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Craig LaBan
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Since 1998, Craig LaBan has held the restaurant critic’s desk at The Philadelphia Inquirer in Philadelphia, with the same newsroom anchoring his byline year after year. That continuity matters in criticism: it places the writer inside the city’s dining record, not outside it, and gives readers a fixed point in a field that changes quickly. His column work extends that remit, letting the same disciplined eye move from single reviews into broader commentary on restaurant culture, local appetite, and the day-to-day rhythms of the city.
The Path
Today, Craig is restaurant critic and columnist of The Philadelphia Inquirer (since 1998). In trade terms, that is a long-running dual assignment: one post built on close reading and exact judgment, the other on room to widen the frame. The critic’s job asks for constant attention to what is new, what endures, and what warrants notice; the columnist’s post gives that reporting a different cadence and a larger field of view. Together, those roles define how he meets Philadelphia’s dining life: as an ongoing, measured conversation rather than a temporary beat.
The Work Today
Today he continues in both posts, and the balance between them gives the work its shape. One side keeps him in restaurants, where the task is to observe carefully and write plainly about the meal, the room, and the context around a place. The other side opens into column space, where he can step back from the narrower frame of criticism and address the city’s dining culture with more breadth. That structure has marked his tenure at The Philadelphia Inquirer: one part exacting review, one part wider observation. The restaurant critic role remains the central one. It is the position most closely tied to Craig LaBan’s name, and the one that has kept him consistently present in Philadelphia’s dining conversation since 1998. Through that lens, his work stays rooted in the same city and the same paper, tracking restaurants, taste, and what a table is asking for in the present moment. Over time, that steady base has made the byline a familiar part of the local record.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Craig
How did Craig LaBan get started?
He became restaurant critic at The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1998.
What is Craig LaBan best known for today?
He is best known for his restaurant criticism and columnist role at the paper.
