Everyone deserves a pat on the back for a job well done, and the hard working restaurant, bar, bakery and cafe operators of the East Bay have battled a litany of challenges in 2025 to make our mornings a little brighter and our nights out a little spicier. Tariffs, egg shortages, inflation, labor struggles, and changing customer tastes — you name it, the industry has confronted it this year.
Now it’s time to give flowers to the ones who rose above it all to still deliver the tastiest, flakiest, fizziest, creamiest, and most comforting dishes and drinks of the year.
The Nosh Awards are expanding to 10 categories this year. We’ve added awards for Best Bakery, Best Breakfast, Best Coffee Shop and Best Wine Bar, to go along with the holdover categories of Best New Restaurant, Best Restaurant Overall, Best Restaurant for Special Occasions, Best New Bar, Best Bar Overall and Best Beer Garden/Taproom. To nominate your favorites just fill out the form at the bottom of this story, which you can also find at this link.
If you need a refresher on what opened and closed this year, you can reference our openings and closings sections, and the Nosh Features section is also a great place to review some of the biggest developments in East Bay dining in 2025.
Nominations will be accepted through Sunday, Nov. 2, and will be followed by a two-week voting period to pick the winners in each category. Winners will be announced at the beginning of December. Only East Bay business are eligible for the awards.
Also, Nosh is throwing a happy hour awards kickoff party at Brix Factory Brewing, Wednesday, October. 22, 5-7 p.m. to get awards season started in style. Join us for drink discounts and be among the first to submit your nominations ballot.
