Atlanta leads American South guide with 8 Michelin-starred restaurants
Michelin announced its inaugural American South guide selections Monday morning, awarding one star each to 18 restaurants in the region. A single restaurant in the guide earned two stars — Emeril’s in New Orleans.
Metro Atlanta, which was covered alone by the Michelin Guide in the previous two years, has been incorporated into the American South region. Eight Atlanta-area restaurants won stars this year, one less than in 2024.
The Michelin Guide announcement itself is notable for its unusual timing.
This year’s Michelin Guide announcement was published by a wire service more than eight hours before Monday’s ceremony in Greenville, South Carolina. For the two previous events in Atlanta, the highly secretive organization would not share a news release with the full list of recognized restaurants until immediately after the ceremony.
The new Michelin Guide American South includes the pre-existing metro Atlanta guide along with Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The rest of Georgia was not considered for the guide.
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With a much broader landscape of restaurants, many in the local dining community wondered how Atlanta’s stars and accolades might be impacted in the new guide.
Below are the Atlanta restaurants included in the 2025 Michelin Guide American South selection.
Starred restaurants
Eight Atlanta restaurants retained their one-star designations, including Atlas, Bacchanalia, Hayakawa, Lazy Betty, Mujo, O by Brush, Omakase Table and Spring in Marietta.
There are no newly starred restaurants for 2025, and none in Atlanta received two stars.
Staplehouse lost its star this year. In April, the restaurant discontinued its tasting menu format which helped it win a Michelin star in 2024. The tasting menu moved to Uberto, the restaurant on the grounds of high-end resort Quercus in Gay, Georgia, which is also helmed by chef Ryan Smith.
Bib Gourmand restaurants
This year’s Bib Gourmand awardees, designated to restaurants for serving good food at a moderate price, includes a list of 13. They are: Antico Pizza Napoletana, Arepa Mia, Bomb Biscuit Co., The Busy Bee, Estrellita, Fishmonger, Fred’s Meat & Bread, Heirloom Market BBQ, Little Bear, Masterpiece, Superica, Table & Main and Whoopsie’s.
Green star restaurants
The Green Star designation, which recognizes sustainable gastronomy, was awarded to The Chastain and Bacchanalia once again.
Recommended restaurants:
The list of recommended restaurants, designated to restaurants for above-average food, increased to 42 this year from 34 last year. They include: The Alden, Avize, Banshee, Best BBQ, BoccaLupo, Chai Pani, The Chastain, The Deer and the Dove, Delbar, Fawn, Food Terminal, The General Muir, Georgia Boy, Gunshow, Han Il Kwan, Hen Mother Cookhouse, Home Grown, Kamayan ATL, Kimball House, LanZhou Ramen, Little Sparrow, Lucky Star, Lyla Lila, Madeira Park, Marcel, Miller Union, Nàdair, Nam Phuong, Pho House, Poor Hendrix, Ryokou, Snackboxe Bistro, Southern Belle, Staplehouse, Storico Fresco Alimentari, Talat Market, Ticonderoga Club, Tomo, Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours, The White Bull, Woo Nam Jeong and Xi’an Gourmet House.
Among those, the new additions are Avize, Best BBQ, Fawn, Lucky Star, Madeira Park, Pho House and Ryokou. Banshee was moved from a Bib Gourmand restaurant last year to the recommended list, and Staplehouse moved from a starred restaurant to the recommended list.
The rest of the American South
The 2025 Michelin Guide American South awarded one Michelin star to a total of 18 restaurants from around the Southeast. Emeril’s in New Orleans is the only restaurant in the American South guide to earn two Michelin stars. Atlanta’s eight starred restaurants are the most for any individual region.
Based on information that Michelin North America provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution prior to the 2023 awards, the rating of the restaurants is a group effort: Each restaurant is visited by multiple inspectors, but individual inspectors never visit the same restaurant more than once. They evaluate the consistency of a restaurant by comparing notes.
The full Michelin Guide Atlanta is available on the Michelin website and iOS and Android app. Both are free and include all the Michelin-rated restaurants and hotels around the world.
The 2025 Michelin Guide was released in partnership with Travel South USA, the Atlanta-based destination marketing organization for the Southern U.S.
Costs associated with the regional guide are funded by Travel South, Andrew Wilson, chief marketing officer and executive vice president for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB), said in an interview earlier this year. The announcement ceremonies will rotate to different cities throughout the region, starting with Greenville.
Starred restaurants are evaluated by anonymous Michelin inspectors who assess the cuisine based on quality of products, mastery of cooking technique, harmony and balance of flavors, personality of the chef as expressed in the cuisine, and consistency between visits and throughout the menu.
A one-star rating equates to “high-quality cooking”; a two-star rating denotes “excellent cooking”; and the highest, a three-star rating, indicates “exceptional cuisine.”
Stars are not permanent. Restaurants can acquire or lose stars as part of the evaluation process for issuing a new guide each year.
The Michelin Guide, which is owned by the French tire manufacturer of the same name, made its debut at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris as a handbook with maintenance guides, maps, and listings of petrol stations, hotels and restaurants. It released its first North American guide in New York in 2005 and has since grown its presence in cities across the U.S., Canada and South America.
A total of 228 restaurants were featured, representing 44 cuisines.
Below is a list of all restaurants that received stars across the American South guide beyond Georgia.
Louisiana: Saint-Germain (New Orleans), Zasu (New Orleans), Emeril’s (New Orleans)
North Carolina: Counter (Charlotte)
South Carolina: Malagon Mercado Y Taperia (Charleston), Scoundrel (Greenville), Vern’s (Charleston), Wild Common (Charleston)
Tennessee: Bastion (Nashville), Locust (Nashville), The Catbird Seat (Nashville)
Alabama and Mississippi did not earn any Michelin stars.
About the Authors
Olivia Wakim is a digital content producer on the food and dining team. She joined the AJC as an intern in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree. While in school, she reported for The Red & Black, Grady Newsource and the Marietta Daily Journal.
Henri Hollis is a reporter and restaurant critic for the Food & Dining team. Formerly a freelance writer and photographer with a focus on food and restaurants, he joined the AJC full-time in January 2021, first covering breaking news. He is a lifelong Atlantan and a graduate of Georgia Tech.
