Nominate

Get Habanero'd for the one thing you do better than anyone.

Not best restaurant. Not best bar. One thing, named precisely, handed over in person to the people and the rooms that earn it.

If you get one, you have been Habanero'd.

Nominate someone What it takes
The Certified Habanero enamel pin
The standard

Vague praise is not an award. It is a compliment.

Michelin rates the restaurant. Yelp rates the meal. Nobody has ever recognised the host who reads a room in four seconds, or the busser who cleared your table and you never saw him do it. That is the gap this fills.

Never awarded for

  • Best restaurant in the city
  • Great vibes, great energy
  • Amazing food
  • Incredible service

Awarded for

  • The best ice program in Texas
  • The bread service, and only the bread service
  • A host stand run by one person for eleven years
  • A busser nobody has ever thanked out loud
The rules

Four rules. The first one is the whole thing.

A pin goes to a person and lives on an apron. A decal goes on the glass of a room that earned it. Both are numbered, and every number is permanent.

  1. It cannot be bought

    Not with money, not with a comp, not with a free round. If I eat there, I pay. The moment this looks purchasable it is worth nothing to the person wearing it.

  2. It is specific or it is nothing

    Every award names one thing. If the citation could be copied onto another room, it is not a citation.

  3. Conflicts get said out loud

    I own restaurants and a tequila brand. Any connection to a room I recognise gets disclosed, every time, without being asked.

  4. Every award is public

    Each one is listed with its number and its citation. If it is not on the record, it did not happen.

Nominations

Who should be Habanero'd?

Three things: the place, the person, and the one thing they do better than anyone else does it. That last part is where most people struggle, and it is exactly the point.

Be specific. Not great service. The specific thing you noticed and could not stop thinking about.

Every nomination gets read.

Questions

What this is, in plain terms.

What is Certified Habanero?
A hospitality award given in person for one specific thing a person or a venue does better than anyone else does it. It is not a rating of a restaurant or a bar. Every award names a single thing, such as an ice program, a bread service, or the way one host runs a door.
What does Habanero'd mean?
Someone who receives the award has been Habanero'd. People get an enamel pin worn on an apron or collar. Venues get a window decal for the front door.
Who gives the award?
Bobby Marhamat, who goes by Bobby Habanero. More than twenty years in restaurants, retail, and hospitality technology. Awards are handed over in person during ordinary unannounced visits.
Can a place buy one or apply?
No. It cannot be bought, comped, or traded, and there is no application and no entry fee. Visits get paid for in full, and any personal connection to a venue is disclosed publicly whenever an award is given.
Who can be nominated?
Anyone working in hospitality, at any level, in any role. Bartenders, hosts, bussers, dishwashers, cooks, managers. This recognises craft, not seniority.
How do I nominate someone?
Use the form above. Send the place, the person, and the one thing they do better than anyone else does it. The third one matters most, because a nomination without a specific thing cannot be considered.