Local culinary leaders feel frustration about Fort Worth being the only major Texas city without a Michelin star while others aren’t focused on recognition by the prestigious publication.
The Michelin Guide passed over area restaurants for a second year, bestowing only nods to a handful in Tarrant County.
“It’s disappointing, but at the same time it’s eye opening,” said Adrian Burciaga, a Fort Worth restaurateur who co-founded Don Artemio in 2016.
Burciaga, who stepped away as the Mexican restaurant’s co-owner in early October, said the minimal recognition suggests Fort Worth establishments should re-examine their operations.
“What do we need to do differently?” he said. “Do we need to pay more attention to details in the culinary side or the service side? Maybe promote ourselves on a broader channel? It’s hard to understand.”
On Tuesday night, the Michelin Guide honored 140 Texas restaurants for their culinary excellence with multiple award designations.
Smoke’N Ash Tex-Ethiopian Smokehouse BBQ, Panther City BBQ, Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez and Goldee’s BBQ kept their recommended or Bib Gourmand status, but no new Fort Worth establishments were cited by the guidebook.
Statewide, 18 Michelin stars were spread between Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Fort Worth’s culinary scene is often described by area chefs as a blend of classic barbecue with Tex-Mex and international cuisine.
“I’m a little puzzled that Fort Worth was entirely left out for two years running,” said Patricia Sharpe, longtime editor and food writer for Texas Monthly magazine.
A Michelin star recognition helps elevate the state’s culinary scene on a global scale and boost tourism to participating cities.
The Oct. 28 ceremony was the second in a three-year agreement between Michelin, the Texas tourism office and the visitor’s bureaus among the state’s five largest cities.
The state pays $450,000 annually for marketing and promotion with each of the five cities pitching in $90,000 per year of the agreement, which doesn’t guarantee a specific number of restaurant inclusions in the guide.
Kimber Foster, spokesperson for Visit Fort Worth, said the tourism agency is proud of the recognitions the city has received from Michelin, the James Beard Foundation, Texas Monthly, Eater and other “renown culinary institutions and publications.”
Food and beverage is the top category for visitors spending with over $800 million spent in fiscal year 2024, she said.
“We celebrate the restaurants who were recognized again by Michelin but know there are many more that deserve to be honored as well,” Foster said.
How are stars awarded?
Restaurants receive designations based on Michelin’s review of their quality of ingredients, harmony of flavors, mastery of cooking techniques, consistency across the menu and over time, and if a chef’s personality shines through their cuisine. Each restaurant is inspected several times a year by different reviewers.
Carly Grieff, spokesperson for Michelin, declined to share numbers or demographic information about inspectors who visited Fort Worth to maintain their anonymity and to protect the process. In general, reviewers are international, former industry professionals who share not only a deep expertise but great curiosity and open-mindedness, she said.
What to know about Michelin Guide inspectors
- They must have at least 10 years of former hospitality experience to ensure precise and technical knowledge of the field.
- Inspectors receive extensive training in Michelin’s methodology and criteria.
- They have leeway to choose the restaurants they visit. Only their knowledge of the local gastronomic scene — through research, monitoring and documentation — guides them.
- No one can tell the difference between a regular customer and a guide inspector. Their identity and site visits are kept secret. They pay their own restaurant bills.
- The decision whether to award one or more Stars to a restaurant is done “collegially” by the inspectors.
Source: Michelin Guide
Burciaga said there are a “handful” of Fort Worth restaurants that should’ve earned Michelin stars by this point. He refrained from mentioning specific names but said he was happy the four Tarrant County restaurants kept their recognitions.
Sharpe suspects the Michelin’s inspectors might not have spent as much time in Fort Worth as they did in Dallas.
Sharpe personally ranks Austin, Dallas and Houston as top culinary destinations with Fort Worth and San Antonio in the state’s second tier.
“I would imagine that their critic is spending a bit of time in Dallas, and maybe there was just not sufficient bandwidth to do a deeper dive into Fort Worth,” Sharpe said.
Looking beyond Michelin recognition
Chef Jon Bonnell, founder of Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine in southwest Fort Worth, echoed the disappointment felt by many but said he’s not chasing Michelin stars.
He’s focused on his customers, he said.
“A long time ago, I learned not to base anything that I do at the restaurant on someone I don’t know,” Bonnell said. “One of our French instructors in culinary school said, ‘If you spend your whole life chasing Michelin, you will go crazy or you will go broke or you will lose your family.’”
Chef Jon Bonnell drizzles habanero hot sauce over chicken wings during ZestFest at Will Rogers Memorial Center on May 25, 2024. (Alberto Silva Fernandez | Fort Worth Report)
Despite Michelin’s snub, the city has a thriving culinary scene that only continues to flourish, Bonnell said.
“I remember in the ‘80s we had almost nothing. We didn’t even have a fine dining scene beyond country clubs and a handful of European restaurants,” he said. “To think of the number of cuisines and everything that the city has turned into — we’ve got a great independent restaurant scene. It’s a fantastic time to be in the restaurant business here.”
Burciaga advises restaurateurs and chefs to continue focusing on the best culinary experiences no matter if a Michelin inspector secretly walks through the doors.
“At the end of the day, Fort Worth is a very supportive community to the locally owned restaurants, so we just continue to push forward doing what we do best, which is high-quality products with a high quality of service,” he said.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
Disclosure: Mitch Whitten, chief operating officer of Visit Fort Worth, is on the board of directors at Fort Worth Report. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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