Terms & Conditions

Welcome to the International Restaurant Awards. These Terms & Conditions (the “Terms”) set out the basis on which restaurants, chefs, hospitality groups and their representatives may enter, participate in and benefit from our awards programme. By submitting a nomination, accepting a place on a shortlist, or using any mark, certificate or title associated with the Awards, you agree to be bound by the Terms below. Please read them carefully alongside our Privacy Policy and Refund Policy, which form part of this agreement. In these Terms, “we”, “us” and “the Awards” refer to the International Restaurant Awards and its organising body; “you” and “the entrant” refer to the individual or establishment participating.

Eligibility

The Awards are open to licensed dining establishments and hospitality professionals operating lawfully in their respective jurisdictions, including fine-dining rooms, casual restaurants, cafés, hotel and resort dining venues, and culinary leaders. An entrant must be a trading business with a verifiable address, or an individual professionally engaged in the hospitality sector. Establishments must hold the food-safety, health and operating permits required where they trade. We reserve the right to request supporting documentation and to decline or withdraw any entry that does not meet these conditions or that, in our reasonable judgement, is incompatible with the standards and reputation of the Awards. Eligibility is assessed per cycle; a previous entry or honour does not guarantee future eligibility. You can review the available honours on our Award Categories page and the sectors we recognise via Restaurant Sectors.

Nominations

Nominations may be submitted by an establishment on its own behalf, by a colleague or representative, or by a third party such as a guest or industry peer. By submitting a nomination you confirm that the information provided is accurate, current and not misleading, and that you are authorised to submit it. Where you nominate another party, you confirm you have a reasonable basis for doing so. We may verify any claim, contact the nominated establishment, and request further evidence before progressing an entry. Submissions that are incomplete, fraudulent, defamatory or made in bad faith will be rejected. Full details of how entries are evaluated appear on our Judging Process page.

Fees & Payment

Certain stages of participation, including category entry, assessment and recognition packages, may carry a fee. Applicable charges, currencies and what each fee covers are published on our Fees page and confirmed at the point of payment. Fees are due in full before the relevant stage proceeds and are payable in the currency stated at checkout. You are responsible for any taxes, bank charges or currency-conversion costs imposed by your payment provider. Submission of a fee does not in itself guarantee shortlisting or a win. Refunds, where available, are governed exclusively by our Refund Policy.

Judging & Decisions

Entries are assessed by an independent panel drawn from chefs, restaurateurs, hospitality operators and culinary specialists. Evaluation considers factors such as cuisine quality, consistency, guest experience, service, ambience, leadership and contribution to the dining community, weighted according to the relevant category. The panel’s deliberations are confidential, and all decisions regarding shortlists, finalists and winners are final. We do not enter into individual correspondence disputing the merits of a result. We reserve the right to reallocate an entry to a more appropriate category, to withhold an award where no entrant meets the required standard, or to introduce, merge or retire categories between cycles.

Use of Winner Marks

Winners, finalists and recognised establishments are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to display the corresponding Award logos, badges, titles and certificates. These marks may be used to describe the specific honour received, in the specific cycle in which it was awarded, across your website, menus, signage and marketing. You must not alter the marks, combine them with other logos in a misleading way, or use them to imply an endorsement, ranking or status that was not conferred. Misuse, or use after a licence has been revoked, entitles us to require immediate removal and to withdraw recognition. Past honours are recorded on our Past Winners page.

Intellectual Property

All content forming the Awards programme, including our name, the ✦ brand glyph, logos, certificate designs, written materials, photography and the structure of this website, is owned by or licensed to the Awards and protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of that property to you. By submitting text, images or other material as part of an entry, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce and publish that material for the purposes of administering, judging and promoting the Awards, and you confirm you hold the rights necessary to grant this licence.

Liability

The Awards are provided in good faith and as a recognition of culinary and hospitality excellence. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all warranties not expressly set out in these Terms and accept no liability for indirect, incidental or consequential loss, including loss of profit, reputation, custom or anticipated benefit, arising from participation in or the outcome of the Awards. Our total aggregate liability to any entrant, for any cause, shall not exceed the total fees actually paid by that entrant in the relevant cycle. Nothing in these Terms limits liability for fraud, or for any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Privacy

We collect and process personal and business information in order to administer entries, communicate with you and operate the programme. The data we gather, how we use it, the basis on which we rely and the rights available to you are described in our Privacy Policy. By participating you consent to that processing. We treat the contact details of entrants with care and do not sell personal information to third parties. Where you provide information about colleagues or other individuals, you confirm you are entitled to share it with us for these purposes.

Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in the programme, our practices or legal requirements. The version published on this page, bearing the most recent revision date, governs your participation. Where changes are material we will take reasonable steps to highlight them, but it remains your responsibility to review the Terms periodically. Continued participation after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

Governing Law

These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter, are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Emirate of Dubai and the applicable federal laws of the United Arab Emirates. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Dubai, UAE, for the resolution of any such dispute, save that we may seek injunctive relief in any competent jurisdiction to protect our intellectual property or marks.

Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms, your entry, or the use of Award marks, our team will be glad to assist. Please reach us through the Contact page, where you will find our enquiry form and correspondence details. For answers to common queries about entering and participating, see our FAQ and the short list of questions below. To begin a submission, you may proceed to our nomination form at any time.