The Good Food Guide has just dropped its most hotly anticipated list of the year, so if you've been sleeping on your neighbourhood restaurant scene, consider this your wake-up call.
Here's everything you need to know about the London restaurants in The Good Food Guide's 100 Best Local Restaurants 2026.
Chingford's Gina's (exterior pictured left; beef and truffle dish pictured right) was the highest-placed London restaurant.
What Is The Good Food Guide's Best Local Restaurants Award?
If you've never heard of the Good Food Guide's Best Local Restaurants awards, allow us to fix that immediately. Now in its 16th year, this is the annual celebration that champions the kind of restaurants that actually matter to people — the independently run, community-rooted, genuinely brilliant local spots that you'd be devastated to lose.
The awards celebrate the independent restaurants that define their neighbourhoods. Rooted in reader nominations and rigorously inspected by the Guide's team, the list shines a light on the most exciting, accessibly priced places to eat across Great Britain, from bustling city dining rooms to small-town gems and rural hideaways.
The process is rigorous. Each year, tens of thousands of nominations are submitted by readers championing their favourite local restaurants. The strongest leads are then followed up by the Good Food Guide's nationwide network of inspectors, who assess even the most hard-to-reach restaurants to ensure no standout local slips through the net. Their reports are reviewed by the Guide's editors, who make the final call on which restaurants earn a place in the 100 Best Local Restaurants list, alongside regional winners and one overall Best Local Restaurant.
What Makes A Best Local Restaurant?
Not just any restaurant can make the list. To qualify, a Best Local Restaurant will generally need to be independently run and owned by the chef or a hands-on proprietor, offer regularly changing seasonal menus at affordable prices, demonstrate strong relationships with local suppliers, be rooted in the local community, and give customers a genuine, warm welcome. It's the kind of place that draws you back time and again.
When Were The 2026 Winners Announced?
The Good Food Guide announced its list of Britain's 100 Best Local Restaurants 2026, in partnership with Square, at an awards ceremony at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on 13th July 2026. This year, the list was ranked from 1–100 for the first time — adding a new layer of competition to an already fiercely contested award.
London Spots In The Good Food Guide's 100 Best Local Restaurants
London had a strong showing in this year's list, with multiple restaurants from across the capital earning their place among Britain's finest neighbourhood dining spots. Here are the London restaurants that made the 2026 list.
🏆 Gina, Chingford — London Regional Winner & No. 4 In Britain
The headline act for London this year is Gina in Chingford — named London's regional winner and ranked fourth on the national list. That's a remarkable achievement for a restaurant that only opened in 2025.
Located where the outer London suburbs fray into the thickets of Epping Forest, Gina was opened by husband and wife duo Ravneet and Mattie Taiano, who spent the last 15 years working in London's best kitchens. although Ravneet is perhaps best known to a wider audience for her time judging on Junior Bake Off. The menu finds itself somewhere between an authentic Italian and a modern British bistro, which has proved a hit with their Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand awarded earlier this year.
- Location: 92 Station Road, Chingford, E4 7BA
Tiella Trattoria, Hackney — No. 6 In Britain
Hot on Gina's heels is Tiella Trattoria in Hackney, which landed at number six on the national list — an extraordinary result for a restaurant that only opened in the past year by chef Dara Klein. After building a devoted following during a two-year residency at Islington's Compton Arms, Klein teamed up with childhood friend and restaurateur Ry Jessup — co-founder of Homeslice pizza and The Plimsoll in Finsbury Park — to take over a 175-year-old Victorian pub on Columbia Road.
Klein's CV, which includes stints at Brawn, Trullo, and Sager & Wilde, is evident in every dish. The menu changes with the seasons and dips into the rarer regional cracks of Italian cuisine, rooted in her Pugliese heritage. The wine list, developed with the founder's father Richard of Artigiano Imports, is as thoughtfully considered as the food.
- Location: 109 Columbia Road, Hackney, E2 7RL
Les 2 Garçons, Crouch End — No. 14 In Britain
There are restaurants that open with a splash and fade within a year, and then there are restaurants like Les 2 Garçons — the kind of place that becomes so woven into the fabric of a neighbourhood that you can't imagine the street without it. Crouch End's beloved French bistro has been packing in locals since 2021, and its place at number 14 on this year's national list is the recognition it has long deserved.
The two garçons in question are chef Robert Reid and front-of-house maestro Jean-Christophe Slowik. Their friendship and shared passion for food, wine and hospitality goes back to 1998, when they met working together at Marco Pierre White's three Michelin-starred The Oak Room. Nowadays, you'll still find them present at almost every service, harking back to a bygone era of hospitality.
- Location: 14 Middle Lane, Crouch End, N8 8PL
Les 2 Garçons' founders (pictured right) champion a French bistro menu serving dishes like delicious lobster (pictured left) and frites.
