The winners of the 2026 Pulse Tasmania and Hospitality Tasmania People’s Choice Awards have been announced, after Tasmanians cast more than 25,000 votes for their favourite venues.
The Forth Pub was named Best Live Music Venue, Liv’s Cafe in Burnie took out Best Coffee, Steve’s Liquor Warehouse in Launceston won Best Bottle Shop, The Sheffield Hotel was voted Best Pub while River Mouth Cafe at Scamander claimed Best Breakfast.
The results are a strong showing for regional Tasmania, with small towns such as Forth, Sheffield and Scamander all coming out on top.
River Mouth Cafe owner Sharron Goss said the win was a big moment for a business in a small town like Scamander.
“We are stoked. We’re a pretty small fish where we are,” she said.
“We have a population I think it’s just over 800 people, so we’re up against some of the best of the best.”
Goss said state-wide recognition mattered for a small team like hers.
“We do the simple things, but we do them really well,” she said.
The cafe’s biggest seller is its karaage chicken benedict, a Japanese inspired crumbed chicken twist on eggs benedict, along with its big breakfast.
Sheffield Hotel co-owner Michelle Sharman said the award followed three years of hard work since she and her business partners took over in 2023.
“It’s something we’ve worked hard on over the last three years to make the hotel somewhere people wanna come and enjoy our food and our drink and I think we’re on the right path,” she said.
Sharman credited her staff for the win.
“Everyone that walks in the door is treated like family,” she said.
“We’re pretty generous with our serving sizes and I think that resonates with people ’cause in this day and age, things seem to be shrinking instead of growing.”
Forth Pub co-owner Tim Allen, who runs the venue with his son Trent, said the live music win meant “absolutely everything”.
The pair have owned the pub for nearly 11 years and started with a small wooden stage out the back.
“We gradually built up until we’ve got what we think is probably one of the best in the state,” Allen said.
He said Trent deserved credit for booking the acts and mixing up the line-up.
“We try and cater for everyone right across the board,” he said.
Liv’s Coffee owner Olivia Beaumont said the Best Coffee win was a “very surreal feeling”.
“I think it’s a little bit more about the community that we’ve made within the coffee shop, little bit more so than the coffee, I guess,” she said.
Steve’s Liquor manager Jackie Suitor said the store’s loyal customers drove the team every day.
“We pride ourselves on our customer service here, so it’s really good to be rewarded,” she said.
The awards were given out at the Hospitality Tasmania Awards for Excellence at Mac02.
