Press release
22 October 2015
The winners of the Best Everyday Eateries awards announced – as voted by the public
The best everyday eateries across South Africa, as voted by the public, have been crowned. The winners of the inaugural Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Best Everyday Eateries were announced at functions in Johannesburg and Cape Town this week. The top names for Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were revealed at a cocktail event at the Mercedes-Benz Bedfordview showroom in Johannesburg on Tuesday 20 October, and the winners from the Western Cape and Eastern Cape were announced at a function at the Mercedes-Benz Century City showroom in Cape Town on Thursday 22 October.
The results of these new awards have been determined by user reviews and ratings on www.eatout.co.za over the year period from 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2015. (They differ from the annual Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards, which are focused on fine dining restaurants and will be held on Sunday 15 November at Mistico Equestrian Estate near Paarl.)
Says Anelde Greeff, editor-in-chief of Eat Out: “The Eat Out community has always been incredibly vocal about their restaurant experiences. Finally, with this new set of awards, we can recognise the fans’ favourite everyday eateries in each province and share them with South Africa. We also hope the awards will encourage more people to visit www.eatout.co.za and tell us about their eating out experiences.
“While thousands of online reviews have been posted, a winner has not been awarded for every category in each province due to our strict criteria. We hope that user participation will grow in the years to come so we can continue to hear about and highlight the great eateries across South Africa,” says Greeff.
When posting restaurant reviews, users award star ratings from one (poor) to five (excellent) for food and drinks, ambience and service. The restaurants with the highest star ratings in their category and province over the full year were given top honours. Eat Out also celebrates the eateries that were crowd favourites but didn’t quite meet all the criteria to win with ‘highly commended’ certificates.
Says Claudia Walters of Mercedes-Benz South Africa, “We are excited to be part of this new set of accolades and to see these trendy eateries that have been recognised by local patrons.”
The 2015 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Everyday Eateries winners and highly commended restaurants per province are as follows:
Gauteng
Best African Eatery: Winner – La Terrasse Rooftop Café and Deli, Pretoria
Best Asian Eatery: Highly commended – The Great Eastern Food Bar, Johannesburg (Melville)
Best Bistro: Winner – Boston Bistro, Pretoria; highly commended – Licorish Bistro, Johannesburg
Best Burger Eatery: Highly commended – Beefcakes in Illovo, Johannesburg
Best Coffee Shop: Highly commended – Afro-boer, Pretoria
Best Indian Eatery: Highly commended – Geet Indian Restaurant, Pretoria
Best Italian Eatery: Winner – Café del Sol in Olivedale, Johannesburg; highly commended – Ritrovo, Pretoria
Best Steakhouse: Winner – The Local Grill in Parktown North, Johannesburg; highly commended – Wombles Steakhouse, Johannesburg
KwaZulu-Natal
Best Asian Eatery: Winner – Nam Jai Sushi & Thai Restaurant, Durban
Best Bistro: Winner – Boiler Room Café, Durban
Best Country-Style Eatery: Winner – Oaklands Country Manor, near Van Reenen
Best Indian Eatery: Highly commended – Jeera Restaurant at Suncoast Towers Hotel, Durban
Western Cape
Best African Eatery: Highly commended – Addis in Cape Ethiopian Restaurant, Cape Town
Best Asian Eatery: Winner – Tjing Tjing Torii, Cape Town; highly commended – Active Sushi in Hudson Street, Cape Town
Best Bistro: Winner – Karoux, McGregor; highly commended – Joostenberg Bistro, Stellenbosch
Best Burger Eatery: Winner – Inside & You’re Out, Cape Town; highly commended – Jerry’s Burger Bar in Gardens, Cape Town
Best Coffee Shop: Winner – Tribe 112, Cape Town; highly commended – Truth Coffee on Buitenkant Street, Cape Town
Best Country-Style Eatery: Winner – Fresh at Paul Cluver, Elgin; highly commended – The Table at De Meye, Stellenbosch
Best Indian Eatery: Highly commended – Maharajah South Indian Restaurant, Cape Town
Best Italian Eatery: Winner – Il Leone Mastrantonio, Cape Town; highly commended – Massimo’s, Cape Town
Best Seafood Eatery: Winner – The Deckhouse Crab Shack and BBQ, Cape Town; highly commended – Kalky’s, Cape Town
Best Steakhouse: Winner – Pirates Steakhouse and Pub (Plumstead), Cape Town; highly commended – The Eatery Wood Fired Grill in Claremont, Cape Town
Eastern Cape
Best Asian Eatery: Highly commended – Fushin Sushi and Eastern Cuisine, Port Elizabeth
Best Bistro: Highly commended – Bridge Street Brewery, Port Elizabeth
Mpumalanga
Best Coffee Shop: Highly commended – The Food Fundi, Nelspruit
The review-based criteria for the Best Everyday Eateries encourages diners to help raise their favourite restaurants to fame while also supporting Stop Hunger Now SA. For each review posted on www.eatout.co.za, Eat Out pledges a meal to Stop Hunger Now SA. Since the launch of this partnership in November 2014, over 3 000 meals have been pledged.
