Will Cleveland Get a Michelin Star?

Andre and Endouard Michelin were visionaries when they started the Michelin tire company in 1899.

France led the European automobile market at the turn of the century. Only 3,000 Peugeots, Panhards, De Dion-Boutons and Gardner-Serpollets clanked down the country’s roads. Yet, the Michelin brothers, who would soon patent the removable pneumatic tire, saw a travel boom coming down the road. With that vision in mind, the company published the first Michelin Guide in 1900. The pocketbook offered tips on how to change a tire, fuel up and find lodging. 

The brothers, as prophetic as they were, likely didn’t expect that little red pamphlet to become the worldwide bible of dining by the early 1920s. As the book’s food section grew in popularity, the brothers recruited a team of secret agents to anonymously inspect each restaurant. The process doesn’t look much different 100 years later. If you’ve watched any melodramatic chef show or movie  — The Bear, Burnt, The Menu, Ratatouille — you’ve seen the lengths to which chefs are willing to go to earn one star (“worth a stop,” according to the guide), let alone three stars (“exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey”). Most of these are fine-dining restaurants, but a taco stand earned a star in Mexico City in 2024, so anything is possible. 

READ MORE: Cleveland to Join Michelin Guide in 2027 as Part of New Great Lakes Edition

Throughout the 1900s, the directory remained a Euro thing, with the Frenchies turning their noses up at us American swine, our fried food, and barbecue (or at least it felt that way to domestic chefs). In 2005, the first stars-and-stripes version of the guide was published in New York City before expanding to San Francisco in 2007 and Chicago in 2011. In the 2020s, Michelin pushed into Florida, Texas, Colorado, Washington, D.C. and more, dropping stars along the road like Mario Kart and giving the businesses that snagged one a similar boost.

When the Great Lakes guide launches in 2027, don’t expect to see a star right away in Cleveland — let alone three. As of this writing, there are 275 restaurants in the U.S. with a star. The Southern expansion netted only six stars over five restaurants, all in Nashville and New Orleans. Philadelphia and Boston each only have one. Vegas doesn’t have one right now. There are other, more attainable honors, however.

In the 2025 edition, the Bibb Gourmand distinction went to 434 restaurants that “serve great food at a great value,” according to the organization. Nonetheless, the inclusion serves as further confirmation, along with our recent strong showings in the James Beard Awards, that Cleveland’s dining scene deserves a seat at the table. 

Michelin awards stars based on five criteria: the quality of the ingredients, the harmony of flavors, mastery of cooking techniques, the chef’s personality as expressed through the cuisine, and consistency across visits.

Cordelia and Rosy chef Vinnie Cimino, a finalist for the 2026 James Beard Awards, remembers wearing the medal around his neck when his boss, Jonathan Sawyer of Greenhouse Tavern, became the second-ever Cleveland chef to win the award in 2015. It’d be so cool to win one of these, he remembers thinking.

READ MORE: Rosy, the New Restaurant From Cordelia, Reminds Chef Vinnie Cimino Why He Loves to Cook

"Awards will never define us,” Cimino says. “It's always how we show up tomorrow for everybody."

Awards won’t define Cleveland, either. We know what we have. But recognition matters — and any Michelin Guide nod would only accelerate the momentum, bringing more attention to a city that’s already cooking.

“We deserve it. We belong here,” he says. “Now, let's bring this damn thing home."

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