A Guide To All The 3-Star Michelin Restaurants In The United States
There are over 200 Michelin-starred restaurants in the United States, but only 13 of them have earned three stars, which is the highest star rating a restaurant can get. For a restaurant to obtain three Michelin stars, it's not enough that the chef makes outstanding food. It's important to note that Michelin stars are given to the restaurants, not the chefs. A three-starred restaurant is the work of the entire team that ensures an impeccable guest experience throughout. According to Michelin's definition, a three-starred restaurant means that it is worth making a special journey somewhere just to eat at that restaurant.
The restaurants that garnered this highest honor are spread throughout the country (although New York City reigns supreme). Since none of them is cheap, it's good to know what you're getting into before committing to splurge. Here are the 13 restaurants in the U.S. with three Michelin stars, presented in alphabetical order, and what they are all about. From the chefs and their backgrounds to the kind of food you can expect to get when you dine there, this guide helps tell the story why these restaurants deserve three Michelin stars — it's up to you to decide if they're worth the splurge.
1. Addison - San Diego, California
Addison is the fine dining restaurant located at The Fairmont Grand Del Mar hotel in San Diego, California. The restaurant is helmed by Chef William Bradley. Bradley is a self-taught chef who honed his skills at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona and later became Executive Chef at Vu Restaurant at The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale. Bradley was born and raised in San Diego, though, and he eventually moved back to Southern California. In 2006, Bradley became the executive chef at Addison Restaurant.
At Addison, Bradley serves California cuisine through a 10-course tasting menu. True to the heart of California gastronomy, the tasting menu showcases seasonal and local ingredients with global culinary influences. Bradley may draw from Japanese cooking techniques for one dish and Spain for another. Addison got its first Michelin star in 2019 and was later awarded three stars in 2022.
(858) 314-1900
5200 Grand Del Mar Way, San Diego, CA 92130
2. Alinea - Chicago, Illinois
Alinea in Chicago has been a leader in molecular gastronomy since its opening in 2005. Chef Grant Achatz graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and honed his skills at different fine dining restaurants around the world, including at The French Laundry for five years. Achatz then partnered with Nick Kokonas and opened Alinea in 2005.
Creative and avant-garde, Alinea was a disruptor of the way diners interact with food. In 2010, the restaurant was named the best restaurant in North America by World's 50 Best and it received the three stars honor for the first time that same year. Alinea's food is best described as innovative and modernist. Some of the iconic dishes created at Alinea included the Table Dessert where the chef essentially creates a piece of art directly on the table and a ravioli filled with potato and truffle that explodes in your mouth. Even today, Achatz and his team continue to innovate at Alinea, and the restaurant has maintained its three-star status.
1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614
3. Atelier Crenn - San Francisco, California
French-born Chef Dominique Crenn sharpened her culinary skills by working at restaurants around the world, from France to Indonesia. Her previous stints included heading the kitchen at Luce in San Francisco, which earned a Michelin star within a year of her working there.
Dominique Crenn then ventured out on her own, opening Atelier Crenn in 2011. Crenn's cooking has evolved from a distinctly French cuisine after years or living and working in California. Atelier Crenn now serves tasting menus of French-Californian cuisine. The restaurant received its first Michelin star in 2011. When Atelier Crenn received two stars the following year, Chef Crenn became the first female chef in the U.S. to helm a two-starred restaurant. Finally, in 2018, Atelier Crenn received its third star.
Dominique Crenn has also shown a commitment to sustainability, which earned the restaurant a Michelin Green Star. Atelier Crenn is certified as a plastic-free establishment and Chef Crenn has shifted to an all-pescatarian menu for her restaurants, citing the environmental impacts of land meat.
(415) 440-0460
3127 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94123
4. Benu - San Francisco, California
Benu's Chef Corey Lee was born in Korea, but moved to New York City as a child with his family. Lee trained in classical French cooking by working for chefs like Marco Pierre White and Guy Savoy. Perhaps most notably, Lee worked as head chef at The French Laundry and helped open Per Se before finally opening his own restaurant, Benu, in San Francisco.
At Benu, Lee brings the French culinary skills he's learned and infuses the menu with Asian influences. One of the restaurant's signature dishes is the soup dumpling (xiao long bao), which used to be filled with foie gras until the ingredient was banned in the state. The dumpling is now served with different ingredients. Benu opened in 2010 and received its first three Michelin stars in 2014 and Chef Lee became the first Korean chef to helm a restaurant with three stars. Lee also won the title of Best Chef: West from the James Beard Awards.
