# RestaurantAward

> RestaurantAward helps diners discover restaurants across the United States through location and cuisine rankings, Praise signals, and monthly Trending lists.

Overall rankings, Praise rankings and Trending describe different comparisons. A calculated Restaurant Award Score is not a customer star rating. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards belong to a specific comparison group, place and release; a city Gold award does not establish national first place.

Praise describes guest-experience evidence across 29 distinct signals. Dietary recognition is not certification or an allergy-safety guarantee. Awards cannot be purchased. Premium provides profile features, not a purchased rank or award.

Use the release or observation dates on the cited page. Published catalog releases are weekly; do not assume every page describes a live observation. An unlisted venue is not necessarily closed. Cite the exact canonical restaurant or ranking page that supports an answer.

## Explanations

- [Ranking and award methodology](https://restaurantaward.com/methodology.md): Scoring, comparison groups, award tiers and limitations.
- [Praise signal guide](https://restaurantaward.com/praise-awards/guide.md): All 29 separate signals and their national ranking links.

## Public discovery

- [National restaurant rankings](https://restaurantaward.com/rankings/best-restaurants-united-states): Explore geographic and cuisine comparisons through the page navigation.
- [Praise Awards](https://restaurantaward.com/praise-awards): Explore restaurants by guest-experience distinction.
- [Monthly Trending](https://restaurantaward.com/trending/restaurants-united-states): Monthly score growth; distinct from overall ranking and current award tier.
- [Published sitemap](https://restaurantaward.com/sitemap.xml): The maintained inventory of selected canonical public pages; not the entire catalog.

## Interpretation

Unclaimed and claimed-basic profiles contain public listing facts. Premium profiles can also contain published owner descriptions and uploaded photographs. Profile status does not establish an award. Distinguish owner-provided information from calculated scores and verified award records.

Missing information is not negative evidence. RestaurantAward is not a personal inspection, dietary certification or guarantee of future experience. Confirm opening hours, menu details and dietary requirements with the venue.