Virginia's Best Restaurants, Hotels and Tourism Businesses Honored at 2026 Ordinary Awards
Ada's on the River, The Liberty Trust, Southern Revere Cellars, Belmont Farm Distillery and Wolf Gap Vineyard lead the 2026 Ordinary Awards winners, named Tuesday night in Short Pump.
Virginia’s restaurant, lodging and tourism industry named its 2026 winners Tuesday night at the Ordinary Awards, with Ada’s on the River in Alexandria taking Restaurant of the Year and The Liberty Trust in Roanoke named Lodging Property of the Year.
The program, presented by the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, was held Sept. 15 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa/Short Pump. Winners came from communities across the Commonwealth and included restaurants, hotels, attractions, campgrounds, breweries, wineries, distilleries, tourism organizations and suppliers.
Southern Revere Cellars in Louisa was named Brewery of the Year, Belmont Farm Distillery in Culpeper took Distillery of the Year and Wolf Gap Vineyard in Edinburg was named Winery of the Year.
Southern Revere is a farm winery that also brews. It grows Chambourcin, Chardonel, Vidal Blanc and Petit Verdot, pours seven beers of its own and barrel-ages several of them, and it took the brewery title over a field of three dedicated breweries.
The ceremony sold out, and VRLTA said this year’s winners were chosen from a record number of nominations.
Two new categories, and the first public vote
The 2026 program added two honors for businesses that began operating in 2025 or later.
Good Ship Brewery & Eatery in Hopewell was named New Restaurant of the Year. AC Hotel Arlington National Landing took New Lodging Property of the Year.
They also brought the public into the Ordinary Awards for the first time. Virginians were invited to vote during the selection process, and the winners were revealed at Tuesday’s ceremony.
Good Ship was selected over Proof Kitchen + Bar in Manassas and The Lion’s Den in Mineral, which trades as The Lion’s Den 1837 after the year its building went up. AC Hotel Arlington National Landing, which opened in July 2025 as the largest AC Hotel in North America, was chosen over The Laurel Hotel in Danville and the Virginia Guesthouse Hotel & Conference Center in Charlottesville.
Restaurant and culinary winners
Victoria Cosner of Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards was named Chef of the Year. Sara Albert of Ocean Eddie’s Seafood Restaurant, on the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier, took Bartender of the Year.
Mark Litz of Massanutten Resort received the Jim Wordsworth Award for Restaurateur of the Year.
Shawn Taitano of Catch 31 Fish House & Bar was named Restaurant Employee of the Year, and Eric Emerson of Chix on the Beach took Restaurant Manager of the Year.
Scott Horne of Isle of Wight County Schools was named Virginia ProStart Teacher of the Year. Taylor Borden of Virginia State University received the Rising Pineapple Award for Hospitality Student of the Year.
Lodging and tourism honorees
Alongside The Liberty Trust’s statewide lodging award, Ravi Patel of SINA Hospitality was named Hotelier of the Year.
Sean Hackney of the Omni Hotel Richmond took Lodging Employee of the Year. Leidy Stinson of the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa, the host property, was named Lodging Manager of the Year.
Winter Wander at Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville was named Attraction of the Year. Small Country Campground in Louisa took Campground of the Year, and the property’s Thomas Knighton received the Charlie Buser Award for Attraction Employee of the Year.
Cora Gnegy of Giles County Tourism received the Jim Ricketts Award for DMO/CVB Employee of the Year. Agriberry Farm & CSA in Hanover County was named Supplier of the Year.
Industry leadership and service
Mark Yardis, vice president of operations for Shamin Hotels, received the Golden Pineapple Lifetime Achievement Award.
Yardis came to Virginia in 1987 as hotel manager of the Omni Richmond, later became the property’s general manager, then served as a regional director of operations with the Procaccianti Company before joining Shamin Hotels in 2007.
State Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker received Legislator of the Year. She carried the food-to-beverage ratio rewrite as a delegate representing Alexandria, then won the Senate District 39 special election on Feb. 10 and was sworn in Feb. 18, six days after the bill cleared the House.
Gary Cohen of Glory Days Grill received the President’s Award, two weeks after announcing his retirement from the Burke-based chain. He was Restaurateur of the Year in 2018 and chaired VRLTA in 2020.
