When Michelin announced its list of best restaurants in Texas in 2024, the French company was bolstered by decades of experience critiquing the world’s most revered dining rooms. And yet, it was Texas’ first year being recognized by Michelin, so it felt like a new beginning — a blank slate — for Dallas-Fort Worth chefs and restaurateurs eager to get noticed internationally.
The results were largely disappointing for chefs in North Texas.
Just one Michelin star was awarded in Dallas-Fort Worth, to Tatsu, a tiny-omakase restaurant in Dallas.
Another 20 restaurants in North Texas were given a Recommended honor from Michelin, and their chefs walked away from the 2024 ceremony with heads held high: It was an honorable mention, a nice-to-be-noticed award. But being Recommended is not a star, and Dallas’ highest-achieving chefs wanted bling.
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Near Gemma’s 10th birthday, its owners redesigned the restaurant and the menu. The Dallas restaurant earned a Bib Gourmand in 2024.
Brandon Wade / Special Contributor
Yet another seven restaurants were handed Bib Gourmands, the value award for eateries that Michelin finds to be delicious and well-priced. A Michelin spokesperson has told The Dallas Morning News that Bibs are often the anonymous Michelin inspectors’ favorite restaurants because they’re unpretentious and affordable. A Bib is another great honor. But some of the seven named weren’t all that affordable, leaving diners in-the-know scratching their heads.
The final North Texas award went to Rye, a Dallas restaurant on Greenville Avenue whose bartender Julian Shaffer was singled out for his Exceptional Cocktails. The award was a wonderful surprise for the Rye restaurateurs. Shaffer then left Rye to work at another Dallas restaurant, Ella, which has since closed.
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The Chumley House is a European-inspired steakhouse that opened after the 2024 Michelin ceremony. Will it be a shining star in 2025 in Fort Worth, a city that was shut out for Michelin stars in 2024?
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Now in its sophomore year, Michelin has an opportunity — a duty, some might say — to do a better job critiquing the restaurants in Texas’ five biggest cities. Restaurants in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio are eligible for awards because their visitors’ bureaus paid for Michelin to review Texas restaurants for three years. Travel Texas, a state-funded entity located within the office of the governor’s economic development and tourism office, also put money in.
Michelin, we have been watching carefully. Here are four whiffs from 2024 that need a better look in 2025.
Members of the public are not invited to the Michelin Guide Texas ceremony on Oct. 28, 2025, but you can watch a livestream on dallasnews.com. Go to dallasnews.com/michelin for results and analysis on this history-making culinary event.
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What about tacos and Tex-Mex?
Although the Michelin Guide put Texas on the international gastronomic map, recognition of Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants was minimal in 2024, despite the fact that these are two pillars of Texas’ culinary identity and integral to daily life. Only Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez in Fort Worth and El Carlos Elegante in Dallas received Recommended nods in North Texas.
The omission came as a surprise to restaurateurs, experts and diners alike. For many, it was inconceivable a guide rewarding authenticity and technique would overlook cuisines that have evolved over generations and set trends not only in the state, but throughout the country.
In D-FW, where the Mexican influence is palpable, there are contemporary restaurants that have elevated traditional dishes with haute cuisine techniques and local ingredients, as well as taquerias that are reinventing the way tacos are eaten.
Will they continue to be ignored in 2025? Chefs and the public alike expect to see a more recognition of the culinary soul of Texans. We can only hope the spotlight will shine on tortillas, salsa and other elements of the Texas identity.
A math problem with Bib Gourmands
Michelin’s Bib Gourmand award goes to restaurants that exhibit simple yet skillful cooking at an affordable price. The general rule of thumb is a diner can order two courses, along with a glass of wine or a dessert, for $50 before tax and tip at a Bib Gourmand restaurant. With that criteria in mind, the list of seven Bib Gourmand winners in North Texas was a bit head-scratching.
On the list was Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen, Goldee’s Barbecue and Cattleack Barbecue where one can certainly dine for $50 or less. But also on the list were Lucia and Mot Hai Ba, where main courses range from $26 to $55.
Perhaps these restaurants and their prices seem like a bargain compared to their equivalents in other major cities, but for Texas diners, it’s hard to see how such restaurants could be considered affordable.
Too much barbecue. Or was it too little?
In 2024, Michelin gave 15 restaurants across Texas a 1-star honor. These awards are the stuff dreams are made of: They catapult a great Texas restaurant and its chefs into an international fraternity of top achievers.
Cattleack Barbecue in Farmers Branch, near Galleria Dallas, is a treasure in North Texas. Michelin gave it a Bib Gourmand in 2024, meaning one person can eat a great meal there for $50 or less. Was that the right award?
David Woo / Staff Photographer
Among those 15 restaurants, an incredible four 1-star recipients were barbecue joints. Four restaurants serving smoked meats and sides were thought to be as great as the finest dining rooms in the state — places teeming with sommeliers, servers and an army of chefs.
While barbecue is an essential part of Texas cuisine, and an art to be sure, comparing it to the excruciatingly detailed nine-course dinner at March in Houston or the 17-course Japanese menu at Tatsu in Dallas seemed like apples to oranges.
Further, if Michelin chose to give four barbecue joints a 1-star honor, it left behind possibly a dozen other restaurants that are arguably just as good. CorkScrew BBQ in Spring got a star but Goldee’s Barbecue in Fort Worth did not. Burnt Bean Co., called the No. 1 barbecue joint in the state by Texas Monthly, received no star, instead getting a Recommended honor, while Austin’s La Barbecue, InterStellar and LeRoy and Lewis got 1 star.
Educated barbecue fans have taken issue with what was picked and what wasn’t.
Michelin’s mission gets tougher in 2025. Do more barbecue joints get a coveted Michelin star because they deserve it, thereby diluting the winners’ circle with more smoked meat? Or do some of the existing barbecue joints, lauded once for their greatness, see their star yanked in 2025 as Michelin leans into fancier food?
Barbecue is big-time in Texas. Whatever Michelin does, somebody will have beef.
Fort Worth, forgotten
Out of all of the Texas metros Michelin evaluated in 2024, Fort Worth received the fewest number of accolades. It was also the only city between Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio to not claim a Michelin star.
Only four restaurants in the Fort Worth area got a nod from Michelin. Those included Goldee’s Barbecue with a Bib Gourmand and Recommended ratings for Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez and Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth and Smoke’N Ash BBQ in Arlington.
It’s important to remember the Fort Worth visitors bureau contributed money to lure Michelin to the state, just the same as the other four cities. Given the depth of culinary talent in Fort Worth, it was surprising to see restaurants, such as Don Artemio, left out of even the Recommended pool.
Seeking more Michelin info? Find everything you need to know about the Michelin Texas Guide at dallasnews.com/michelin.