Michelin Guide American South 2026: every star, the full list

The Michelin Guide American South 2026 lists 22 starred restaurants across the region: one with Two Stars, Emeril's in New Orleans, and 21 with One Star, three of them new. Dakar NOLA, So. Fox and Uberto Restaurant are the additions, and no restaurant lost its star.

The selection was revealed on 21 October 2026 at The Pinnacle, a music venue in Nashville, in the second edition of a guide that covers Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The ceremony moved from Greenville, South Carolina, which hosted the first edition in 2025, as we reported when the Michelin Guide American South confirmed its return to Nashville.

The growth is modest: 19 starred restaurants in 2025, 22 now. Georgia takes two of the three new stars and reaches ten, the most of any state. Inspectors also added 14 new Bib Gourmands, the guide's value category, and handed out four special awards. Alabama and Mississippi again have no starred restaurant.

The South's Michelin map grows slowly: three new stars, and none taken away.

Michelin Guide American South 2026 in numbers

• Two Stars: 1 restaurant (Emeril's, New Orleans).
• One Star: 21 restaurants, 3 of them new.
• By state: Georgia 10, Louisiana 4, South Carolina 4, Tennessee 3, North Carolina 1.
• New Bib Gourmands: 14.
• Stars withdrawn: none.

Emeril's, New Orleans: Two Stars

The only Two-Star restaurant in the region keeps its rating. E.J. Lagasse, son of the founder, runs a dining room that has served Creole cooking for more than three decades, with dishes such as BBQ shrimp tarts, gumbo and cornbread with French butter, according to the guide's inspectors. Tables look into the kitchen through floor-to-ceiling glass.

Dakar NOLA, New Orleans: new One Star

Already in the guide's selection, Dakar NOLA was promoted to One Star this year. Dakar-born chef and co-owner Serigne Mbaye serves a multi-course Senegalese menu: mburu bread with palm butter, Gulf shrimp with cabbage and tamarind, a West African millet salad with smoked trout roe.

It is the fourth starred restaurant in New Orleans, after Emeril's, Saint-Germain and Zasu. For the rest of the city's tables, see our list of the best restaurants in New Orleans and the guide to what to eat in New Orleans.

So. Fox, Atlanta: new One Star

Opened in July in the tree-lined Virginia-Highland neighbourhood, So. Fox earned its star within months. The dining room has a pared-back Scandinavian-Japanese look; the cooking is Southern and built on local produce, with plates such as Carolina Gold rice with toasted shrimp, and drop dumplings with nettle and confit rabbit.

Uberto Restaurant, Gay, Georgia: new One Star

About an hour's drive south of Atlanta, Uberto opened in 2025 on Quercus, a 4,000-acre property that combines a hotel and a working ranch. Chefs Ryan Smith and Kara Hidinger build a multi-course tasting menu from what the estate produces. The name refers to Uberto Visconti di Modrone, the Italian duke who founded the property in 1977.

Saint-Germain, New Orleans

A small restaurant in Bywater with a natural-wine bar at the front. Chefs Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith serve a contemporary tasting menu that opens with a griddled cornbread cake and butter aged and cultured in-house.

Zasu, New Orleans

Chef Sue Zemanick opened Zasu in 2019 in a cottage in Mid-City. The short menu, about a dozen dishes, centres on seafood cooked with French technique.

Counter, Charlotte

North Carolina's only star. Chef Sam Hart runs a tasting menu whose concept changes over time, built around themes such as music, nostalgia and personal history, with herbs and vegetables from nearby urban farms.

Scoundrel, Greenville

Chef and owner Joe Cash's French bistro in the city that hosted the first ceremony. The inspectors single out the roasted half chicken with gnocchi Parisienne and moutarde sauce.

Vern's, Charleston

Run by the husband-and-wife team Daniel and Bethany Heinze: Lowcountry produce, house-made pasta and a wine list chosen by Bethany. A handful of bar seats are kept for walk-ins.

Wild Common, Charleston

Chef Orlando Pagán's tasting menu mixes local ingredients with global references, from pho with carrot kimchi to an aged cheddar sundae as the final course.

Malagón Mercado y Taperia, Charleston

A Spanish tapas bar and grocery just off King Street. Chef Juan Cassalett's menu includes fried rabbit leg, la bomba de la Barceloneta and a paella-style rice with crab.

The Catbird Seat, Nashville

Opened in 2011 and now on the top floor of the Bill Voorhees Building, with a U-shaped counter around the kitchen. The husband-and-wife chefs Andy Doubrava and Tiffani Ortiz build the meal from small bites based on local, seasonal and preserved produce.

Locust, Nashville

Chef Trevor Moran's compact, Japanese-influenced restaurant opens only a few days a week and serves the full menu at lunch as well. Beef tartare hand rolls are the house classic; the kakigori changes constantly.

Bastion, Nashville

Reached through a cocktail bar in Wedgewood-Houston, Bastion serves a single tasting menu of contemporary Southern cooking. The host city ends the night with the same three stars it had in 2025.

Atlanta and Marietta: eight more One Stars

Every Georgia restaurant starred in 2025 keeps its star, and four of them are Japanese counters.

• Atlas, Atlanta: inside the St. Regis Atlanta, seasonal American menu with European influences.
• Bacchanalia, Atlanta: long-running multicourse prix fixe.
• Hayakawa, West Midtown: chef Atsushi Hayakawa, kaiseki-style meal that ends in Hokkaido-style nigiri.
• Lazy Betty, Midtown: chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, contemporary tasting menu with regional produce.
• Mujō, West Midtown: chef J. Trent Harris, omakase at a Southern cypress counter.
• O by Brush, Atlanta: chef Jason Liang's separate omakase counter inside Brush Sushi.
• Omakase Table, Atlanta: chef Leonard Yu, with uni gohan and otoro as signature dish.
• Spring, Marietta: chef Brian So, seasonal contemporary American menu.

Special awards 2026

• Young Chef Award: Héctor González-Mora, The Story of “Mi Cariño”, Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Sommelier Award: William Mellon, owner of manna, Wilmington, North Carolina.
• Service Award: Jared Patterson, general manager of Little Betty Steak Bar, in the Birmingham area, Alabama.
• Exceptional Cocktails Award: Allison Bowen, bar manager of Miscellanea Spirit House in Oxford, Mississippi, a new Bib Gourmand.

Frequently asked questions

How many Michelin-starred restaurants are in the American South in 2026? Twenty-two: Emeril's in New Orleans with Two Stars and 21 restaurants with One Star, spread over Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Which restaurants won a new Michelin star in the American South? Three: Dakar NOLA in New Orleans, So. Fox in Atlanta and Uberto Restaurant in Gay, Georgia. None of the 2025 starred restaurants lost its star.

Does any restaurant in the American South have three Michelin stars? No. Emeril's is the only Two-Star restaurant, and no restaurant in the region holds Three Stars.

Which city has the most Michelin stars in the South? Atlanta, with eight One-Star restaurants within the city; Georgia as a whole has ten.

How we chose

This list reproduces the official Michelin Guide American South 2026 selection published by the guide on 21 October 2026, cross-checked with regional coverage from Atlanta and New Orleans. Descriptions of each restaurant come from the inspectors' published notes. Prices are not listed because the guide does not confirm them for every address. Last checked: 22 October 2026.