-year commitment represents a meaningful economic development opportunity for any destination, given the ancillary hotel, restaurant, and event-services revenue that surrounds a flagship industry ceremony. For the foodservice and hospitality sectors, the awards function as a demand signal — nominees and winners routinely report measurable increases in reservations and press coverage following the ceremony.
Chicago has served as the longtime home of the awards. The Foundation's decision to open a national competition signals a strategic willingness to relocate the event and potentially expand its geographic footprint across U.S. culinary markets. Cities with strong convention infrastructure, established fine-dining and independent-restaurant ecosystems, and destination-hospitality investment are expected to be competitive entrants.
Industry Implications
For destination-marketing organizations and convention bureaus, the RFP represents a rare category-one hospitality prize — a recurring, nationally televised event with a built-in audience of chefs, restaurateurs, beverage professionals, and food media. Local restaurant associations and hotel groups in candidate cities are likely to coordinate joint bids, given the scale of coordination required to host an event of this profile.
The search also arrives at a moment of heightened competition among U.S. cities for marquee culinary and hospitality events, as municipalities increasingly treat food-and-beverage tourism as a core economic-development lever. Cities such as New Orleans, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Atlanta have each invested heavily in culinary-destination branding in recent years, and any of those markets could mount credible bids.
Industry observers following the restaurant awards and recognition landscape will note that the Foundation's structured procurement approach mirrors practices common in sports and entertainment venue searches, lending the process institutional credibility and broadening the field beyond legacy markets. Coverage of destination-hospitality trends and foodservice industry events suggests that whichever city lands the contract will see compounding benefits across its broader hospitality economy for the duration of the agreement.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
