New MICHELIN Starred Restaurants Shine Across the American South
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Three new restaurants earn One MICHELIN Star in 2026 selection
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14 new Bib Gourmands are recognized, while 31 new Recommended restaurants join the selection
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Selection boasts 265 restaurants, with 44 cuisine types reflected
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Oct. 21, 2026 — This evening, the MICHELIN Guide revealed the second annual restaurant selection for the 2026 MICHELIN Guide American South at a ceremony that took place at The Pinnacle in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The ceremony was full of celebration as three new restaurants were awarded One MICHELIN Star: Dakar NOLA in New Orleans, So. Fox in Atlanta and Uberto Restaurant in Gay, Georgia.
In addition to the new Starred restaurants, the anonymous Inspectors identified 14 new Bib Gourmands across the region, bringing the selection total to 59. As they canvassed the region, the Inspectors also identified 31 new Recommended eateries ranging from hidden coastal gems to big city standouts. The full selection for 2026 now includes 265 restaurants, spanning 44 cuisine types. Chefs and restaurant teams were honored onstage during the ceremony.
“In its second year, the MICHELIN Guide American South continues to reveal the remarkable talent and diversity of the region’s culinary landscape,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide. “As our anonymous Inspectors continued to explore the South, they found not only exciting momentum in established dining destinations, but also exceptional restaurants in smaller communities and unexpected corners of the region. We are delighted to celebrate the talented restaurant teams recognized in this year’s selection.”
Here are the new MICHELIN Star restaurants, with Inspector notes from each (Inspectors’ comments in full on the MICHELIN Guide website and mobile app):
One MICHELIN Star
Dakar NOLA (New Orleans; Senegalese cuisine)
Blending the flavors and traditions of Senegal and New Orleans, Chef Serigne Mbaye tells a story that only he can tell. Located in a cottage, the intimate restaurant comprises of just a few tables overlooked by a wall of tribal masks. Making the most local produce and seafood, the kitchen prepares a confident tasting menu where dishes are boldly flavored, keenly balanced and carefully composed. Think shrimp skewers with mustard sauce, Gulf crab with black eyed peas and cassava, and a brilliant soup of shrimp and okra. Jollof rice zapped with fiery habanero chilis and served alongside grilled fish with tamarind broth is as generous as it is thrilling. Original and exceptional, the restaurant offers a transportive experience.
So. Fox (Atlanta; American cuisine)
So. Fox is a delightful surprise tucked inside a small, contemporary building in Atlanta's Virginia-Highland neighborhood. Flooded with natural light, it's the very definition of chic, contemporary design. The name is a nod to the Southern Fox, another name for the American indigenous muscadine grape, and wine is indeed as important as the Southern-leaning cuisine here. Chef Myles Moody and Sommelier Rachael Pack collaborate on an impressive meal that eschews pretense, with a seasonally shifting menu. Corn dumplings in a sweet corn sauce with lump crab meat is beautifully fragrant, original and flawlessly executed. Then, a bowl of piped marshmallow is set with roasted apple granita and purple shiso for an expertly balanced finish.
Uberto Restaurant (Gay, Georgia; Contemporary cuisine)
This distinctive spot about an hour from Atlanta rests amid rolling green hills as part of the World of Quercus resort. Chef Ryan Smith oversees this ambitious dining room that is open on Friday and Saturday evenings only (though hotel guests are invited to additional meals outside of these constraints). The tasting menu celebrates farm-grown ingredients, harnessing fermentation and preservation techniques to make the best of their products. Creative cooking with plenty of on-trend inflections take center stage with plates like miso and Alabama blue crab chawanmushi. Cold-smoked, dry-aged Rohan duck is grilled over binchotan coals and paired with a vibrant carrot puree. To finish, expect the likes of fig ice cream with buckwheat sponge and crumble.
Bib Gourmand
The MICHELIN Guide Inspectors gave 14 new restaurants the Bib Gourmand distinction, which recognizes eateries for great food at a great value. The full list can be found below.
American South 2026 Bib Gourmand restaurants
MICHELIN Special Awards
In addition to the Bib Gourmands and Stars, the Guide announced four Special Awards:
The MICHELIN Guide Ceremony is presented with the support of Capital One.
Hotels
The restaurants join the MICHELIN Guide selection of hotels, which features the most unique and exciting places to stay in the American South and throughout the world.
Each hotel in the selection has been chosen by MICHELIN Guide experts for its extraordinary style, service and personality — with options for all budgets — and each can be booked directly through the MICHELIN Guide website and app. The selection features the region’s most spectacular hotels, including one of the region's best-kept secrets, The Swag (Two MICHELIN Keys) nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains; the unapologetically luxe Maison Metier (One MICHELIN Key) in New Orlean's Warehouse District; and Nashville's The Dive Motel & Swim Club with a retro design that pays tribute to its locale.
The MICHELIN Guide is a benchmark in gastronomy. Now it’s setting a new standard for hotels. Visit the MICHELIN Guide website, or download the free app for iOS and Android, to discover every restaurant in the selection and book an unforgettable hotel.
