Kro’s Nest, a Beijing dining institution since 2006 and winner of The Beijinger’s 7th Annual Reader Restaurant Award for “Outstanding Pizza,” has been news since this spring over the legal battle between partner’s Olaf Kristoffer – “Kro” – and Yuan Jie. Kro was ousted from the Kro’s Nest restaurants he helped found, and there were even reports of an assault on Kro, not to mention police involvement and other drama.

Yesterday we compared the results of the Beijinger’s Bar & Clubs Awards with our crosstown rival’s recently announced awards. Today we do the same with restaurants – comparing the results of our reader survey concluded in March and City Weekend’s reader awards announced last week.

Thank goodness that all of that April Fool tomfoolery is over with and we can get on to the business in hand. That business being getting the most out of April and what better guide to doing so than the April issue of the Beijinger?

It's Reader Restaurant Awards time once again and it's sure to get you talking. Our Cover Feature details all the places that you recommend in the most comprehensive set of categories in the city. What's more is that we've assembled a panel of experts to serve you up the opinions of those in the industry.

A city of 40,000 eateries, but so much of it remains uncharted culinary territory. How to discover new gems? How to avoid the imitators? We asked the people who know best: ten local Chinese experts passionate about good eating in Beijing. We asked our experts to each nominate their five favorite hidden or little known restaurants. We visited them (often more than once), ate our fill (often more than was sensible), and settled on these.

By now, you all know which eateries the readers crowned as their favorites in our 2010 Reader Restaurant Awards (and if not, click here). But as part of the festivities, we also asked a panel of dining experts to name the best restaurants in Beijing. If you can’t wait to pick up a copy of the April issue, here’s a rundown of the victors.

How do men and women differ in their preferences for Beijing restaurants? With the voting over and the winners announced in the Beijinger’s 7th Annual Reader Restaurant Awards, we decided to take a closer look at where men and women differ in their dining preferences.

Probably the most contentious award category every year in our Annual Reader Restaurant Awards is Best Italian. Since the inception of our awards, Annie’s has walked off with the top prize every year – that’s seven years in a row for those of you counting at home.

Seven years ago we set the bar high with Beijing’s first-ever reader-driven restaurant awards in Beijing’s English media. Here’s a look back at what was hot in Beijing’s restaurant scene in 2004, our first ever awards, and along the way we’ll remind you of the winners of this year’s awards.

So far only one user has taken up the challenge to review two of our Restaurant Award winners to score a case of Carlesberg beer. Which means we still have TWO CASES to give away.

Beginning today, we’ll be presenting you with a closer look at some of the categories of voting in the The Beijinger’s 2010 Reader Restaurant Awards. We’ve broken the vote down into several demographic categories to see if there were differences based on nationality, sex, age, and length of time in Beijing.