Restaurant

-Belcampo Meat Co. (Larkspur, CA) designed by BCV Architects

-Estadio (Washington, DC) designed by GrizForm Design Architects

-Eveleigh (West Hollywood, CA) designed by Nick Mathers

-Joule/The Whale Wins (Seattle, WA) designed by Heliotrope Architects

-Nobu Malibu (Malibu, CA) designed by Montalba Architects, Inc. and Studio PCH, LLC

-Outliers Eatery (Portland, ME) designed by Remi Designs

-Superba Snack Bar (Venice, CA) designed by Reed Architectural Group & Design, Bitches

-Waters—Bonnell’s Coastal Cuisine (Fort Worth, TX) designed by Preen, Inc.

-Yojisan Sushi (Beverly Hills, CA) designed by Dan Brunn Architecture

Café/Bar

-Beer Belly (Los Angeles, CA) designed by MAKE Architecture

-Northern Lights Bar (Iceland) designed by Minarc

-Plan Check Kitchen & Bar (Los Angeles, CA) designed by Raveled Studio & Terry Heller

-Sweet Crush (Los Angeles, CA) designed by 64NORTH

Lounge/Nightclub

-Chambers Eat + Drink (San Francisco, CA) designed by SPARC & Mr. Important Design

-Pour Vous (Los Angeles, CA) designed by Houston Hospitality

-SHOREbar (Los Angeles, CA) designed by Built | a design/build company

All 16 finalists will be invited onstage on Friday, June 21, for the Behind Good Restaurant Design presentation, along with the three judges. Carlo Caccavale, Associate Director at AIA|LA, says that they “strive for balance and good conversation” when putting together their jury panel, which is sure to lead to an interesting discussion onstage. Dougherty says that she and her fellow judges brought a “good combination of views” to the table, and she is particularly looking forward to hearing more about each designer’s inspiration. Dougherty believes that a restaurant’s design needs to “match the intent of the food,” and Caccavale adds that if the ambiance “is not engaging, you are already creating the wrong mood for your meal.” Clearly, this is not something a guest at these 16 establishments needs to worry about!

Be part of the People's Choice Awards by clicking here and voting for your favorite. The deadline to submit your vote for the People's Choice Awards is 12 noon on Monday, June 17.

This article was originally published on May 24, 2013 on our sister site, Dwell on Design.