The RAMMY Awards are a coveted accolade across the Metropolitan Washington region due to prestige, the long history of the awards, and the sound policies and procedures with which they are administered.
Governance, Structure, & Operations
The RAMMY Awards consists of five independent recognition programs with different judging/selection processes: Restaurant Awards, Public Voting Restaurant Awards, Employee of the Year and Manager of the Year Awards, RAMW Executive Committee Awards, and Regional Food and Beverage Producer of the Year. These awards remain subject to change year-to-year.
RAMW Board of Directors Awards are selected by the RAMW Executive Committee and/or the Board of Directors.
The Honorary Milestone Award
The Joan Hisaoka Allied Member of the Year Award
Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award
John G. Laytham Exceptional Leadership and Impact Award
AWARD NOMINATIONS & WINNER-SELECTION PROCESS
Who is eligible? Any RAMW member, in good standing, who meets all the requirements of the category is eligible for nomination in the Restaurant and Individual Award categories. See 2024 eligibility details.
Restaurant Award Nomination Submissions
Nominations are submitted online only through the nominations website by RAMW members, vendors and suppliers, restaurant owners, operators, staff, and the general public. The RAMMY Awards Judges Panel may also submit nominations, if restaurants they would like to be considered are not already entered by other sources. Submissions are reviewed by RAMW for eligibility and those submissions that are deemed eligible are approved for judging.
Fees: There is no fee to submit.
Submissions are open for a period of 4-5 weeks between January and February. The call for nominations is sent out to the RAMW membership and general public electronically.
In years where the Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award is presented, the honoree is chosen by the RAMW Executive Committee and does not have an online nominations process. The Honorary Milestone Award and the Joan Hisaoka Allied Member of the Year Award nominees and winners are also chosen by the RAMW Executive Committee.
Finalists are announced at the RAMMYS Nominations Announcement event open to membership, media, and sponsors by invitation only.
With the exception of the Duke Zeibert Award and the Honorary Milestone Award which are announced in advance of the RAMMY Awards, the winners in all other categories are announced at the RAMMY Awards Gala, typically held in summer each year. The results are kept confidential by the management staff of RAMW and the participating judges, until the Awards Ceremony.
Public Voting Restaurant Awards
The Panel chooses the finalists in the Public Voting Restaurant categories using the same process and criteria as other categories. The winners in each of the categories are chosen by popular vote through an online voting system hosted by a RAMMYS media partner NBC4 Washington. NBC4 promotes the online voting and collects the online votes which are then tallied and verified by an auditing firm. The voting rules and regulations are hosted online at NBC4.
Employee and Manager Awards
The Employee of the Year and Manager of the Year categories require extensive essay-based answers to questions during the nominations submission process. There is a second panel (Employee/Manager Panel) of three appointed judges made up of food service industry professionals and educators who evaluate the Employee and Manger submissions. The Employee/Manager Panel determines the 5 finalists in each of the two categories based on the essay questions submitted. To determine the winners, the Employee/Manager Panel holds in-person interviews in April. The Employee/Manager Panel judges are invited by RAMW, are unpaid, and participate on a volunteer basis.
RESTAURANT AWARDS JUDGES PANEL
The Restaurant Awards Judges Panel of The RAMMY Awards is responsible for considering and choosing the nominees in both the Restaurant Awards and the Public Voting Restaurant Awards.
Eligibility // Eligible judges are invited members of the Washington, DC and/or Mid-Atlantic region media community in print journalism, radio, broadcast television, and digital media, who demonstrate a dedicated and knowledgeable background in the region’s restaurants and food service industry.
The Panel is responsible for considering and choosing the winners for only the Restaurant and Individual Awards).
The Panel, administered by Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), is invited by the RAMW President and CEO. The Panel shall include no fewer than 7 and a maximum of 13 individuals.
The judges’ term of service runs between 8-10 months depending on the date of the scheduled RAMMY Awards Gala event, beginning in December each year.