(415) 685-4860
22 Hawthorne St, San Francisco, CA 94105
5. Eleven Madison Park - New York, New York
Eleven Madison Park was originally opened by restaurateur Danny Meyer, but Chef Daniel Humm and then-General Manager Will Guidara purchased the restaurant in 2011 (Humm later bought out Guidara's share in 2019).
Humm was born and trained in Switzerland, and later moved to San Francisco to work at Hotel Compton. Chef Daniel Humm became the executive chef at Eleven Madison Park in 2006 after being recruited by Danny Meyer while working in San Francisco. The restaurant received its first Michelin star in 2010, but it was after Humm and Guidara purchased the restaurant that they were able to push the restaurant to be the special place that it became. Eleven Madison Park was upgraded to three stars in 2012.
In the beginning, Eleven Madison Park served French food, but in 2021, the restaurant announced that it will be shifting to a vegan-only menu. The menu is now best described as contemporary and innovative plant-based cuisine. When it was awarded three stars in 2022, Eleven Madison Park became the first vegan restaurant with the accolade.
(212) 889-0905
11 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
6. Le Bernardin - New York, New York
Le Bernardin is New York City's three-starred French restaurant focused on sustainable seafood, but the restaurant originally started in Paris in 1972. Siblings Maguy and Gilbert Le Coze opened Le Bernardin and its success led them to open a New York City location in 1986. Chef Eric Ripert, who currently leads the kitchen, started working there in 1991. Chef Eric Ripert attended culinary school at the age of 15 and he's been cooking ever since. Ripert's experience with seafood also started early, he worked as Chef Poissonnier (fish cook) at Joel Robuchon's Jamin in Paris.
When Gilbert Le Coze passed away in 1994, Ripert took over the kitchen and has maintained Le Bernardin's reputation since. Michelin released its first New York City guide in 2005 and Le Bernardin received three Michelin stars, as it has every year since. Le Bernardin is more approachable than most three-starred restaurants: in addition to the chef's tasting menu, the restaurant also offers a cheaper prix fixe menu, a three-course lunch, and a small a la carte menu in the lounge.
(212) 554-1515
155 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019
7. Masa - New York, New York
Masa in New York City is known for its very high-end sushi omakase — chef's choice — experience. Masa has the unique distinction as the first Japanese restaurant in the U.S. to receive three Michelin stars. Even today it is still the only three-starred sushi restaurant in the country.
Chef Masayoshi Takayama grew up working for his family's fish market in Japan before learning to make sushi at Ginza Sushi-ko in Tokyo. After moving to the United States, Takayama ran a small sushi restaurant in Beverly Hills before eventually opening Masa in Manhattan in 2004.
Masa's omakase is around 26 courses (it's not as overwhelming as it sounds, as most of them are nigiri sushi pieces) and it's said to be the Holy Grail of omakase dining in New York city, for those who can afford it — the omakase starts at $750 per person. It costs even more if you want to sit at the sushi bar, making this the most expensive restaurant on this list. In fact, Masa is probably the most expensive restaurant in the United States.
(212) 823-9800
10 Columbus Circle, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019
8. Per Se - New York, New York
Chef Thomas Keller is the only chef in the U.S. with two separate three Michelin-starred restaurants. In addition to The French Laundry in Napa Valley, Keller's Per Se in New York City has maintained three Michelin stars since 2006.
Per Se serves a chef's tasting menu and a vegetarian tasting menu that change daily, just like The French Laundry, except here only nine courses are served instead of the 12 courses at The French Laundry. The restaurant also serves a shorter tasting menu (five courses) in the Salon for the slightly more affordable price of $265 per person instead of $390.
Per Se serves some of the same signature dishes as The French Laundry like Pearls and Oysters, but the tasting menus are generally different. The atmosphere also differs vastly between the two. While The French Laundry has the quaint feel of the wine country, Per Se is cosmopolitan and offers sweeping views of Central Park and Columbus Circle. Chad Palagi is the current Chef de Cuisine at Per Se, running the daily kitchen operations.
(212) 823-9335
10 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10019
9. Quince - San Francisco, California
Quince is a contemporary California fine dining restaurant in San Francisco headed by Chef Michael Tusk. Quince was awarded one Michelin star when the San Francisco guide was first launched in 2007 and later earned a second star in 2014 and its third star in 2017.
After graduating from the Culinary of America, Chef Michael Tusk went on to train in France and Italy. Upon returning to the United States, Tusk moved to Northern California and eventually worked at Chez Panisse with Chef Alice Waters, who led the way for California cuisine and the farm-to-table movement.
