Eater Turns Down Mall Food Madness For Fifth Year In A Row, Proudly

KEY POINTS

•Eater was named a finalist for the 2026 National Magazine Awards in General Excellence, Service and Lifestyle.
•This is Eater’s fourth consecutive year as a finalist, and the only repeat nominee in the past two years.
•Eater previously won awards in 2016, 2017, and 2022 for its guides and cultural explorations.

So here we are in 2026, and once again, Eater swaggers into the National Magazine Awards General Excellence, Service and Lifestyle category like that jazz-hand-act who’s done this dance three years running. Sharing the stage with Allure, Vogue, T, and Wirecutter—because who else really needs service and lifestyle tips? Obviously, Eater’s got stamina: four years nominated consecutively, single-handedly keeping the competition humble, and simultaneously reminding everyone that apparently just showing up counts as winning these days. Previous glory includes a trip down Disney World food lanes in 2016, jaunts through Paris' bistros in 2017, and gastronomic gas station sleuthing in 2022. Don't forget their digital and lifestyle feature cameos like 'Welcome to the Chainification of America' and 'Mall Food Madness,' because nothing says lifestyle like surveilling the fast-food hordes under glass ceilings and florescent despair. The final curtain falls May 19 — an entire month that will probably feel like a lifetime if you’re living on Eater’s edge of perpetual expectancy.