Frequently Asked Questions

FoodMedals uses a community-driven ranking system where real diners award Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals to restaurants in specific food categories. Browse our category leaderboards and use the "Near Me" feature to filter by distance — choose from 5, 10, 25, or 50-mile radius options to find top-rated spots in your area. According to the National Restaurant Association, 90% of diners research restaurants online before visiting, so our leaderboards give you crowd-sourced confidence before you go.

Our most active categories reflect what Americans crave most: cheeseburgers, pizza, tacos, wings, fried chicken sandwiches, and french fries consistently top the list. Google Trends data shows "best burgers near me" and "best pizza near me" are among the highest-volume local food searches year-round. On FoodMedals, you can explore all of these and more niche categories like ramen, pad thai, and mac & cheese.

Each user can award one Gold, one Silver, and one Bronze medal per food category per year. Gold medals are worth 3 points, Silver 2 points, and Bronze 1 point. A restaurant's community score is the sum of all medal points it has received. This weighted system means a restaurant with fewer but higher-quality endorsements can outrank one with many Bronze medals — rewarding genuine excellence over sheer volume.

Traditional review platforms use star ratings that can be inflated by fake reviews or skewed by one bad experience. Research from Harvard Business School found that a one-star increase on Yelp can lead to a 5–9% increase in revenue, which incentivizes manipulation. FoodMedals is different: you get exactly three medals per food category, forcing deliberate choices. There are no written reviews to game — just medals from verified community members.

Yes. Rankings reset annually so the leaderboard always reflects current quality. Restaurants earn their spot fresh each year based on new community votes. Past winners are preserved forever in the Hall of Fame, so you can see which spots have been consistently excellent over multiple years.

FoodMedals makes group dining easy. Create a Group Event, pick a food category (like "Best Tacos"), and invite friends with a unique share code. Everyone visits the nominated restaurants and secretly votes. The host reveals results when voting closes — it's like a blind taste test for your whole crew. Studies show group dining increases meal satisfaction by up to 40% compared to eating alone.

A share code is a short, unique PIN that lets anyone join your group event instantly. When you create a group event, you receive a code you can text, DM, or post on social media. Friends enter the code on FoodMedals to join — no complicated sign-up flow needed. It works great for coordinating food crawls, birthday dinners, or team lunch outings.

Absolutely. Food influencers and content creators use group events to engage their audience in interactive food challenges. Share your event code on Instagram Stories, TikTok, or YouTube Community posts and let followers nominate and vote on restaurants. With secret voting, the reveal makes for compelling content. The average food-related social media post gets 3x more engagement than other lifestyle content, so a live reveal can drive significant interaction.

There is no hard limit on group event size. Whether it's a dinner party of 6 or a community food crawl with 200 participants, the system handles it. Secret voting ensures everyone's picks stay hidden until the host reveals — keeping it fair and fun regardless of group size.

Popular event types include: neighborhood food crawls where everyone tries 3–5 spots in one evening; office lunch tournaments to crown your team's favorite pizza joint; birthday "best of" challenges where the birthday person picks the food category; blind taste tests where the host doesn't reveal restaurant names until the vote; and seasonal showdowns — like best hot chocolate in winter or best ice cream in summer. The National Restaurant Association reports that 78% of millennials prefer spending money on experiences like dining out over material goods, making food events a crowd-pleaser.

Yes. FoodMedals is completely free. You can browse leaderboards, view restaurant profiles, and explore categories without even creating an account. Signing up (also free) lets you award medals, create group events, and track your picks on your personal dashboard.

Navigate to any food category leaderboard, then tap "Award Medals." Select a restaurant for your Gold, Silver, or Bronze pick. You can change your medals at any time during the year — if you discover a better burger spot in October, just reassign your Gold. Your picks are always editable.

Yes. Use the Suggest page to submit a restaurant. Include the name, address, and relevant food categories. Our team reviews submissions to keep the database accurate, and approved restaurants appear on leaderboards within 24 hours.

The Hall of Fame archives every Gold-medal winner from past years. It's the definitive record of which restaurants were crowned the best in each category, year after year. Restaurants with multiple Hall of Fame appearances earn a "Legacy" distinction on their profile.

When you enable "Near Me," your browser shares your approximate location (with your permission) so we can sort restaurants by distance. Choose a radius — 5, 10, 25, or 50 miles — and the leaderboard filters to nearby spots. According to Google, "near me" searches have grown over 500% in the past five years, and our feature helps you tap into the same intent with curated, community-ranked results.

Every medal requires a verified account, and each user can only award one Gold, one Silver, and one Bronze per food category per year. This built-in scarcity makes bulk manipulation impractical — a single person can't flood a restaurant with fake endorsements. Our moderation team also monitors for suspicious patterns.

The medal system naturally levels the playing field. Since every user has exactly three medals per category, a beloved neighborhood diner can outrank a chain restaurant if enough locals champion it. The leaderboard reflects genuine community preference, not marketing budgets or review volume.

Leaderboards refresh every hour to balance real-time accuracy with site performance. When you award or change a medal, the updated score appears on the next refresh cycle. During peak voting periods — like when a new category launches — you'll see rankings shift quickly as the community weighs in.