MICHELIN Guide American South 2026: Three New Stars and a Big Night for Georgia
From Atlanta’s So. Fox to a farm-driven dining destination in Gay, Georgia, the second annual selection offers fresh reasons to explore the South through its restaurants.
This marks the fourth year of MICHELIN Guide awards in the South. The first two ceremonies were held in Atlanta, Georgia; last year, the Guide widened its offerings to the American South and celebrated in Greenville; and this year, we gathered in Music City, with Atlanta thoroughly represented. It was a huge night for quite a few chefs. The room was full of culinary talent and anticipation over who would win, and holding the ceremony at The Pinnacle in Nashville made the evening incredibly special.
The South’s dining scene has plenty to celebrate—and Georgia has particular reason to raise a glass. Atlanta’s MICHELIN story is one I have followed closely, from a MICHELIN-starred evening at Bacchanalia with the Eating With Erica Supper Club to an evening at Little Sparrow, which remains in the Recommended selection this year.
The 2026 MICHELIN Guide American South was unveiled on October 21, recognizing three new One MICHELIN Star restaurants: Dakar NOLA in New Orleans, So. Fox in Atlanta, and Uberto Restaurant in Gay, Georgia. In particular, So. Fox brings a wine-forward point of view that will feel familiar to anyone who loves our must-visit wine bars in Atlanta, while Uberto joins the list of restaurants worth the drive from Atlanta.
The second annual regional selection includes 265 restaurants representing 44 cuisine types, with 14 new Bib Gourmands and 31 new Recommended restaurants joining the Guide. For diners, the announcement offers inspiration for everything from a birthday dinner in Atlanta to a romantic night out or a weekend built around an exceptional meal. For the South, it highlights the chefs, restaurant teams, and communities shaping the region’s culinary identity.
Meet the Three New MICHELIN-Starred Restaurants
So. Fox: Southern Ingredients and Thoughtful Wine in Atlanta
Atlanta’s newest One MICHELIN Star restaurant brings the spotlight to Virginia-Highland. At So. Fox, Chef Myles Moody and Sommelier Rachael Pack pair a seasonal, Southern-leaning menu with a wine program central to the experience. The restaurant’s name references the Southern fox grape, also known as the muscadine—a fitting connection between its regional roots and its attention to wine.
In its assessment, MICHELIN highlighted corn dumplings with sweet corn sauce and lump crab, along with a dessert combining marshmallow, roasted apple granita, and purple shiso. The dishes suggest a kitchen interested in familiar ingredients approached with precision and imagination. Set inside a contemporary, light-filled space, So. Fox adds another compelling address to Atlanta’s dining map.
Uberto Restaurant: A Destination Dinner in Rural Georgia
One of this year’s most intriguing additions sits about an hour beyond Atlanta’s city limits. Located at World of Quercus in Gay, Georgia, Uberto Restaurant earned One MICHELIN Star under Chef Ryan Smith. Its tasting menu draws on farm-grown ingredients, fermentation, and preservation, connecting the dining room directly to the surrounding property.
Among the dishes noted by inspectors were miso and Alabama blue crab chawanmushi, duck cooked over binchotan charcoal with carrot purée, and fig ice cream with buckwheat sponge and crumble. That connection to the land extends well beyond the menu’s descriptions. According to MICHELIN’s announcement, more than 90 percent of the restaurant’s produce comes from its on-site regenerative farm, which operates on solar energy without chemical pesticides or herbicides—work that also earned Chef Smith a place in MICHELIN’s new Mindful Voices series.
The announcement lists public dinner service on Friday and Saturday evenings, with additional meals available to hotel guests. It is the kind of restaurant that invites diners to make the meal the centerpiece of a getaway, and it fits a larger shift in how we are choosing to dine out: fewer meals, each one more meaningful.
“Exceptional restaurants in smaller communities and unexpected corners of the region.”
Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide
Dakar NOLA: Senegalese Storytelling in New Orleans
At Dakar NOLA, Chef Serigne Mbaye brings Senegalese traditions into conversation with the ingredients and food culture of New Orleans. The intimate restaurant’s tasting menu emphasizes local seafood and produce. MICHELIN’s inspectors singled out dishes including shrimp with mustard sauce, Gulf crab with black-eyed peas and cassava, and shrimp-and-okra soup.
