Award Winners
The top names in each category were determined by a two-step process. Star ratings given by the public on eatout.co.za from 1 October 2016 to 30 August 2017 were tallied. The restaurants that received a large volume of high scores from fans were then visited by Eat Out’s professional critics, who gave their own ratings. Final results were based on a 50-50 composite score from the public and the critics.
This is the third year running that Eat Out, together with Mercedes-Benz, has invited the public to help choose South Africa’s favourite everyday restaurants.
“While the winners in previous years were determined solely based on public reviews, this year restaurant owners and food enthusiasts asked for the experts on our panel of critics to play a bigger role,” said Anelde Greeff, editor-in-chief of Eat Out.
“It’s always exciting to see the results of these awards, as they give us a clear picture of where people like to dine in their own neighbourhoods. We congratulate the winners on being voted the best by those who matter most – their loyal fans,” said Selvin Govender, Marketing Director – Mercedes-Benz Cars.
The winners – Western Cape
The 2017 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Best Everyday Eateries in the Western Cape are:
Best Asian Eatery: Shio (De Waterkant)
Best Mexican Eatery: Fuego
Best Bistro: The Stack (Gardens)
Best Coffee Shop: Meraki (Stellenbosch)
Best Tapas Eatery: Chefs Warehouse & Canteen (City Bowl)
Best Indian Eatery: The Indian Chapter with Prim Reddy (Bloubergstrand)
Savanna Best Burger Eatery: Royale Eatery & Royale Kitchen (City Centre)
Tramontina Best Steakhouse: Primal Eatery (Gardens)
Highly commended – Western Cape
In addition to the winners, the following runners-up were also awarded highly commended certificates:
Highly commended Asian Eatery: Three Wise Monkeys (Sea Point)
Eat Out Savanna Highly commended Burger Eatery: Hudsons - The Burger Joint (Claremont)
Highly commended Coffee Shop: Betty Blue Bistro (Hermanus)
Highly commended Country-Style Eatery: De Grendel Restaurant (Panorama)
Highly commended Tapas Eatery: The Mess (Green Point)
Eat Out Tramontina highly commended Steakhouse: Rare Grill (Kenilworth)
Gauteng
Winners
Best African Eatery: La Terrasse Rooftop Café & Deli (Menlo Park)
Best Bistro: Carbon Bistro (Brooklyn)
Best Italian Eatery: Coalition (Rosebank)
Best Tapas Eatery: Rockets (Bryanston)
Eat Out Savanna Best Burger Eatery: Craft (Parkhurst)
Eat Out Tramontina Best Steakhouse: The Local Grill (Parktown North)
Highly commended
Highly Commended Asian Eatery: Momo Soko (Sandton)
Highly Commended Coffee Shop: Afro-boer (De Wilgers)
Highly Commended Italian-Inspired Eatery: Forti Grill & Bar (Menlyn Maine)
Highly Commended Indian Eatery: Geet Indian Restaurant (Brooklyn)
Highly Commended Savanna Best Burger Eatery: Dukes Burgers (Greenside)
KwaZulu-Natal
Winners
Eat Out Savanna Best Burger Eatery: Republik (Durban North)
Highly commended
Highly commended Bistro: 9th Avenue Bistro (Morningside)
Highly commended Eat Out Savanna Burger Eatery: S43 Home to That Brewing Co. (Berea)
Mpumalanga
Winner
Best Bistro: The Blue Print (
Best reader review award
For the first time this year, we recognised a reader reviewer chosen from our user base across the whole country, with a goal to encourage more fair, balanced reviewing in an industry blighted by trollery. Read more about the award here, and the true cost of reviews here.)
Winner: Joash Narainsamy
Our editors praised his balanced reviews, which tactfully mentioned pitfalls while applauding successes. Fair, balanced writing helps users to make better dining decisions. Joash reviewed in excess of 40 restaurants on the Eat Out site during the eligible period. Read a few examples of Joash’s reviews here: Momo Soko, Brian Lara Rum Eatery, and Mamasan.
