WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Restaurant and Individual Categories:
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. Need to check if your membership is in good standing? Email membership@ramw.org.

For the 2024 awards, the five Publicly Voted Categories are open to any RAMW member restaurant, or foodservice business in the DC Metropolitan region that meets the general description of the category and is eligible for recognition. Five finalists will be chosen in each category by the RAMMYS judges panel. The winners will be chosen by a public vote.

For all categories, restaurants and businesses that were previously named winners in past RAMMYS are not eligible to be nominated in the same category for five years following their win.

Winners from the past 5 years ARE eligible to be nominated in any other categories, except for the category in which they won.

Finalists who did not win their category are eligible to be nominated again in the same category.

Who can nominate?
Nominations for 2024 can be submitted online only through the nominations website by anyone, including RAMW and its members, non-members, public relations representatives, restaurant owners, operators, staff, and the general public. Submissions are reviewed by RAMW for eligibility and approved for judging. There is no fee to enter submissions. Nominations are open January 2, 2024 through February 29, 2024.

How does the judging process work?
Once nominations are submitted for the restaurant and individual categories, RAMW will review submissions for eligibility and approve them for judging. Submissions in the judges-vote categories will be reviewed by the panel of anonymous judges. Finalists will be announced April 8, 2024. 

The public voting process will take place via our RAMMYS media partners at NBC Washington. The public will vote to determine the winner in the 5 public voting categories. The winner in each public voting category will be recognized at the 2024 RAMMYS.

When are Winners announced? 
At the RAMMY Awards on July 21, 2024 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. 

Who are the judges?
The RAMMYS judges are an anonymous panel of journalists and media representatives. The members of the judges panel change each year in some capacity to best capture the needs of the program. The judges are appointed based on their thorough knowledge of the restaurant industry in the Metropolitan Washington region and represent various jurisdictions including the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Maryland (Montgomery County and Prince Georges County). The judges are required to pledge their confidentiality and are anonymous not only to the public, but also from each other.

How do I submit nominations? 
Nominations can be submitted online via The RAMMYS nominations portal from January 2, 2024 through February 29, 2024. 

Questions?

Please email us at therammys@ramw.org