The Michelin Guide Comes to Philadelphia

Nov 12, 2025

Philly’s restaurant scene will finally receive the
famous star ratings. How many stars should we expect and what restaurants are likely to win?

At long last, Michelin stars are finally coming to Philadelphia. It won’t be long until we find out who will receive the very first stars in the city, as they’ll be revealed at a ceremony on Nov. 18 at the Kimmel Center.

So what is a Michelin star, how does a restaurant earn one, and how many will Philly get? We’ll answer those questions and more, below.

What are Michelin stars?

A Michelin star is a coveted award among restaurants and chefs and is the most prestigious of the awards the Michelin Guide bestows. Only 259 restaurants in the United States earned a star rating in 2024. In addition to the star ratings, the Michelin Guide also awards the Bib Gourmand to recognize restaurants that are serving high-quality meals at a reasonable price and a Green Star to symbolize excellence in sustainability.

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Restaurants are not nominated nor do they apply to be evaluated. Stars are awarded annually and can be lost or gained year-on-year. Michelin keeps most details of the process secret, but we know a few vague details.

Anonymous inspectors visit restaurants multiple times to evaluate the restaurant during different dining periods, different days of the week, and different seasons. Restaurants around the world are evaluated by the same inspectors, to ensure that restaurants are judged by the same standards, and those inspectors make decisions to award stars as a collective.

Inspectors evaluate based on the following criteria:

  • Quality of ingredients

  • Harmony of flavors

  • Mastery of techniques

  • Personality of chef expressed through cuisine

  • Consistency across menu and time

What does each rating mean?

Michelin stars rate the quality of a restaurant’s food. The more stars awarded to a restaurant, the stronger the recommendation. Naturally this means that two- and three-star awards are in the minority. Here’s what each ranking means:

82%
OF RESTAURANTS
Top quality ingredients. Dishes consistently meet a high standard.
12%
OF RESTAURANTS
Dishes are expertly crafted. Food is refined and inspired.
5%
OF RESTAURANTS
Cooking is elevated to art. Some dishes will become classics.

How many stars will Philly get?

There are a lot of factors at play but to get an estimate, let’s look at how other cities fared in 2024’s guides.

City/Region
New York City
55
14
5
Northern California
35
9
5
Southern California
30
4
1
Washington, D.C.
23
2
1
Florida
25
1
0
Chicago
15
2
2
Texas
15
0
0
Atlanta
9
0
0
Colorado
6
0
0

With almost two decades of guides under its belt and a population of almost 8.5 million, it’s no surprise that New York City topped the list of cities with the most starred restaurants in 2024. New York City was the first American city to get a Michelin Guide, in 2006.

In this top ten both Atlanta and Washington, D.C. serve as a better comparison to Philly. Atlanta, with about 513,000 residents, earned five one-star ratings in 2023, the first year that Michelin awarded stars there. Washington’s population was about 700,000 in 2017, the same year the Michelin Guide was introduced there and awarded 15 restaurants with star ratings. Population isn’t always a good indicator though. Houston, with 2.3 million residents, earned six stars in its first year.

Kiki Aranita, a food writer (and former chef and restaurateur) for The Inquirer, predicts four or five Philadelphia restaurants will earn a Michelin star this year. She also thinks we might see a Bib Gourmand or two.

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Will Philly get any two- or three-star ratings?

Paula Forbes, a senior writer and restaurant critic at Texas Monthly who has reported on the Michelin Guide in Texas, says that “generally speaking, I think that there is sort of an attitude towards, you have to kind of grow into it. You have to get your first star, then your second star, and then your third star.”

Restaurants often don’t earn a two- or three-star rating the first time they achieve a rating and it often takes several years for a restaurant to move up a rank, if at all. Texas has yet to earn a two- or three-star rating. In its third year, Colorado gained its first two-star rating.

What cuisines tend to receive stars?

Contemporary
Japanese
American
French
Korean
Californian
Mexican
Italian
Barbecue
Seafood

Number of restaurants

*Chart shows the top ten most common cuisines out of 35 unique cuisines awarded a star rating in 2024 in the U.S.

