UK’s best restaurants, pubs & bars revealed at the Casual Dining Awards 2023

January 13, 20265 Minutes

Hawksmoor, Loungers, Mission Mars, The Ivy Collection and Dishoom have been named as the UK’s best pub, bar, and restaurant operators at the long-awaited return of the Casual Dining Awards, which took place last week (on 27 April) at the London Marriott Hotel, in Grosvenor Square.

Mowgli, Pizza Pilgrims, wagamama, Caravan, Nando’s, Cosy Club, and Hickory’s Smokehouse were among the other leading brands who took home prestigious awards – covering everything from best family dining experience, and menu innovation to best brand marketing and design.

Multiple award winners included Mission Mars / Albert’s Schloss, Hawksmoor, and Bacchanalia.

Mission Mars had an evening to remember with Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod winning the coveted Trailblazer of the Year Award and then winning four more awards on the night for its popular Albert’s Schloss brand and for Mission Mars as Casual Dining Group of the Year.

Mission Mars co-founder Roy Ellis commented “The Casual Dining Awards are an energetic and enthusiastic celebration of some wonderful businesses in our industry.  Hospitality is a tough industry facing unprecedented challenges – it’s good to occasionally focus on the positives and celebrate success.  We have more than 1,000 colleagues working hard to deliver for our guests. The awards we received on the night are a tribute to their commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication.”

Stephen Herring at Diversified Communications UK (organiser of the awards and Casual Dining show) says: “The return of the Casual Dining Awards was the best yet. It’s been a great opportunity for this vibrant, passionate, and creative industry to get together and celebrate their successes. It’s exciting to see so much innovation, ambition, and dedication this resilient sector has to offer. Thank you to all the sponsors and judges and congratulations to all the winners!”

The Special Award, which goes to someone who isn’t an operator but has made an incredible contribution to the sector, went to Mark McCulloch for his work as the founder of Hospitality Rising. Previous winners of the award include Peter Martin from Peach 20/20 and Kate Nicholls OBE, Chief Executive, UKHospitality. Hospitality Rising seeks to solve the hospitality recruitment crisis and change the perception of hospitality as a career. In the first six months it’s seen over 100,000 applications.

The Casual Dining Awards winners in full:

Special Award

Mark McCulloch, Founder, Hospitality Rising

Trailblazer of the Year – sponsored by Luxlo

Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod, Mission Mars

New Concept of the Year – sponsored by IPW1

Bacchanalia

Best New Pub/Bar Site – sponsored by Commercial Kitchen

Albert’s Schloss, Liverpool

Best New Restaurant Site – sponsored by Commercial Kitchen

Hawksmoor, Liverpool

Sustainable Operator – sponsored by Amber

Hawksmoor

Employer of the Year (1-49 sites) – sponsored by Bizimply

Dishoom

Employer of the Year (50+ sites) – sponsored by Aston Lark

Nando’s

Menu Innovation (1-25 sites) – sponsored by fresh direct

Caravan

Menu Innovation (26+ sites) – sponsored by Aviko

Cosy Club

Brand Marketing of the Year – sponsored by Casual Dining

Pizza Pilgrims

Best Designed Pub/Bar of the Year – sponsored by London Design Fair

Albert’s Schloss, Liverpool designed in-house in collaboration with JSA Design

Best Designed Restaurant of the Year – sponsored by London Design Fair
Bacchanalia, Mayfair Designed in-house/Richard Caring

Best Family Dining Experience – sponsored by Reynolds

Hickory’s Smokehouse

Pub/Bar Brand of the Year (1-49 sites) – sponsored by Northern Restaurant & Bar

Albert’s Schloss

Pub/Bar Brand of the Year (50+ sites) – sponsored by Angelo Poretti
Loungers

Restaurant Brand of the Year (1-19 sites) – sponsored by Aston Lark

Mowgli

Restaurant Brand of the Year (20-50 sites) – sponsored by Boutinot

The Ivy Collection

Restaurant Brand of the Year (51+ sites) – sponsored by Red Bull

wagamama

Casual Dining Group of the Year – sponsored by Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners

Mission Mars

For further information, including the full list of winners, finalists, and judges, please visit www.cdawards.co.uk/winners-2.

Join the winners at Casual Dining

Many of this year’s Casual Dining Award winners (and finalists) will be attending their industry show – Casual Dining at ExCeL London on 27-28 September – Co-located with sister shows Commercial Kitchen and lunch!, Casual Dining is an unmissable two days for the restaurant, pub & bar sector. To register for a free trade ticket, visit www.casualdiningshow.co.uk and use priority code VCD3 (direct link: https://rb.gy/51d4x)sual Dining Awa5ds

Casual Dining Awards 2024

Due to the phenomenal success of this year’s awards the organisers are pleased to announce that next year’s awards will take place at the London Marriot Grosvenor Square on 25th April 2024. Full details will be announced in due course at www.cdawards.co.uk