NC will soon have Michelin star restaurants. New American South guide announced
North Carolina will have a Michelin Guide, placing it in the highest tier of restaurant regions in the world.
On Wednesday, Michelin announced its newest guide, The American South.
The guide will include restaurants from North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and absorb the existing Atlanta Guide.
“We are excited to embark on this new journey for the MICHELIN Guide as this will be the first time since the Guide’s North American debut in 2005 that we are launching a regional selection,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guides in a news release. “The cuisine of the American South is a unique product of diverse influences creating an iconic array of specialties prepared by proud and impressive culinary talent.”
While improbable a decade ago, North Carolina restaurants will now be reviewed and judged on Michelin’s world famous starred scale, seen by many as the standard for the very best restaurants.
The stars are awarded at three levels, with three stars being the most coveted honor in the global food world.
But rumors have been out there for years, that North Carolina would have a Michelin guide in some form or another.
As recently as last month, Michelin said it had no news to share. That was until today.
Tapped into the swirling rumors, top Raleigh chefs mused on what a Michelin guide might mean for the Triangle and North Carolina.
“Michelin was always the highest level of recognition,” chef Scott Crawford of Crawford & Son said last month in an interview. “There’s such a rich history of rating amazing restaurants. (The Guide) is a little more trusted, the star system is still intact….If this is in fact true, it would be very good for the Triangle and for North Carolina as a whole.”
Michelin relies on a team of anonymous “restaurant inspectors,” who visit and review restaurants in a region. On Wednesday, Michelin said its inspectors are already out and about reviewing Southern restaurants.
Unique for the new South guide in America, Michelin said it plans to look beyond the major cities for the culinary and culturally important restaurants.
“Our region has long deserved global recognition for its extraordinary farm-to-table cuisine, world-class seafood, and rich food culture—crafted by some of the world’s most creative and talented chefs,” said Liz Bittner, president & CEO of Travel South USA, a Michelin guide partner, in a news release. “We couldn’t be prouder to be the first region in the country to showcase our culinary assets in big cities and small towns on a global stage. A heartfelt thank you to the state tourism offices and destinations for their participation in this groundbreaking initiative.”
For more than a century, the Michelin guide has been an institution in Europe, leading diners to notable restaurants in cities and countrysides.
The guide jumped to North America with its New York guide in 2005 and has since added a dozen more guides for major cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The new American South guide will mean world-class food cities like New Orleans and Charleston, SC will have their restaurants considered for stars for the first time.
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 9:47 AM with the headline "NC will soon have Michelin star restaurants. New American South guide announced."
