The James Beard Foundation has announced the six recipients of the 2023 America’s Classics Award. They join more than 100 locally-owned restaurants that have been awarded across the country since 1998.
“The mission of the James Beard Awards is to celebrate excellence and that means recognizing the incredible work of long-standing restaurants that play such a crucial role in our communities, as our America’s Classics winners do,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation. “We are so excited to announce this year’s winners. Congratulations to all!”
The following six restaurants will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2023, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
1. Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop
Austin, Texas
The Avila family has been serving the Austin community since 1935 when Sophia Dela’O opened La Oriental Grocery & Bakery in her home. Joe Avila and his wife Paula bought the shop in 1962 and created Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop. Known for its colorful Mexican pastries, called pan dulce, this shop showcases new and old Austin with regulars and newcomers gathering together. In a city that is rapidly changing, this spot is a staple. During the pandemic, it struggled, but also served as a general store selling essentials to the neighborhood.
What To Order
The Tex-Mex family recipes include migas, home-style pork carne guisada, breakfast tacos on homemade flour tortillas, and the famous “friend bacon,” which is thick-cut bacon covered in flour, cooked on a flat-top grill.
2. La Casita Blanca
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Jesús Pérez Ruiz opened Casita Blanca in 1980 in the Villa Palmeras area of Santurce. It’s a casual atmosphere representing traditional Puerto Rican fonda. It gives the feeling of being at your tía or abuela’s house for some comfort food. Ruiz’s two sons now run the restaurant with the same love and dedication as their father when he first opened the doors.
What To Order
Customers will find the menu written on a chalkboard. Favorites include sopita del día and bacalaíto fritters with homemade pique, patitas de cerdo (pig’s feet), fricase de pollo, carne guisada, and rice and beans. Each meal ends with a chichaíto, an anise-based digestif.
3. Manago Hotel
Captain Cook, Hawaii
Opened in 1917, the Manago Hotel is Hawaii’s oldest continually operating restaurant. It was started by Kinzo Manago and his “picture bride,” Osame Nagata, in their home when they immigrated from Japan. Along with some food, they added cots for those traveling between Hilo and Kona. It fed soldiers during World War II and to this day has remained largely unchanged, with rumors that the cast-iron pans are as old as the hotel. The fourth generation now runs the hotel and restaurant.
What To Order
The menu has less than a dozen items which include liver and onions, and small fish like ‘ōpelu. Entrées are served with rice and side dishes on melamine plates, like Hawaii’s banchan, and usually include potato macaroni salad.
4. Nezinscot Farm
Turner, Maine
Gloria and Gregg Varney opened this café on Nezinscot Farm in 1987. The farm has been in the Varney family for more than 100 years and is the first organic farm in Maine. Nezinscot gets its name from the Abenaki word meaning “a place to gather.” What started as a café now includes a bakery, a fromagerie, and charcuterie. Everything is homemade including the tea.
What To Order
Taste a variety of homemade cheeses and meats, bagels, fresh pies, breads, and sandwiches with farm eggs and homemade sausage.
5. Pekin Noodle Parlor
Butte, Montana
Pekin Noodle Parlor is the oldest continuously operating Chinese family restaurant in America. In 1909, Hum and Bessie Yow built the parlor as a legal office and mercantile. But in 1911, with the help of Tam Kwong Yee, they started serving noodles and a Chinese-American version of chop suey. They served Chinese immigrants working in the mines and on railroads. The building still houses the restaurant today. Great-great-great grandson Jerry Tam now runs the restaurant.
What To Order
Customers will find 16 chop suey varieties, barbecue pork, egg rolls, sweet-and-sour pork, pineapple fried rice, chow mein, and noodles in broth and “gravy,” a thickened, soy-based sauce. Each meal ends with fortune cookies.
6. Wagner’s Village Inn
Oldenburg, Indiana
Now owned by Dan Saccomando, the former owners (Ginger Saccomando’s parents) opened Wagner’s Village Inn in 1968. She says they learned to fry chicken from the owners of the Hearthstone in Metamora, which she says pioneered the regional fried chicken style. Wagner’s Village Inn is now said to have some of the best fried chicken in the Midwest. There’s no recipe, but there is plenty of coarse-ground pepper, a signature for the restaurant.
What To Order
Fried chicken of course! The bird is served in 10 pieces, including the back and ribs. Alongside it are coleslaw, green beans, and mashed potatoes and gravy.
The James Beard Awards
The James Beard Awards are considered to be one of the country’s most prestigious honors in the industry. From fine dining to casual, The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards celebrates the culinary industry and supports and encourages a sustainable style.
The Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee recommends, discusses, votes on, and selects the winners each year. To be eligible, restaurants must be in existence for at least 10 years. Six of the 12 restaurant and chef regions are included within each cycle and are rotated the following cycle. This way, each region is represented every other year. The public can submit recommendations to committee members.
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