The votes are counted, the winners are in, and the North Shore has spoken. Welcome to the 2026 Best of the North Shore awards: the guide to the restaurants, shops, salons, beaches, and experiences that make this region extraordinary.
For more than two decades, BONS has celebrated excellence in the region, and this year’s edition continues that tradition. Dozens of winners made the cut in both the Readers’ and Editors’ picks. And this year we have expanded the Editors’ Choice to include even more categories that highlight the North Shore in different ways.
The winners span six categories: DINE, DRINK, LIVE, PLAY, RENEW, and SHOP. Inside each you’ll find dozens of awards, from best burger and best beach to best boutique and best barre class, with the details of what makes them special and why your neighbors and the editors voted for them. Click a category to meet your 2026 winners.
★ The 2026 Twist
Editors’ Choice, reimagined. The editors’ picks are a longtime BONS tradition, but this year they run freer than ever. Instead of following the ballot categories, our editors invented their own awards: best smash burger, prettiest yacht club, most gracious innkeepers, and dozens more hidden gems and only-here favorites from a year spent exploring the region. Look for the black Editors’ Choice tabs inside every category.
However you use this guide, plan a night out, settle a best-lobster-roll debate, or find your new favorite anything, it all comes from the same place: a region full of people who take good living seriously, and the businesses that deliver it every day. Congratulations to every 2026 winner.
The BONS Event · Thursday, August 13
The North Shore’s best summer night.
Signature bites, craft pours, and live music with the Best of the North Shore, all on the Danversport waterfront. It sells out every year.
Get Tickets →Danversport, Danvers
Prefer it in print? The BONS issue of Northshore magazine is on newsstands now. Subscribe or grab the issue and keep the winners handy all year.
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