The 2026 MICHELIN Guide American South selection:
American South’s 2026 MICHELIN-Starred Restaurants
American South's 2026 Recommended restaurants
Mindful Voices – a tribute to inspiring concepts
New for 2026, the Mindful Voices platform brings together inspirational voices from across the hospitality industry – an editorial space where chefs, hoteliers, and winemakers can share their stories and pioneering practices, both with one another and the rest of the world.
“Mindful Voices will give a platform to all those who are rewriting the rules in their respective fields,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide. “This new framework draws directly from what our Inspection teams witness firsthand: encounters and experiences that are transforming how things are done and that deserve to be shared. Staying true to its identity and values, the MICHELIN Guide will amplify and give full resonance to these voices from the worlds of gastronomy, hospitality and wine so that they can be heard, wherever they may be.”
During this year's ceremony, the MICHELIN Guide highlighted the initiatives of two chefs featured in its Mindful Voices editorial series.
Chef Sam Diminich from Restaurant Constance in Charlotte, North Carolina, works with a team committed to sourcing ingredients from over 30 local farms within a 50-mile radius of the restaurant. This approach supports the local farming community while allowing the team to create a menu that reflects the seasons.
Chef Ryan Smith from Uberto Restaurant in Gay, Georgia, sources over 90% of the restaurant's produce from its on-site regenerative farm, which operates entirely on solar energy and uses no chemical pesticides or herbicides.
Learn more about the new Mindful Voices for the American South here.
The MICHELIN Guide in North America
Michelin announced its first North American Guide in 2005 for New York. Guides have also been added in Chicago (2011); Washington, D.C. (2017); California (San Francisco in 2007, statewide 2019); Florida (Greater Miami, Orlando and Tampa in 2022, adding Greater Fort Lauderdale, The Palm Beaches and St. Pete-Clearwater in 2025, statewide in 2026); Toronto (2022); Vancouver (2022); Colorado (2023); Atlanta (2023), Mexico (2024), Texas (2024), Québec (2024), the American South (2025), Boston (2025), Philadelphia (2025), the Southwest (2026) and the American Great Lakes (2027).
About the MICHELIN Guide
Recognized globally for excellence and quality, the MICHELIN Guide offers a selection of world-class restaurants.
- The famous One, Two and Three MICHELIN Stars identify establishments serving exceptional cuisine that’s rich in flavor, remarkably executed and infused with the personality of a talented chef.
- The Bib Gourmand is a designation given to select restaurants that offer good quality food for a good value – often known as personal favorites among the inspectors when dining on their own time.
- Recommended restaurants and special professional awards are also highlighted by the MICHELIN Guide inspectors.
The MICHELIN Guide remains a reliable companion for any traveler seeking an unforgettable meal and hospitality experience. The Guide was first published in France at the turn of the 20th century to encourage the development of car mobility as well as tire sales by giving practical advice to motorists. Progressively, the Guide has specialized in restaurant, hotel and wine recommendations. Michelin’s inspectors still use the same criteria and manner of selection that were used by the inspectors in the very beginning.
The restaurant selections join the MICHELIN Guide selection of hotels, which features the most unique and exciting places to stay around the world. Visit the MICHELIN Guide website, or download the free app for iOS and Android, to discover every restaurant in the selection and book an amazing hotel.
Thanks to the rigorous MICHELIN Guide selection process that is applied independently and consistently in more than 60 destinations, the MICHELIN Guide has become an international benchmark in fine dining.
All restaurants in the Guide are recommended by Michelin’s anonymous inspectors, who are trained to apply the same time-tested methods used by Michelin inspectors for many decades throughout the world. This ensures a uniform, international standard of excellence. As a further guarantee of complete objectivity, Michelin inspectors pay all their bills in full, and only the quality of the cuisine is evaluated.
To fully assess the quality of a restaurant, the inspectors apply five criteria defined by Michelin: product quality; mastery of cooking techniques; harmony of flavors; the personality of the chef as reflected in the cuisine; and consistency over time and across the entire menu. These criteria guarantee a consistent and fair selection so a Starred restaurant has the same value regardless of whether it is in Paris, New York or anywhere else in the world.
About Michelin North America, Inc.
Michelin is building a world-leading manufacturer of life-changing composites and experiences. Pioneering engineered materials for more than 130 years, Michelin is uniquely positioned to make decisive contributions to human progress and to a more sustainable world. Drawing on its deep know-how in polymer composites, Michelin is constantly innovating to manufacture high-quality tires and components for critical applications in demanding fields as varied as mobility, construction, aeronautics, low-carbon energies and healthcare. The care placed in its products and deep customer knowledge inspire Michelin to offer the finest experiences. This spans from providing data- and AI-based connected solutions for professional fleets to recommending outstanding restaurants and hotels curated by the MICHELIN Guide. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America, Inc. has approximately 22,000 employees and operates 36 production facilities in the United States (michelinman.com) and Canada (michelin.ca).
For more information, contact:
Carly Padgett
Michelin North America
carly.padgett@michelin.com