Term End Date // One month following the date of the RAMMY Awards Gala.
Expectations // It is expected that participating judges have and maintain expertise on dining trends, food innovations, food service business operations, front of house service, and culinary excellence. Eligible judges are well-versed on past, present, and upcoming restaurant industry chefs, restaurateurs, mixologists, sommeliers, projects and businesses. Eligible judges have demonstrated intimate understanding of the culinary scope of the Washington, DC region, and/or of Northern Virginia, and/or of the Maryland suburbs surrounding Washington, DC. It is expected that judges dine out at restaurants across the region with frequent vigor and repetition and increase this dining out during the nominations and judging process.
Confidentiality // The Panel members are required to, per agreement, pledge their confidentiality during and after their service, and they are anonymous to the public.
Ethical Responsibility // The Panel members are expected to read, acknowledge, and sign the Ethical Conduct Agreement and conduct themselves with the highest of standards as is expected of the RAMW staff and Board of Directors.
Payment // The Panel members participate in The RAMMY Awards Restaurant Awards Judges Panel as unpaid, invited volunteers.
Dining Reimbursement // Panel members have a modest dining stipend per judge to spend on restaurant dining during the nominations and winner selection process.
When considering the nominations, the Panel first reviews the online submissions and determines if they would like to collectively add any additional and eligible submissions to the list. The Panel then takes part in an elimination process to narrow the larger list down to between 20-30 contenders in each category.
The restaurants, businesses, and/or individuals are evaluated based on the eligibility criteria listed in each description on the official “Category Descriptions” guidelines.
Submissions are evaluated based on various points per type of category, including:
Restaurant Categories
Service
Food (savory and sweet)
Ambiance
Beverage program
Overall dining experience
Individual Chef Categories (Chef of the Year, Rising Culinary Star, Pastry Chef):
Exemplary culinary talent
Innovative menu
Contributes to a positive work environment and/or facilitates a positive work environment; prioritizes professional workplace culture
Public acclaim
Employee of the Year
Serves as a model employee and team player
Displays outstanding service, knowledge, and excellent work ethic
Contributes to a positive work environment
Manager of the Year
Displays outstanding service and excellent work ethic
Demonstrates positive qualities as a leader
Serves as an ambassador of the restaurant’s vision, mission, and definition of success
Facilitates a positive work environment and prioritizes professional workplace culture
Restaurateur
Influential as a business leader in the regional dining scene
Demonstrates innovation in the region’s evolving dining scene
Demonstrates dedication to healthy business growth and entrepreneurship
Establishments show consistency in restaurant quality, service, experience across the board
Demonstrates positive qualities as a leader
Invests in staff and management to enhance professional development and career advancement of those working in the organization
Facilitates a positive work environment and prioritizes professional workplace culture
Advocates for diversity and inclusion as important hiring standards
Businesses and leadership demonstrate a vested interest in the communities and neighborhoods where the businesses are located
Beverage Categories
Knowledgeable staff
Diversity of menu
Quality of products
Diversity of price points
Creativity of cocktails
Presentation of cocktails
Service
Attentiveness of staff
Friendliness
Knowledgeable about food, beverage, establishment
Quality of service
Overall impression of staff
The judging criteria for choosing the winners are the same as the criteria for choosing finalists. The Winners are announced live at The RAMMYS Gala event.
Reconsideration and Revocation of Nominations and/or Awards
RAMW and The RAMMY Awards Gala reserves the right to reconsider and/or revoke any awards should circumstances or information arise that the Panel was not aware of at the time of judging and/or awarding, or based on any situations that becomes known after the judging commenced.
The judges panel has policies and procedures to follow in these circumstances which take into consideration the eligibility requirements, judging criteria, ethical conduct and the totality of factual information the panel has access to about the candidates being considered or reconsidered.
QUESTIONS?
Please email us at therammys@ramw.org