In 2024, 26% of Michelin-starred restaurants were categorized as serving contemporary cuisine. Contemporary is a bit of a catch-all term Michelin uses to categorize cooking that doesn’t fall into a traditional cuisine category and instead has a new, creative chef approach to food. The sixth-most common cuisine in 2024 is the similarly vague-sounding Californian cuisine. This modern cuisine, which pulls inspiration from other international cuisines, is characterized by a focus on local, seasonal ingredients and simple preparation that allows the fresh ingredients to shine.

While Philadelphia probably won’t earn any stars for Californian cooking this year, some of the city’s most popular restaurants fall into the top cuisines. Contemporary is followed by Japanese, American, French, and Korean to round out the top five most common cuisines that earn stars. Royal Sushi & Izakaya, which serves a 16-course omakase meal, was already named one of North America’s 50 best restaurants in September. Provenance, a French restaurant with Korean influence, was called “the most ambitious fine dining restaurant to open in Philly in a minute” by Inquirer food critics in November 2024.

What is the impact of a star on a restaurant?

There are some downsides to earning a star. The pressure that comes with earning (and keeping) a star rating is very real. Restaurants and chefs must also decide whether they want to stick with what works, and what earned them a star, or retain the ability to experiment and evolve. While Paula Forbes hasn’t gotten the sense that Michelin star restaurants in Texas have become less accessible for regular patrons, that may not be the case in Philadelphia, where restaurant footprints are smaller.

Restaurants that have earned a star may also see a number of benefits. They have more reservations and customers. They may also attract and retain ambitious restaurant and hospitality workers who want the experience of working in a Michelin restaurant. Finally, there’s a general sense that a rising tide raises all boats, at least in the Texas food scene, according to Forbes.

However, Aranita wonders if the same will be true for Philadelphia.

“After reporting on the inaugural North America 50 Best awards and seeing restaurants like Friday Saturday Sunday, Kalaya, and Royal Sushi & Izakaya listed on it, I am not confident that Philly’s other restaurants will benefit that much from Michelin’s presence in our city.” said Aranita. “Those three restaurants are among the select few that garner the most press, particularly national press. The fact that they made it onto a 50 Best list is no surprise. If they get Michelin nods, that will also be no surprise.”

What restaurants do you think will get stars?

Now that you know more about Michelin stars, let us know which of these restaurants you think deserves one — swipe right for Yes or left for No. Yes, just like Tinder. Finding it hard to decide? We'll also show you how other Inquirer readers have voted so far.

Mawn

Cuisine
Cambodian
Neighborhood
South Philadelphia
Crowd says 

Friday Saturday Sunday

Cuisine
Modern American
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says 

Her Place

Cuisine
Modern American
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says 

Provenance

Cuisine
French, Korean
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says 

Honeysuckle

Cuisine
American, Brunch
Neighborhood
Spring Garden
Crowd says 

Zahav

Cuisine
Israeli
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says 

Kalaya

Cuisine
Thai
Neighborhood
Fishtown/Kensington
Crowd says 

Pietramala

Cuisine
Vegan
Neighborhood
Northern Liberties
Crowd says 

Royal Sushi & Izakaya

Cuisine
Japanese
Neighborhood
South Philadelphia
Crowd says 

My Loup

Cuisine
French, Seafood, Modern American
Neighborhood
Rittenhouse
Crowd says 

Parc

Cuisine
French
Neighborhood
Rittenhouse
Crowd says 

Vernick

Cuisine
Seafood, Modern American
Neighborhood
Rittenhouse
Crowd says 

Vetri Cucina

Cuisine
Italian
Neighborhood
Center City
Crowd says 

Andiario

Cuisine
Italian, American
Neighborhood
West Chester
Crowd says 
All rated!
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Staff Contributors

  • Design, Development, Reporting, and Data: Aileen Clarke
  • Editing: Sam Morris
  • Photography: Jose F. Moreno, Monica Herndon, Yong Kim, Tom Gralish, Charles Fox, Tyger Williams, and Tim Tai
  • Illustration: Steve Madden and Sam Morris
  • Copy Editing: Brian Leighton

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