Gird your loins, Boston restaurants—the Michelin Guide is coming. Yes, Michelin—the century-old restaurant rating system and guidebook series from, oddly enough, the French tire company of the same name—is officially bringing its brand of culinary discernment to Beantown this year.
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That means that not only will Boston join fellow newcomer Philadelphia as well as pre-existing cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. in the Michelin Guide's Northeast Cities edition, but Boston-area restaurants will also be evaluated by Michelin's anonymous inspectors and could receive Michelin star ratings down the line. (The guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants across the country—as of 2024, only 146 restaurants worldwide hold the coveted Michelin 3-star rating.) All of the guides’ 2025 selections will be announced at a Northeast Cities Michelin Guide Ceremony later this year, however the date and location of the ceremony hasn't been announced yet, per Eater Boston.
“We are thrilled for Boston and Philadelphia to join The MICHELIN Guide Northeast Cities as both are premier destinations for gourmets to experience a rich diversity of cuisine and culinary history,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of The MICHELIN Guide. “The local passion, talent, and camaraderie in both Boston and Philadelphia are evident in their restaurant communities and the anonymous Inspectors look forward to spotlighting their unique experiences in both cities.”
Boston is famously a top-rate culinary hub—from Mediterranean stunners like Bar Vlaha in Brookline and Sarma in Somerville to chic sushi dens like O Ya in the Leather District and Uni in Back Bay—so its inclusion in the Michelin Guide feels not only deserved but vastly overdue.
"The Boston restaurant scene has reached new heights, a fact validated by The MICHELIN Guide's entrance into our market,” said Martha J. Sheridan, President & CEO of Meet Boston. “Long known for distinguished and unparalleled farm-to-table and sea-to-table cuisine, Boston now boasts an expanded portfolio of epicurean excellence, underpinned by our great diversity of offerings and contributions from a global diaspora of culinary creators. We invite all to see and try for themselves how Greater Boston's contemporary culinary culture has evolved."
The Boston and Philadelphia additions continue a period of rapid expansion for the Michelin Guide, which has stretched its culinary coverage to Colorado and Atlanta in 2023, Mexico and Texas in 2024, and Québec and the American South earlier this year.