Menulog Restaurant Awards Are Back To Support And Celebrate Kiwi Businesses

With the NZ restaurant industry continuing to face challenges amid COVID, online food delivery platform Menulog is using its annual Restaurant Awards to support hospitality businesses and celebrate restaurants across the country.

The annual search for the stars of New Zealand takeaway venues this year includes:

• The supreme People’s Choice Award
• Trending categories such as Best New Dish and Best Supporting Dish
• Local winners to recognise top restaurants from different regions

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

Nominations for the People’s Choice Award are now open until Sunday October 24. Restaurants can submit their nomination by highlighting what makes them a star worthy of taking out the trophy at restaurantawards.menulog.co.nz.

From October 27 customers can then vote for their favourite local Menulog listed restaurant, with every vote putting them in the draw to win one of fifty Menulog vouchers worth $50.

The winning People’s Choice restaurant receives an advertising and media package worth $2,500, to help promote and grow their business, $1,000 to put towards their venue, along with other prizes.

TRENDING AND LOCAL AWARDS

The 2021 Trending Awards showcase the cuisine that Kiwis loved most in the last year with categories such as Best Supporting Dish, Best New Dish, and Best Noods Sent.

Other fun categories include Best Meal To Order After You've Been Dumped, Best Munchies To Order At 4:20pm, and Top Cuisines Ordered While Watching The All Blacks. The category winners are found based on Menulog data consisting of orders, reviews and ratings from the last 12 months.

The Local Awards celebrate the most popular restaurants by cuisine in different regions throughout Aotearoa.

All winners, including restaurants in the Trending and Local categories, will be announced on November 22.

Last year’s People’s Choice winner, Mr Pizza in Helensville, west of Auckland, beat out hundreds of other restaurants to win the grand title.

Owner of Mr Pizza, Jyothi Muddam said the restaurant’s fusion of Italian and Indian cuisine, it’s focus on sourcing local produce, and an inviting culture, has seen it build up a very loyal following since opening six years ago.

“Winning the People’s Choice Award last year really helped our business, especially after all we had endured with Covid.

“The win was testament to how much our customers enjoy our food and the part we play in the local Helensville community. It’s a great area, we love being part of it, and we can’t wait to enter the People’s Choice Award again this year.”

Menulog Commercial Director, Rory Murphy said: “ We’re so excited to be kicking off the Menulog Restaurant Awards for 2021. Not only are these a way to recognise and celebrate the delicious food Menulog’s restaurant partners create, but also allows us to highlight the support shown to restaurants by their local communities.

“Of course it remains a challenging time for many businesses, but it is so wonderful to see Kiwis continue to support local venues, by ordering click and collect or delivery as restaurants adapt to various alert levels.”

Since Menulog launched its Full Delivery Service in February it has doubled the number of restaurants on its platform meaning the Awards are open to more than 2000 Menulog Restaurant Partners from the Bay of Islands to Invercargill.

KEY DATES FOR MENULOG RESTAURANT AWARDS

· Nominations for People’s Choice Award close – 24 October

· People’s Choice Award voting opens – 27 October

· People’s Choice Award voting closes – 10 November

· Winners announced – 22 November

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