World's 50 Best Restaurants retires Maido in Lima tonight
Lima stages the ceremony for the first time in South America tonight, and defending champion Maido exits the ranking for good as a new global No. 1 is crowned.
World's 50 Best Restaurants holds its ceremony in Lima tonight, the first time in the ranking's 24-year history that a new global No. 1 is crowned in South America.
The event takes place at the Teatro Municipal de Lima. A welcome programme opened the build-up on November 2, followed a day later by the 50 Best Talks forum and ticketed Signature Sessions pairing ranked chefs with Lima kitchens. It is also the first ceremony staged under the group's new name, The 50 Best Restaurants, part of a wider rebrand to The 50 adopted in September.
The night marks the end of the road for Maido. The Nikkei restaurant run by chef Mitsuharu "Micha" Tsumura won the title in Turin in June 2025 and enters the Best of the Best hall of fame tonight, a status that permanently removes past winners from future rankings.
A ranking built on Europe and Asia spends tonight proving it travels.
Peru's run at the top of the list
Peru has produced two of the last three World's Best Restaurant titles. Central, run by Virgilio Martínez and Pía León, topped the 2023 list; Maido took over in 2025 on the strength of Nikkei technique and the kind of citrus-cured ceviche that defines Lima's kitchens. Spain's Disfrutar held the title in between, in 2024. No other country has matched Peru's record over the same three years.
Four Lima restaurants made the outgoing 2025 list: Maido, Kjölle, Mérito and Mayta. The city also has history with the franchise, having hosted the first Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants ceremony back in 2013.
The 2026 ceremony was originally pencilled in for Abu Dhabi before organisers switched the venue to Lima. Peru's trade and tourism promotion agency, PromPerú, projects the event will bring close to US$2 million into the city's economy. "This marks a historic milestone for Peru," said Berthin Gómez Vela, the country's minister of foreign trade and tourism.
What Maido's exit means
With the reigning champion out of contention, the 2026 list opens a clear run for a new name at No. 1. Organiser Rikki Tidball has called the move to Lima a first for the ceremony "in South America for the very first time this November," framing the night as much around the host city as the winner.
The results stream live on The 50's YouTube channel once the Teatro Municipal's doors close tonight.
Sources
- Latin Times ·
- The Upcoming ·
- The 50 ·
