The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau is responsible for Michelin coming to town. The process of how Michelin selects a restaurant is shrouded in mystery, but the gist is that anonymous inspectors are assigned to visit, eat in its restaurants, and judge according to various criteria akin to the guidelines of restaurant critics.
The announcement coincides with the rollout of an inaugural Boston Michelin Guide. Both destinations will join the Michelin Guide Northeast Cities edition. A spokesperson confirms that Michelin inspectors are already in the field. Philadelphia and Boston will join the Northeast ceremony, which includes announcements for New York, Chicago, and D.C. The full 2025 restaurant selections will be revealed “at a later date” — likely late fall.
“We are so excited to see the impact this recognition has on our peers and the community at large,” said Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook of Zahav and Steve Cook of CookNSolo restaurants, told Eater.
International director of the Michelin Guides, Gwendal Poullennec, will be in town starting Monday. He’s booked to visit Thai spot from Nok Suntaranon, Kalaya; Amanda Shulman’s Her Place Supper Club; and Casa México from Cristina Martínez of South Philly Barbacoa. All three have been finalists or have won James Beard awards.
It’s Poullennec’s first visit to Philly and the first time he will attend a U.S. Michelin Guide announcement. On Tuesday morning, there’s a press conference with Poullennec, Governor Josh Shapiro, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, and Gregg Caren, head of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, during which Poullennec will answer questions about Michelin’s decision to come to Philly and about the process for evaluation.
Ahead of his visit, the director pointed out the “rich diversity of cuisine and culinary history,” for Boston and Philadelphia in a statement.
The Philadelphia Visitors Bureau notes the group has been working behind the scenes for years to bring Michelin to the city. It’s “an acknowledgment of years of hard work, collaboration, and extraordinary culinary innovation,” said Caren in a statement. The relationship began with the launch of the Michelin Green Guide in 2023.
The bureau confirms it’s the sole partner for the Michelin Guide, providing funding support, marketing, and promotion in a multi-year agreement that’s not yet public. Bringing Michelin to Philly “is funded through PHLCVB resources as part of our broader international marketing efforts that align with our mission to drive tourism and economic impact for Philadelphia,” a spokesperson told Eater.
As an Eater Boston report pointed out in 2023, it is not that cities like Philly weren’t already on the Michelin Guide’s radar: It’s a money game. Tourism boards pay the tire company to launch the guide in their cities, not every city wants or can play ball.
There has been a lot of growth for the Michelin guides in the U.S. over the past few years. In 2024, Michelin published its first-ever guides in Texas, and there are brand-new guides to come for the South, which will include Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, in addition to the Atlanta guide. Before Atlanta got its own guide in 2023, there were six Michelin cities and states in the U.S., including New York City, California, Colorado, Florida, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Restaurateurs in cities where Michelin has landed have said that having a guide boosts business and attracts new talent to the region. “We saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in business almost immediately,” says Aaron Phillips, of the Michelin-starred restaurant Lazy Betty in Atlanta, which has had a Michelin Guide for three years. “It was not just in business — people wanted to work here, more talent was coming in from out of town.”
Michelin’s ratings include the famous one, two, or the most prestigious three-star ratings. The Bib Gourmands highlight affordable places where diners can find an outstanding meal under $50. There’s also the Michelin Green Guide, a separate ranking that came to Philly two years ago, that rates city attractions from one to three stars, with spots like the Philadelphia Museum of Art (three stars) and Longwood Gardens (one star) getting ranked.
When Michelin launched Philly’s Green Guide, its editor, Philippe Orain, said Philadelphia was “the best gateway” to the U.S. and the East Coast, citing its manageable airport and the city’s historical significance. He also claimed that Philly is “the best way to make a quick and very important introduction to the U.S.” for foreign tourists, according to a statement.
Michelin first came to the United States in 2005 to rank New York restaurants. In 1926, the guide began to award stars for fine dining restaurants. It started with just a single-star ranking. Five years later, a hierarchy of zero, one, two, and three stars was introduced, and in 1936, the criteria for the starred rankings were published.