At Quince, Tusk serves contemporary California cuisine with some Italian influences, drawing inspirations from his training in that country. He also maintains the farm-to-table philosophy he learned at Chez Panisse and commits to sourcing seasonal produce locally, which also earned the restaurant a Green Star for sustainability. For guests who aren't quite ready to spend $390 on the full tasting menu, Quince also offers an abbreviated four-course menu in the Salon for $270, as well as an a la carte menu at the Salon and Bar.
(415) 775-8500
470 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
10. SingleThread - Healdsburg, California
Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley aren't just known for their winery experiences, but they're also home to some outstanding restaurants. SingleThread in Sonoma Valley's Healdsburg, California is a true farm-to-table restaurant. Chef Kyle Connaughton runs the kitchen while his wife, Katie Connaughton, manages SingleThread's 24-acre farm from which the restaurants gets a lot of their produce.
Kyle Connaughton's first job was at a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, and SingleThread's menu is heavily influenced by Japanese cuisine. In fact, one of the dishes SingleThread is known for is the donabe, a kind of hot pot cooked in a Japanese clay pot. With not only three stars under its belt, but also the accolade of being named one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, it's safe to say that SingleThread isn't only one of the best restaurants in Healdsburg, but one of the best in the country.
www.singlethreadfarms.com/restaurant
(707) 723-4646
131 North St, Healdsburg, CA 95448
11. Smyth - Chicago, Illinois
Smyth is a rustic-chic restaurant in Chicago is run by John B. Shields, who is the executive chef of the restaurant; his wife, Karen Urie Shields, is the executive pastry chef. John Shields worked as sous chef at Charlie Trotter's and later Alinea in Chicago. At Charlie Trotter's, he met Karen Urie Shields, who was working as head pastry chef at the time. The two left Chicago to run a restaurant in rural Virginia called Town House, which gained national attention. The acclaim allowed the pair to return to Chicago to open not just one, but two restaurants, Smyth and The Loyalist. The restaurant's name Smyth is actually based on the name of the county in Virginia where Town House was located.
At the tasting menu-only Smyth, the Shields serve up contemporary and innovative American cuisine fueled by their creativity and seasonal ingredients. Most of the produce they use come from their own small farm 20 miles away. Smyth received one star in the 2017 Michelin guide and the team has worked its way up, earning the restaurant's third star in 2023.
(773) 913-3773
177 N Ada St #101, Chicago, IL 60607
12. The French Laundry - Yountville, California
Napa Valley's iconic The French Laundry has been operating as a restaurant in Yountville, California since 1978 and it was later purchased by Chef Thomas Keller in 1994. Keller's culinary training took him from Florida to France to New York, before he moved to the West Coast. After a stint in Los Angeles, he bought The French Laundry, and the rest is history. The French Laundry didn't get its first three stars until 2006, but that's only because that was the first year the Michelin Guide was released for the San Francisco area.
Not only has The French Laundry maintained its three stars all these years, but the restaurant has also been the training ground for young chefs who have then gone on to open three-starred restaurants of their own after working at The French Laundry, as can be noted from this list with restaurants like Benu and Alinea.
The French Laundry offers a 12-course Chef's tasting menu and a vegetarian tasting menu that changes daily. South Korea-born Ara Jo currently runs the kitchen's daily operations as Chef de Cuisine.
(707) 944-2380
6640 Washington St, Yountville, CA 94599
13. The Inn at Little Washington - Washington, Virginia
As the name suggests, The Inn at Little Washington is the restaurant of a 23-room inn in Washington, Virginia. Despite its out-of-the-way location, the restaurant is the only three Michelin-starred restaurant in the Washington, D.C. Metro area.
Chef Patrick O'Connell is a self-taught chef who first opened The Inn in 1978. Given the restaurant and the inn's accolades, it may come as a surprise that The Inn originally opened in a former garage. The Inn has certainly grown there and the restaurant has also evolved in the past 46 years, finally receiving three Michelin stars in 2019. Chef O'Connell serves French-influenced American cuisine and has developed relationships with local farmers.
In addition to the tasting menu, O'Connell also offers a vegetarian tasting menu he calls The Good Earth Menu. The restaurant also uses produce and herbs that are grown on the small farm on property. The Inn at Little Washington's commitment to sustainability also earned the restaurant a Green Star in 2019.
www.theinnatlittlewashington.com
(540) 675-3800
309 Middle St, Washington, VA 22747