Ida, Queen's Park — No. 20 In Britain
Queen's Park's Ida, which was London's regional winner in 2025, returns to the 2026 list at number 20. Opened in 2007 by writer Simonetta Wenkert and her husband Avi, the restaurant and the founders' children have grown up together, with the now-adult kids running day-to-day service.
Ida's soul comes from Avi's mother, whose culinary traditions from her hometown of Cupramontana in the Marche region of Italy stretch beyond being just about the food. It's the kind of place where locals bring visiting friends, where birthdays and catch-ups become memories.
- Location: 167 Fifth Ave, Queen's Park, W10 4DT
Mambow, Clapton — No. 26 In Britain
Mambow has had quite the journey to get here. Starting life as a restaurant on Commercial Street in 2020 (unfortunate timing, to say the least), it pivoted to a meal-kit concept, then a stall in Peckham, before finally landing its permanent home on Lower Clapton Road — and it's been worth every twist of the road.
Run by chef Abby Lee, who brings a Le Cordon Bleu diploma, Michelin-starred kitchen experience in Italy, and a childhood spent in her family's bakery in Malaysia, Mambow is 500 square feet of high-octane cooking. The strapline says it all: 'Malaysian Heat + Juicy Wines'. Expect exhilarating dishes inspired by Abby's family recipes — otak-otak prawn toast, squid stuffed with pork belly mince, and a Kerabu section that demands your full attention — alongside natural wines and a room that buzzes with the kind of energy that makes you want to stay for one more round. Mambow also holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and it's easy to see why.
- Location: 78 Lower Clapton Road, Clapton, E5 0RN
Janda Diner, Peckham — No. 37 In Britain
After Mambow departed Peckham for pastures north of the river, the neighbourhood had a gap for a great Malaysian restaurant. Janda Diner has more than filled those boots. Tucked behind the White Horse pub at the tip of Rye Lane, Janda is the creation of head chef Ady Yacob — a Grand Diplôme graduate of Le Cordon Bleu who cooks the home-style food he grew up with, adding verve and no-holds-barred indulgence.
The name 'Janda' means female divorcee in Malay, recast here as an icon of freedom and empowerment. In its first year, Janda was honoured as a best-in-the-city restaurant by Time Out London, so this Good Food Guide listing confirms what Peckham already knew.
- Location: Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 4TP
Home SW15, Putney — No. 49 In Britain
Home SW15 is a neighbourhood brasserie on Upper Richmond Road with a pavement terrace, a long bar, and a menu of modern European dishes that lets quality ingredients do the talking. What sets Home apart is the community it has built around itself. When the restaurant faced closure during lockdown, regulars rallied together to purchase personalised bricks in the restaurant's wall — and you can still see them there today.
That's a neighbourhood restaurant doing its job properly. The team has been in place for years, the welcome is always warm, and the food is consistently excellent. It's no surprise that the Good Food Guide has recognised it not once, but twice.
- Location: 146 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, SW15 2SW
Logma, Hackney — No. 51 In Britain
One of the most talked-about openings in east London in recent memory, Logma is an Iranian-Iraqi café and bistro on Goldsmiths Row in Hackney, founded by Ziad Halub and Farsin Rabiee. The name is derived from the Persian, Arabic and Turkish word loghmeh (meaning 'perfect bite') and it's an apt description of everything this place does.
Halub (born in London, with roots in Basra, Iraq) and Rabiee (born in Colorado, with roots in Arak, Iran) began hosting supper clubs for friends and family in 2024, which quickly spiralled into takeovers at east London venues. By day, Logma is a welcoming neighbourhood café serving coffee, pastries, and its now-legendary kofte and aubergine sourdough pita sandwiches, which went viral on Instagram and draw long queues. On Wednesday evenings, it transforms into Logma Lates: a bookable BYOB supper club where 18 guests gather around a communal table for a changing set menu of dishes.
Where: 81 Goldsmiths Row, Hackney, E2 8QR
Teal by Sally Abé, Hackney — No. 52 In Britain
After years in other people's kitchens — Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, The Ledbury (three Michelin stars), The Harwood Arms (where she retained the pub's Michelin star) — chef Sally Abé has finally opened her first solo restaurant, and she's chosen a pint-sized site on Wilton Way in Hackney to do it.
Teal is, in Sally's own words, "about celebrating the best of British food, its history, its flavours, and its stories, while championing women, supporting good causes, and building a restaurant that feels rooted in its community." The menu is playful and proudly British: devils and angels on horseback, a brawn scotch egg, Locket's savoury (essentially a very elevated cheese on toast with Stilton, watercress and fresh pear), and haunch of deer with pickled walnut and cavolo nero. Dishes are beautifully executed with a finesse you'd pay considerably more for in Central London.
