How we pick the Hot 20
Updated 20 October 2026
Every week we publish a Hot 20 for each live city: the twenty new restaurants that score highest on our measure of attention, in order. This page explains how that list is put together. The method is the same in every city, apart from the kinds of venue each city's chart includes.
Who can be on the chart
A restaurant is eligible for a city's chart only if all of these are true on the day we compile it:
- It is open. We have checked within the last 8 days that it is trading, and we have no sign that it has closed.
- It is new, or newly back. It opened in the last 365 days, or it re-emerged in the last 90 days, for example by reopening after a long closure or relaunching under a new chef.
- It is the kind of venue the chart covers. Each city's chart covers restaurants, tasting-menu and omakase restaurants, counters and wine bars; London's also includes pubs. A new branch of a chain counts only if it is the chain's first in that city.
- Someone independent is talking about it. At least one independent publication, critic, guide or creator on our source list for that city, which also includes some international titles, has covered it in the last 60 days.
- It clears the bar. Its heat score, explained below, is at least 20.
The heat score
We rank eligible restaurants by a heat score made of five parts.
| Part | Up to | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Newness | 30 points | How recently it opened |
| Buzz | 40 points | Independent coverage in the last few weeks |
| Demand | 15 points | How hard it is to get a table |
| Recognition | 15 points | Recent awards and guide listings |
| Editor's adjustment | plus or minus 5 points | A judgment call, with a written reason |
Newness. A restaurant scores 30 points on the day it opens, and that score halves every 60 days. A restaurant that has re-emerged scores half of what a brand-new opening would.
Buzz. For each city we keep a list of the publications, critics, guides, newsletters and creators that cover new openings, and we give each one a tier based on its reach and record. A write-up from a top-tier source is worth 12 points, a mid-tier source 7 and a smaller source 3. A full review counts in full, a feature 80%, a list or a social post 60%, and a news item about an opening 40%. Only the strongest piece from each publisher counts, so several articles from the same title, or from sister titles that share content, count once. At most two creators count towards any restaurant, only the best five publishers are added together, and the total is capped at 40.
Demand. For the 30 restaurants nearest the top of each city's list, we check booking pages by hand, aiming to do so at least once every 8 days. Restaurants we haven't checked in that time score nothing for demand. A restaurant gets the full 15 points if the earliest prime-time table for two is at least 14 days away, or if it runs a waiting list. It gets 10 points if the earliest table is 7 to 13 days away, and 5 points if it is 3 to 6 days away. A queue to walk in scores at least 10 points.
Recognition. Each award or guide we track, such as the Michelin Guide or a 50 Best list, carries a set number of points. A restaurant scores in full for its most significant recent recognition, and each further body that recognises it adds 3 points, up to the cap of 15. A recognition we can only confirm from the restaurant's own announcement counts at half. The points count in full for 90 days after the announcement, then fade to nothing by the end of the first year.
Editor's adjustment. An editor can add or take away up to 5 points when the numbers miss something, for example a restaurant that has cut its opening hours. Each adjustment has a written reason and lapses after two editions.
Restaurants that were on last week's chart get a small bonus of 1.5 points, so that tiny differences don't reshuffle the list every week. If two restaurants still tie, the one with more buzz ranks higher, then the newer opening, then the one that ranked higher last week, and finally alphabetical order.
We publish this method, but not the individual scores. Instead, each entry carries a short line explaining why it is there, such as the coverage it has had.
How coverage fades
Attention moves on quickly, so the chart does too. An article or post counts in full for 30 days after it is published, then fades away over the following 15 days. Newness halves every 60 days, and awards fade over a year. A restaurant stays on the chart only while people keep writing about it, booking it and recognising it.
What doesn't count
Some coverage is left out of the score:
- Sponsored or paid-for coverage, including creator posts that were paid for, and creator posts where we can't tell whether they were.
- Syndicated copies. The same article republished elsewhere counts once, for the original publisher.
- Early previews. Coverage published more than 14 days before a restaurant opened.
- Sources outside our list, until we have checked them and added them.
The No. 1
The top spot is called the hottest table in that city this week, so it has extra conditions. The No. 1 must have been open for at least 7 days, and must have been covered in the last 30 days by at least two independent publishers or creators, with sister titles counting as one. If the highest-scoring restaurant doesn't meet these conditions, the highest-placed restaurant that does moves to No. 1, and the others keep their order. If no restaurant qualifies, we don't publish that city's chart that week.
Before a chart is published, a named reviewer checks it and signs it off. If the chart changes unusually sharply from one week to the next, we look into why before we publish.
Reading the chart
- ▲ and ▼ show how many places a restaurant has moved up or down since last week.
- NEW means it is on the chart for the first time.
- RE means it is back after dropping off.
The chart can also show how many weeks a restaurant has been on it and its highest position so far.
Photos
A photo credit is not the same as permission to use a photo. We publish a photo only when it is cleared: we have written permission from the restaurant or the photographer, it comes from a press kit and we use it within the kit's terms, we took it ourselves, or it is published under a licence that allows our use. Every photo we use has a record of where it came from and on what basis.
When a restaurant has no cleared photo, we show a designed card with its name instead. We don't use stock photos or AI-generated images to show a real restaurant. Where AI-generated artwork appears elsewhere on the site, it is labelled "Illustration".
If you own a photo on this site and did not agree to its use, email [email protected] and we will take it down while we look into it.
Corrections and closures
Every restaurant on a published chart has had its status checked in the 8 days before the chart was compiled. If one closes, temporarily or for good, it leaves the next chart and we update its page.
If you spot a mistake, email [email protected] with the page and what is wrong. We fix errors as soon as we have checked them. Once a weekly chart has been published, we don't change it quietly: if we have to correct it, we add a note saying what changed and when.
Editorial judgment
The Hot 20 measures attention, not quality. It is our editorial judgment, made by following the method above, and it is not a review of the food or a promise about your visit. Opening hours, prices, menus and availability change, so please check with the restaurant before you go.
We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the restaurants we list. If anything on the site has been paid for, such as an advertisement, a sponsored feature or an affiliate link, it is labelled. If a restaurant on the chart also advertises with us or sponsors something we publish, we say so next to its entry. If a restaurant gives us a free meal or another benefit, we say so on the page where we write about it.