Jollof rice with habanero, accompanied by grilled fish and tamarind broth, further reflects the restaurant’s distinct culinary perspective. Dakar NOLA’s new Star recognizes a deeply personal approach to cooking, adding another dimension to New Orleans’ celebrated restaurant landscape. It joins good company in the city: Emeril’s holds the American South’s only Two MICHELIN Stars, while 21 restaurants across the region hold One Star.
Georgia’s 10 MICHELIN-Starred Restaurants
With this year’s additions, Georgia is now home to ten One MICHELIN Star restaurants. Equally important, all eight restaurants that held a Star last year kept it, which says as much about consistency as it does about momentum.
Buckhead, Atlanta
Westside, Atlanta
Westside, Atlanta
Midtown, Atlanta
Westside, Atlanta
Buckhead, Atlanta
Buckhead, Atlanta
Virginia-Highland, Atlanta
Marietta
Gay
Atlanta and North Atlanta Have More to Celebrate
The Georgia news extends beyond the new Stars. Summerland in Atlanta and Tipsy Thaiger in Roswell both earned new Bib Gourmand distinctions, which recognize good food at a good value. It is a fitting moment for a city whose restaurant scene keeps evolving year after year.
For North Atlanta diners, Tipsy Thaiger’s recognition brings fresh attention to an address on Atlanta Street, adding to the long list of restaurants to visit in Roswell. Nearby, Table & Main remains in the Recommended selection, while Spring in Marietta appears among the region’s Starred restaurants.
New Recommended additions in Georgia include Pink Lotus in Atlanta and Spring 2nd Branch in Marietta. Hen Mother Cookhouse in Johns Creek also appears in the Recommended selection, a reminder of how much North Atlanta’s dining scene has grown—something our Supper Club experienced firsthand at Foundation Social Eatery in Alpharetta. Together, these recognitions give local diners plenty to explore across Atlanta and its surrounding communities.
All 14 New Bib Gourmands
This year’s additions bring the regional Bib Gourmand total to 59.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Raleigh, North Carolina
Memphis, Tennessee
Durham, North Carolina
Nashville, Tennessee
Oxford, Mississippi
Bluffton, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
New Orleans, Louisiana
Atlanta, Georgia
Carrboro, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Roswell, Georgia
The list offers a useful starting point for travelers who enjoy discovering restaurants through a mix of special occasions and more casual meals. What’s more, a Bib Gourmand is often the perfect answer when you are planning a birthday lunch with friends.
Nashville Hosts the Celebration
Nashville welcomed the regional ceremony while also adding new names to its own MICHELIN roster. Maiz De La Vida earned a new Bib Gourmand, while 5th & Taylor, Junior, and Present Tense joined the Recommended selection.
Bastion, Locust, and The Catbird Seat appear among the city’s Starred restaurants in the 2026 selection. For anyone planning a Nashville visit around dining, the Guide offers several different directions for an itinerary.
Four Hospitality Professionals Receive Special Awards
The evening also recognized individual contributions to the dining experience.
These honors draw attention to the people whose knowledge, creativity, and care help define a restaurant beyond any single plate—the same kind of hospitality behind the dining rules I live by.
A Spotlight on Thoughtful Sourcing
MICHELIN also introduced Mindful Voices, an editorial platform sharing stories and practices from across gastronomy, hospitality, and wine. At the ceremony, the Guide highlighted Chef Sam Diminich of Restaurant Constance in Charlotte, whose team sources ingredients from more than 30 farms within a 50-mile radius, and Uberto’s Chef Ryan Smith for his work with the restaurant’s on-site farm.
Their approaches offer a closer look at the relationships between restaurants, growers, and the places they serve.
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Read Now →For those of us who love discovering the South through food, this year’s selection provides plenty of reasons to book a table. A dinner in Virginia-Highland, an evening in Roswell, or a trip to a small Georgia town can each reveal a different part of the region’s story. And if it inspires you to gather your own group around the table, here is how to start a supper club.
Source: MICHELIN Guide American South announcement, October 21, 2026. Dish descriptions reflect the inspectors’ notes supplied with the announcement; seasonal menus may change.
Eating With Erica is a digital media platform focused on culinary hospitality, celebrating the restaurants, tables and gatherings that bring people together. Founded in Atlanta in 2013, it is home to the invitation-only Eating With Erica Supper Club and How to Host.