Dover Hall in Manakin-Sabot was named Hospitality Hero for a Business, and John Zirkle Jr of the Virginia Beach Hotel Association received Hospitality Hero for an Individual.
What the bill she carried does for restaurants
The legislation behind Bennett-Parker’s award is HB 975, and it is worth a paragraph because it changed a number every mixed beverage licensee in Virginia lives with.
For years a restaurant had to show that food and nonalcoholic beverages made up at least 45 percent of its combined food and mixed beverage sales, the same flat figure whether it was a 24-seat bistro or a banquet operation. HB 975 replaced that with a framework keyed to average monthly food sales. A licensee averaging at least $48,000 a month in food has no ratio requirement at all. Between $25,000 and $48,000 the requirement drops to 30 percent. Below $25,000 it stays at 45 percent, and a restaurant with fewer than 30 seats and an occupancy permit under 60 people can use the 30 percent figure instead. The statute calls it the food-to-beverage ratio. Licensees know it as the MBAR ratio, after the Mixed Beverage Annual Review.
It is already in force. The bill became Chapter 719 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly, was signed April 13 and took effect July 1. Restaurants have been operating under the tiers since the start of the summer.
A few things carry on unchanged. ABC regulation still sets a monthly floor of $4,000 in food sales including $2,000 from meals, and the annual review filing itself remains. Virginia ABC reports back to the General Assembly on how the change is working by Nov. 1, 2027.
Our full account of the tiers is in Virginia’s food-to-beverage ratio is now tiered by license type.
The complete list of 2026 Ordinary Award winners
- Restaurant of the Year. Ada’s on the River, Alexandria
- New Restaurant of the Year. Good Ship Brewery & Eatery, Hopewell
- Lodging Property of the Year. The Liberty Trust, Roanoke
- New Lodging Property of the Year. AC Hotel Arlington National Landing
- Brewery of the Year. Southern Revere Cellars, Louisa
- Winery of the Year. Wolf Gap Vineyard, Edinburg
- Distillery of the Year. Belmont Farm Distillery, Culpeper
- Attraction of the Year. Winter Wander at Boar’s Head Resort, Charlottesville
- Campground of the Year. Small Country Campground, Louisa
- Supplier of the Year. Agriberry Farm & CSA, Hanover County
- Chef of the Year. Victoria Cosner, Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards
- Bartender of the Year. Sara Albert, Ocean Eddie’s Seafood Restaurant
- Restaurateur of the Year, Jim Wordsworth Award. Mark Litz, Massanutten Resort
- Restaurant Employee of the Year. Shawn Taitano, Catch 31 Fish House & Bar
- Restaurant Manager of the Year. Eric Emerson, Chix on the Beach
- Hotelier of the Year. Ravi Patel, SINA Hospitality
- Lodging Employee of the Year. Sean Hackney, Omni Hotel Richmond
- Lodging Manager of the Year. Leidy Stinson, Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa
- Attraction Employee of the Year, Charlie Buser Award. Thomas Knighton, Small Country Campground
- DMO/CVB Employee of the Year, Jim Ricketts Award. Cora Gnegy, Giles County Tourism
- Hospitality Student of the Year, Rising Pineapple Award. Taylor Borden, Virginia State University
- Virginia ProStart Teacher of the Year. Scott Horne, Isle of Wight County Schools
- Golden Pineapple Lifetime Achievement Award. Mark Yardis, Shamin Hotels
- Legislator of the Year. Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker
- President’s Award. Gary Cohen, Glory Days Grill
- Hospitality Hero, Business. Dover Hall, Manakin-Sabot
- Hospitality Hero, Individual. John Zirkle Jr, Virginia Beach Hotel Association
Where the name comes from
The Ordinary Awards are open to Virginia hospitality and tourism businesses and professionals whether or not they belong to VRLTA.
The name goes back to Chinn’s Ordinary, the fieldstone tavern Joseph Chinn built in 1728 at Chinn’s Crossroads. The settlement was sold in 1787 to the newly chartered town of Middleburg, named for sitting halfway between Alexandria and Winchester. The building became the Red Fox Inn & Tavern in 1937 and operates under that name today.
