What Does a Michelin Star Mean? Everything You Need to Know About This Exclusive Restaurant List
Learn everything you need to know about the high honor of receiving a Michelin star with this Michelin Guide explainer.
When you walk up to a restaurant and see a red star in the window, you know excellent fine dining awaits. But do you actually know what that star signifies?
Michelin stars are one of the highest honors in the restaurant world, but there are many misconceptions about the requirements for inclusion in the Michelin Guide and what each star represents. And don’t dare say someone is a Michelin-starred chef — industry insiders will be quick to correct you that these awards go to restaurants, not individuals.
Here, we break down what it means when a restaurant receives a Michelin star, from each star’s meaning to other awards and the history of the world’s most exclusive restaurant rankings.
In This Article
- What Is the Michelin Guide?
- The History of the Michelin Guide
- What Does Each Michelin Star Mean?
- What Is a Michelin Bib Gourmand?
- What Other Awards Does Michelin Give Out?
What Is the Michelin Guide?
The Michelin Guide is a restaurant rating system that awards one, two, or three stars to the world’s finest restaurants. It also gives out additional awards like the Bib Gourmand (an award for more casual, affordable spots) and other recognitions for outstanding service, wine programs, and bars. Michelin offers guides in 47 countries, and it continually expands its reach to provide recommendations in new cities and countries.
While there are many other awards for restaurants — La Liste, World’s 50 Best, Forbes, Gault&Millau, just to name a few — the Michelin Guide stands out for its rigorous standards. Unlike many other award bodies that rely on nominations and internal voting, the Michelin Guide employs anonymous inspectors around the world whose sole job is to visit restaurants and experience them firsthand to provide a ranking. These professionals must have at least 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry and typically rack up about 250 meals while on the job per year.
How Michelin Inspectors Rate Restaurants
Anonymous inspectors for the Michelin Guide evaluate restaurants based on five criteria: the quality of the ingredients used, the mastery of flavor and cooking techniques, the chef’s personality in the cuisine, the harmony of flavors, and the consistency between visits.
The Michelin Guide’s official website also includes information on restaurants that haven’t received a star, Bib Gourmand, or another award in order to provide a comprehensive picture of the dining options in any particular city. Why include restaurants without an award? Appearing on the site is “the sign of a chef using quality ingredients that are well-cooked; simply a good meal,” Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin Guides, says. “It means that the inspectors have found the food to be above average, but not quite at star or Bib level. One star (or more) indicates a truly gastronomic experience.”
History of the Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guide may be an iconic distinction today, but it started as just a humble roadmap. André and Édouard Michelin started their namesake tire company in a small town in France called Clermont-Ferrand, when there were fewer than 3,000 cars on the road across the entire country. In an effort to bolster car use and thereby boost tire sales, the company began producing a small red book filled with maps, practical information on how to change a tire or troubleshoot issues, and details on places to eat, drink, and stay in France.
Since the company’s first iteration of the Michelin Guide in 1889, it has grown to include guidebooks for restaurants all around the world.
What Does Each Michelin Star Mean?
Restaurants can receive one-, two-, or three-star distinctions from the Michelin Guide. One star is described as “high-quality cooking.” In the original iteration of the guide, it meant it was “worth a stop.”
Two stars indicate that the restaurant offers “excellent cooking,” where the chef’s personality and talent are evident, and the food is refined and inspired. Approximately 500 restaurants worldwide currently hold this honor.
Three stars is the highest honor and is given to “superlative cooking of chefs at the peak of their profession; their cooking is elevated to an art form, and some of their dishes are destined to become classics,” according to the guide. The original guide dubbed these eateries as destinations themselves, and there are currently only 153 three-star restaurants in the world.
Read More: The 10 Most Expensive Restaurants in the World
What Is a Michelin Bib Gourmand?
Not every restaurant in the Michelin Guide offers ultra-fine tasting menus. The Michelin Guide also doles out awards to restaurants offering great food at affordable prices called Bib Gourmands, named after the company’s Michelin man mascot, Bibendum. The guide measures affordability differently for each city, based on the average annual income and the cost of living. In the U.S., the company has stated that this means you can get a three-course meal for approximately $40.
What Other Awards Does Michelin Give Out?
Over the years, the Michelin Guide has introduced a handful of other awards to restaurants and other hospitality venues. During each city’s Michelin Award ceremony, the company presents honors to outstanding sommeliers and young chefs. This is the only award it gives to individuals rather than restaurants (remember there’s no such thing as a Michelin-starred chef). The award body also recognizes restaurants for standout service, cocktails, and wine programs.
The Michelin Guide introduced green stars in 2021 as a way to recognize restaurants with a commitment to sustainable practices. Unlike regular Michelin stars, the green star awards do not come with a specific set of culinary standards. Instead, the inspectors seek out restaurants that are “at the top of their game when it comes to their sustainable practices” and look at the use of seasonal produce, the restaurant’s environmental footprint, general waste disposal and recycling, and other factors.
The Michelin Guide also began honoring standout hotels in 2024. The Michelin Keys evaluate hotels based on five criteria: providing an “open door” to the destination, excellence in interior design and architecture, individuality, quality and consistency in service, comfort, and maintenance, as well as consistency between the level of experience and the price. Similar to the system for restaurants, hotels can earn the high honor of one, two, or three keys. The first slate of Michelin Key honorees included 5,300 hotels in 120 countries, including luxury brands such as Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Rosewood Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Aman, and more.
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