- Location: Wilton Way, Hackney, E8
Calong, Stoke Newington — No. 81 In Britain
A trip back to Korea inspired chef-owner Joo Won to return to the cooking of his childhood — and the result is Calong, a casual, friendly bistro in the middle of Stoke Newington Church Street that has quietly become one of London's most beloved neighbourhood restaurants.
Joo's time as head chef of Galvin at Windows hasn't gone to waste. His appealingly priced blackboard menu is a masterful light-touch fusion of European technique and Korean flavour. And then there's Joo's Fried Chicken; a dish so good it has been on the menu since day one and shows absolutely no sign of leaving. It's a date spot and no mistake, with food made for sharing and fork fights over who gets the last kimchi fritter.
- Location: 35 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX
Stoke Newington's Calong is a casual Korean bistro crowned 81st best neighbourhood restaurant in the UK.
Lupa, Highbury — No. 99 In Britain
Rounding out London's 2026 cohort is Lupa, the Roman-influenced trattoria that arrived in Highbury in June 2025 with more hype than almost any neighbourhood opening in recent memory — and, it turns out, largely deserved it.
Co-founded by Carousel's Ed Templeton and actor Theo James (yes, that Theo James), with ex-Pidgin head chef Naz Hassan in the kitchen, Lupa is a 28-cover room in a converted old shoemaker's on Highbury Park that feels like a cosy Trastevere osteria. The menu leans into Roman comfort food classics — carbonara, amatriciana, cacio e pepe — reimagined through the lens of contemporary London kitchens, with supplì al telefono croquettes and puntarelle alongside hearty secondi. The pasta dishes are sizable and rich, the Italian wine list is deft and assured, and the room has a glam crowd that reflects the quality of Highbury's dining scene.
- Location: 73 Highbury Park, Highbury, N5 1UA
Brief History Of The Award
The Best Local Restaurants award has been running for 16 years and has evolved considerably over that time. Previously known as Readers' Restaurant of the Year (up until 2016) and then Local Restaurant of the Year (in 2017), the awards have grown into one of the most respected celebrations of independent dining in the country.
Recent overall UK winners include:
- 2026: La Locanda, Gisburn, Lancashire (No. 1 on the ranked list)
- 2025: Lucky Lychee, Winchester — a Malaysian restaurant run from a Greene King pub
- 2024: Bavette, Leeds — described by the Guide as a 'pitch-perfect French bistro'
London has consistently punched above its weight in the regional categories, even when the overall crown has gone elsewhere in the country.
Good Food Guide Best Local Restaurants 2026: FAQs
What is the Good Food Guide's Best Local Restaurants award?
It's an annual award run by the Good Food Guide that celebrates the best independently run, community-focused restaurants across Britain. Now in its 16th year, the list features 100 restaurants ranked nationally, plus regional winners and one overall winner.
How are the winners chosen?
The process starts with public nominations. Tens of thousands are submitted each year by readers championing their favourite local spots. The strongest leads are then followed up by the Good Food Guide's network of secret inspectors, who visit and assess the restaurants. The Guide's editors make the final decisions on the list.
When were the 2026 winners announced?
The 2026 list was announced at an awards ceremony at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on 13 July 2026.
Which London restaurants made the 2026 list?
The confirmed London restaurants in the 2026 top 20 are:
- Gina in Chingford (No. 4, London regional winner)
- Tiella Trattoria in Hackney (No. 6)
- Les 2 Garçons in Crouch End (No. 14)
- Ida in Queen's Park (No. 20)
- Mambow in Clapton (No. 26)
- Janda Diner in Peckham (No. 37)
- Home SW15 in Putney (No. 49)
- Logma in Hackney (No. 51)
- Calong in Stoke Newington (No. 81)
- Lupa in Highbury (No. 99)
Who won the overall Best Local Restaurant award in 2026?
The overall UK winner for 2026 was La Locanda in Gisburn, Lancashire, which topped the newly ranked list of 100.
Do the restaurants need to be in the Good Food Guide already?
No. Restaurants do not need to already be featured in the Good Food Guide to take part in the nominations process. However, the winners must be of Good Food Guide standard and will be included in the Guide as a result.
What's the difference between this and the National Restaurant Awards?
The National Restaurant Awards (won in 2026 by Bouchon Racine in Clerkenwell) celebrate the UK's top 100 restaurants as voted for by an academy of over 200 industry experts including chefs, restaurateurs and food writers. The Good Food Guide's Best Local Restaurants awards are specifically focused on independent, community-rooted neighbourhood restaurants at accessible price points, and are driven primarily by public nominations.
Can I nominate a restaurant for the 2027 awards?
Nominations for 2026 have now closed. Keep an eye on the Good Food Guide's website and newsletter for when nominations open for the 2027 list.
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