Restaurant Pearl Morissette, a restaurant in the Niagara Region that offers contemporary cuisine, kept its two stars from last year.Supplied
For the fifth year in a row, one of the world’s most popular culinary guides has bestowed a few new restaurants in Toronto and the surrounding area with its coveted honours.
The Michelin Guide Toronto & Region unveiled its 2026 selections at a gala in Toronto on Tuesday night. No new restaurants were awarded Michelin stars this year, while five new restaurants received the Bib Gourmand recognition. Eleven new spots were also added to its recommended list.
Restaurant Pearl Morissette, a restaurant in the Niagara Region that offers contemporary cuisine, kept its two stars from last year. Fourteen other restaurants maintained their one-star designation.
There are currently 15 Michelin-starred restaurants in the Toronto region, down from 17 last year. Toronto restaurant Aburi Hana lost its only star and wasn’t featured on this year’s list, while Hexagon in Oakville, Ont., has since closed down.
Toronto became the first Canadian city to be featured by the French tire company’s gastronomic guide in 2022. It has since awarded restaurants outside the city limits in surrounding regions up to two hours away.
Here’s a look at the newest additions to this year’s guide.
The Bib Gourmands
This year’s Michelin Guide inspectors gave five new restaurants its Bib Gourmand designation, which recognizes eateries for “great food at a great value.” There are currently 31 Toronto eateries with the Bib Gourmand recognition.
Antylia
Type of cuisine: Latin American
Chefs: Aldo Camarena and Ashley McKay
Neighbourhood: Dufferin Grove (1059 Bloor St. W)
According to Michelin: “How do you honor Ontario’s seasons and ingredients but give them a unique boost? Just ask Antylia, a talented kitchen that takes diners on a trip through Mexico and Latin America. Chef/owners Aldo Camarena and Ashley McKay take the details seriously, nixtamalizing and grinding all of their heirloom corn masa in house using a volcanic stone mill imported from Puebla, Mexico.”
Golden Horseshoe Barbecue
Type of cuisine: Barbecue
Chefs: Andrew Golden (who won this year’s Michelin Young Chef award)
Neighbourhood: Annex (657 Dupont St.)
According to Michelin: “This is true Texas-style barbecue, specializing in the holy trinity of brisket, ribs and sausage (if you happen to swing by on a Thursday, you’ll be rewarded with pastrami, though). While all eyes are trained on the meat, sides like charro beans with jalapeños and cotija cheese, and cornbread slathered in cinnamon butter, are far from a second thought.”
Les Incompetents
Type of cuisine: Modern and French cuisine
Chefs: Zach Smith
Neighbourhood: St. Catharines, Ont. (386 St. Paul St.)
According to Michelin: “The thoughtful, endlessly tempting menu is loosely French in inspiration and delivers knockout flavors in style. Who knew that egg mayonnaise with celeriac remoulade could be this good or that mackerel tastes best skewered and grilled? Cocktails, meanwhile, are sophisticated, refined efforts that should be explored with abandon.”
RPM Bakehouse
Type of cuisine: Bakery
Neighbourhood: Jordan Station in Niagara (3839 Main St.)
According to Michelin: “The daytime relative of Pearl Morissette offers a casual, evolving menu that never fails to delight. To complement a vibrant salad, sourdough grilled cheese with golden beets and aged cheddar is the move to make. If still available, swing for the quiche, a custardy indulgence that has few equals. A cup of hot coffee, a buttery danish, a seat on the sunny patio – is there a better way to start the day?”
The Lunch Lady of Saigon
Type of cuisine: Vietnamese
Chefs: Benedict Lim and Allan Lu
Neighbourhood: Trinity-Bellwoods (93 Ossington Ave.)
According to Michelin: “This Toronto outpost serves elevated Vietnamese cuisine rooted in the recipes of Nguyen Thi Thanh, the original Lunch Lady of Saigon. The restaurant channels those original flavors into a lively, neighborhood-driven dining room that’s been busy ever since it opened.”
Recommended
Michelin Guide inspectors added 11 new restaurants to its Recommended list this year. A Michelin-recommended restaurant means that the spot serves quality food with fresh ingredients, but did not quite meet the inspectors’ criteria for a Michelin Star or a Bib Gourmand. There are 65 Toronto eateries under Michelin’s Recommended list.
- 156 ONEFIVESIX: Korean fusion (1100 Queen St. W.)
- Bar Allegro: European contemporary (597 College St.)
- Bar ARDO: Italian (169 King St. E.)
- Bar Eugenie: Contemporary (89 Harbord St.)
- Liliana: Fusion (1198 Queen St. W.)
- LORE: Contemporary (100 Pine St., Collingwood)
- oddBird: French gastropub (52 St. Paul St., St. Catharines)
- Pho Ngoc Yen: Vietnamese (1090 Kamato Rd., Mississauga)
- PUNCH: Indian-British contemporary (30 Mercer St.)
- Revé: Italian contemporary (242 Mary St., Unit 4, Niagara-on-the-Lake)
- Takja: Korean (962 College St.)
