In its third year, the Michelin Guide Texas showed us this could all have been an email. The dining guide, originally launched by the tire company Michelin, announced its new list of awardees in a press release on Thursday, October 8.
The bad news: Houston didn’t earn any new stars, and there was no party this year. Michelin sent it via a very anticlimactic press release.
The good news: We didn’t lose them either. BCN Taste & Tradition, CorkScrew BBQ, Le Jardinier Houston, March, Musaafer, and Tatemó are still all one star.
Better news: Houston picked up 14 new restaurant distinctions—more than any other city in the state. Five new spots, including Indian-inspired Kitchen Rumors, Viet-Tex barbecue pop-up Khói Barbecue, and chef Levi Goode’s Bar Buena, earned Bib Gourmands, which defines “good food at a good value.” Nine restaurants, including pizza joint Angie’s and Jantra, which opened earlier this year, also joined the guide’s recommended list for the first time.
Houston’s New Bib Gourmands (5)
- Bar Buena (Montrose)
- Khói Barbecue (Near Northside)
- Kitchen Rumors (Sawyer Yards)
- Murray’s Pizza & Wine (Memorial area)
- Xolo (Montrose)
Houston’s New Recommended Restaurants (9)
- 1111 (Montrose)
- Angie’s (Heights)
- Di An Pho (Chinatown)
- Jantra (Second Ward)
- Levant BBQ (Galleria area)
- Mayahuel (Montrose)
- Oru (Heights)
- Osteria di Mercato (West University)
- Sushi Horiuchi (Montrose)
Houston also claimed three of the four special awards: Angel Bautista of Xolo won the Cocktail Award; Jessica Cano of Sushi Horiuchi won the Sommelier Award; and Baso’s Jacques Varon and Max Lappe won the Young Chef/Culinary Professional Award.
That said, Houston did lose some recognition: Brisket & Rice, previously a Bib Gourmand, is noticeably missing from the list. The closures of Killen’s and Late August, along with Neo’s renovation, explain those exits. Hidden Omakase, which has temporarily relocated to Bar Moon, also lost its Recommend status.
The Michelin Guide was more generous with its stars elsewhere. Austin earned two one-stars: Kappo Kappo, a French-Japanese counter restaurant in the Austin Proper Hotel, and Fabric, a completely vegan tasting menu by chef Je Wallerstein that was previously deemed a Bib Gourmand. In Fort Worth, Goldee’s Bar-B-Q moved up from a Bib Gourmand to a star.
The full Texas selection now includes 149 restaurants spanning 30 cuisine types, with Houston accounting for 53, or about 36 percent.
Michelin also showed Houston’s hotel scene some love in September, awarding Hotel Daphne in the Heights its first Michelin Key, which signals “a very special stay.” Daphne joins The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown, Hotel ZaZa Memorial City, Hotel ZaZa Museum District, and Hotel Saint Augustine in Montrose, all of which previously earned a Key.
Michelin first confirmed in July 2024 that it would add Texas to its guide network, with inspectors already quietly visiting restaurants in Houston, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio. The organization emphasizes that it awards stars strictly on the food—judged by product quality, flavor harmony, culinary technique, the chef’s creative voice, and consistency across visits—rather than service or atmosphere. To secure the guide’s return to Houston, Houston First, the city’s tourism arm, committed $270,000 over three years—$ 90,000 annually—to fund Michelin inspectors who evaluate the city’s dining scene full-time. Will it return next year?
See a full list of Houston’s Michelin stars, Bibs, and recommended restaurants below.
Houston’s Michelin Stars (6)
- BCN Taste & Tradition (Montrose)
- CorkScrew BBQ (Spring)
- Le Jardinier Houston (Museum District)
- March (Montrose)
- Musaafer (Galleria area)
- Tatemó (Spring Branch)
Houston Bib Gourmands (26)
*indicates new
- Annam, Montrose
- Bar Buena (River Oaks)*
- Belly of the Beast (Spring)
- Blood Bros BBQ (Bellaire)
- Casaema (Heights)
- ChòpnBlọk (Montrose)
- da Gama Canteen (Heights)
- Khói Barbecue (Near Northside)*
- Killen’s BBQ (Pearland)
- Kitchen Rumors (Sawyer Yards)*
- Mala Sichuan Bistro (Chinatown)
- Maximo (West University)
- Murray’s Pizza & Wine (Memorial)*
- Nam Giao (Little Saigon)
- Nancy’s Hustle (EaDo)
- nobie’s (Montrose)
- Papalo Taqueria (Downtown)
- Pinkerton’s Barbecue (Heights)
- Rosemeyer Bar-B-Q (Spring)
- Rosie Cannonball (Montrose)
- Street to Kitchen (Second Ward)
- Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue (Tomball)
- The Pit Room (Montrose)
- Theodore Rex (EaDo)
- Truth BBQ (Heights)
- Xolo (Montrose)*
Houston’s 2026 Recommended Restaurants (21)
*indicates new
- 1111 (Montrose)*
- Agnes and Sherman (Heights)
- Angie’s (new) (Heights)*
- Bar Bludorn (Memorial)
- Baso (Heights)
- Bludorn (Fourth Ward)
- Candente (Montrose)
- Credence (Memorial)
- Di An Pho (Asiatown)*
- Hong Kong Food Street (Katy)
- Jantra (Second Ward)*
- J-Bar-M Barbecue (East End)
- Josephine’s (Midtown)
- Levant BBQ (Galleria area)*
- Mayahuel (Montrose)*
- Oru (Heights)*
- Osteria di Mercato (West University)*
- Pappas Bros. Steakhouse (Downtown)
- Perseid —Hotel Saint Augustine (Montrose)
- Sushi Horiuchi (Montrose)*
- The Marigold Club (Montrose)
|
|
|
