May 12, 2025
Provided image/Mike Prince
Philadelphia will be included with New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Boston in the Michelin Guide Northeast Cities edition. This week, the guide's international director will be stopping at Kalaya, above, in Fishtown.
After more than 100 years of publishing its famous pamphlet, Michelin will finally list Philadelphia eateries in its restaurant guide.
Philly and Boston were added to the Michelin Guide Northeast Cities edition, which was previously limited to Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C., officials announced Monday. Inspectors are already dining in the city and searching for restaurants to include.
"[Inspectors] find a certain level of maturity in Philadelphia, both in the culinary offer and the dynamism of the industry making the culinary scene here worthy of being one of the newest Michelin Guide destinations in North America," the North American chief inspector of the Michelin Guide, who remains anonymous, said in an email.
Selections will be announced later in 2025 during the Michelin Guide Northeast Cities Ceremony, although a date for that has not been revealed. Gwendal Poullennec, the international director of the Michelin Guide, will be stopping at Kalaya, Her Place Supper Club and Casa Mexico this week, although those are not necessarily part of the evaluations.
Restaurants are inspected multiple times per year and selected for the guide based on product quality, flavor harmony, cooking techniques, consistency and how a chef's personality appears in the cuisine.
Gregg Caren, CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Philadelphia has become renowned for its food scene in recent years.
"Our chefs, restaurateurs, and hospitality professionals have been steadily building our city into an internationally acclaimed foodie destination," Caren said in a statement. "This announcement that the MICHELIN Guide will be exploring the Philadelphia region to experience our restaurants is an acknowledgement of years of hard work, collaboration and extraordinary culinary innovation."
The Michelin Guide was first published for French motorists by brothers and tire manufacturers Andre and Edouard Michelin in 1900, although it was updated in 1926 to include the ratings of one, two or three stars. Today, the full guide rates over 40,000 restaurants in 24 countries and territories.
However, many have criticized the company in recent years for prioritizing traditional French cooking techniques and white, male chefs. A 2022 study from food magazine Chef's Pencil found that just 6% of Michelin-starred restaurants are led by women, and it wasn't until that same year that the first Black man in the United States received a star. In January, a French chef also banned Michelin inspectors from his restaurant after claiming that he lost a star because a representative misidentified a type of cheese in a soufflé.
