Eating out or going for a drink in Offaly? Here are this year's award winning places to go

THE OFFALY winners in the 2022 Irish Restaurant Awards have been announced by the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

The Offaly award recipients will now be hoping to win again in the Leinster and All Ireland stages of what the competition organisers, the Irish Restaurants Association calls its “food Oscars”.

Food outlets were nominated under the categories of Local Food Hero, Best Free From, Best Emerging Irish Cuisine, Best Restaurant Manager, Best Wine Experience, Best Café, Best World Cuisine, Best Newcomer, Pub of the Year, Best Casual Dining, Best Hotel & Guesthouse Restaurant, Best Customer Service, Best Gastropub, Best Chef, and Best Restaurant and finally a new award category for 2022, Best Sustainable Practices.

The Offaly winners in each category were -

Local Food Hero - Offaly Wild Food Mary, Mary Bulfin

Best Sustainable Practices - Woodfield Cafe and Garden Centre Birr

Best Free From - Sirocco’s Italian Restaurant Tullamore

Best Emerging Irish Cuisine - Lukers Bar Shannonbridge

Best Restaurant Manager - Captain House Restaurant Tullamore, Arif Soysal

Best Wine Experience - Townsend House Tapas Restaurant Birr

Best Café - The Loft Cafe Birr

Best World Cuisine - Shishir Tullamore

Best Newcomer - Browne’s Bistro Tullamore

Pub of the Year - Giltraps Pub Kinnitty

Best Casual Dining - The Thatch Crinkill Birr

Best Hotel & Guesthouse Restaurant - Bridge House Hotel Tullamore

Best Customer Service - Balcone Italiano Tullamore

Best Gastro Pub - Hennessys Ferbane

Best Chef - The Blue Apron Restaurant Tullamore, Kenan Pehlivan

Best Restaurant - The Blue Apron Restaurant Tullamore

All of the county winners now compete for the Regional and All Ireland Titles, which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards All Ireland Final on Monday, September 19 next in the Convention Centre Dublin.