Title Sponsor
Premium luxury vehicle manufacturer Mercedes-Benz aims to live up to its unmistakeable strapline – “The best or nothing” – by showcasing not only its luxury products, but the Mercedes-Benz lifestyle. To this end, Mercedes-Benz has entered into not only the fashion arena, but the world of fine dining, with its sponsorship of the Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards.
In practical terms, the brand aims to be the market-leader across all premium automotive segments, and at the same time, bring to the fore what it is like to live in the world of the three-pointed star. This latter point can be achieved through the Mercedes-Benz online lifestyle portal, www.mbworld.co.za/inspire, which focuses on art, design, fashion, travel, food, trends, technology and motoring.
In line with the changing face of its market, Mercedes-Benz is reaching out to a new, younger audience through increased online activities. Its sponsorship of the Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards is another step into bringing the lifestyle of Mercedes-Benz to a wider audience.
Judging
Eat Out fans directly influence the results with their star ratings when they review a restaurant on the site. Stars are awarded from one (poor) to five (excellent), for food and drinks, ambience and service. The restaurants with the highest average star rating in each category in each province for the period are eligible to win. As of 2017, each shortlisted restaurant will be visited and rated by an Eat Out critic. Final scores will be based on a 50-50 composite rating determined by the public and the critics.
Terms and conditions
- The Best Everyday Eateries winners will be determined by a restaurant’s average star rating over the eligible period, with equal weighting given to reader reviews and critic reviews.
- Eat Out will combine the star ratings of the reader reviews over the eligible period with those of the critics on the Eat Out editorial panel to get to an average score out of 5 for each restaurant. (There will be equal weighting for the reader reviews and the critic’s reviews, i.e. a 50/50 split.)
- In the instance that a restaurant receives multiple positive reader reviews but has not been rated by a critic, a critic will be commissioned to review and rate the restaurant. An average score will then be determined.
- In the instance that a restaurant does not receive enough reader reviews to qualify to win but has a high star rating from the critic, a ‘highly commended’ award will be given.
- The awards period is 1 October 2016 to 31 August 2017.
- Users need to be logged in to review and rate a restaurant.
- Restaurants need to be listed on eatout.co.za to receive reviews and ratings. If your restaurant is not listed, please click here.
- Individual restaurants need to have received a minimum of five reviews in the awards period to qualify to win.
- A prize will not be awarded if the highest-rated restaurant in that category has an overall rating lower than four stars.
- Ratings are done based on ambience, service, and food, in a 20:20:60 ratio to give precedence to food.
- Users may review and rate as many restaurants as they’d like, but only one review per user profile per restaurant will be tallied.
- A restaurant’s staff members may not review their own restaurant. Spot checks will be carried out and offenders will be disqualified.
- The results will be audited based on the above guidelines.
- In the event of a ratings tie, written reviews will be taken into consideration.
- The auditors’ findings are final, and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the winners.
- Eat Out reserves the right to place restaurants in the most relevant category.
About
For the first time in 2015, Eat Out hosted this new set of restaurant awards, with the winners in each category in each province voted for by the readers.
The winners of the 2017 Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Best Everyday Eateries are the restaurants in each province in each category with the highest average ratings by readers and critics on eatout.co.za, over the period of 1 October 2016 to 31 August 2017.
(The Eat Out Mercedes-Benz Restaurant Awards remain focused on the Top 10 fine-dining restaurants in the country, and are judged by a panel of experts.)
The categories for 2017 are:
Best African Eatery
Best Asian Eatery
Best Bistro
Savanna Best Burger Eatery
Best Coffee Shop
Best Country-Style Eatery
Best Food Truck
Best Indian Eatery
Best Italian Eatery
Best Mexican Eatery
Best Seafood Eatery
Tramontina Best Steakhouse
Best Tapas Eatery
