For months, the Atlanta dining scene has been buzzing over the arrival of the city’s first Michelin Guide. Which restaurants would get a coveted star — or two?

Speculation came to an end Tuesday night at the invitation-only Michelin Guide ceremony, officially marking Atlanta as the seventh Michelin Guide destination in the U.S. and one of more than 40 cities worldwide.

A crowd packed the Rialto Center for the Arts for the announcement of starred restaurants and other award distinctions.

Five Atlanta restaurants were awarded one star each.

Starred restaurants:

Atlas

Bacchanalia

Hayakawa

Lazy Betty

Mujo

Bib Gourmand restaurants (designated to restaurants for serving good food at moderate prices):

Antico Pizza Napoletana

Arepa Mia

Banshee

Bomb Biscuit Co.

The Busy Bee

Estrellita

Fishmonger

Fred’s Meat & Bread

Heirloom Market BBQ

Little Bear

Green Star restaurants (designated to restaurants for sustainable gastronomy):

Bacchanalia

The Chastain

Recommended restaurants (designated to restaurants for above-average food):

The Alden

BoccaLupo

Chai Pani

The Chastain

The Deer and the Dove

Delbar

Food Terminal

The General Muir

Georgia Boy/Southern Belle

Gunshow

Han Il Kwan

Home Grown

Kamayan ATL

Kimball House

LanZhou Ramen

Lyla Lila

Marcel

Miller Union

Nam Phuong

Poor Hendrix

Snackboxe Bistro

Storico Fresco Alimentari

Talat Market

Ticonderoga Club

Tiny Lou’s

Tomo

Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours

The White Bull

Xi’an Gourmet House

In addition, four Michelin Special Awards were given out:

Michelin Exceptional Cocktail Award: Jason First and the bar team at BoccaLupo

Michelin Sommelier Award: Juan Fernando Cortés of The Chastain

Michelin Outstanding Service Award: Neal McCarthy and the front-of-house team at Miller Union

Michelin Young Chef Award: Jarrett Stieber of Little Bear

In total, 45 restaurants were included in the 2023 Atlanta Michelin Guide. For the 2023 guide, inspectors only evaluated restaurants within the confines of the I-285 perimeter, according to Andrew Festa of Michelin North America. Festa said that the radius for the city’s 2024 guide has yet to be determined, but added that “the coverage area often expands in future editions of the Guide.”

The full Michelin Guide Atlanta will be available on the Michelin website and iOS and Android app. Both are free and include all the Michelin-rated restaurants and hotels around the world.

Special attention was paid to food service for the event. The menu included dishes from a dozen local chefs, primarily pop-up owners, whose recipes were prepared by Bold Catering. These small business owners, including Molli Voraotsady of So So Fed and Anthony Fisher of Seven Fingers Baked Goods, were invited as guests to the Michelin event.

As part of a zero-waste initiative, there were no trash cans, with composting and glass and aluminum recycling helping to divert waste from landfills. Produce was sourced from Retazza, which rescues imperfect foods destined for the landfill. Leftover food will be donated to Second Helpings Atlanta and all floral arrangements will be donated to Atlanta Area Hospice Centers.

The 2023 Michelin Guide Atlanta was released in partnership with the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB). While the ACVB made a strong push for Atlanta’s inclusion as a Michelin destination and worked with Michelin Guide on marketing and promotion, the ACVB was not involved in the restaurant selection process, which remains independent.

Starred restaurants are evaluated by anonymous Michelin inspectors who assess the quality of the cuisine based on quality of products, mastery of cooking technique, harmony and balance of flavors, personality of the chef as expressed in the cuisine, and consistency between visits and throughout the menu.

A one-star rating equates to “high-quality cooking”; a two-star rating denotes “excellent cooking”; and the highest, a three-star rating, indicates “exceptional cuisine.”

Stars are not permanent. Restaurants can acquire or lose stars as part of the evaluation process for issuing a new guide each year.

The Michelin Guide, owned by the French tire manufacturer of the same name, was conceived by brothers André and Edouard Michelin, with the 400-page first edition Guide Michelin France making its debut at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris. It was a handbook with maintenance guides, maps, petrol stations, hotels, restaurants and even post offices. But its real purpose was to encourage automobile travel that would result in an increase in tire sales.

Nearly 125 years later, the Guide can be an economic driver for Michelin destination cities. According to a 2019 study by Ernst & Young, two-thirds of frequent travelers said they would choose to visit a destination with a Michelin Guide presence over a comparable location without one. Of these travelers, 57% would extend their stay if a Michelin selection was offered and 71% would increase their spending.

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