Meet the Philly Restaurants That Made the Michelin Guide

Photography by Kae Lani Palmisano

So here we are. The big night has finally arrived where we find out which restaurants in Philadelphia are included in the Michelin Northeast Cities Guide.

For those of you not entirely clear on how this all works, here’s a quick explainer.

The Michelin Guide rates restaurants on a three-star system (with a couple of added categories). One star means “High quality cooking, worth a stop!” Two denotes “Excellent cooking, worth a detour!” And three stars is reserved for restaurants that have “Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey!”

There are also green stars handed out for excellent restaurants noted for their sustainable practices. And beyond the stars, there’s the potential for a restaurant to be recognized as “Recommended” by the Guide (and listed in its pages) with no stars given at all — which, rather than being a knock, generally means that it was liked by the inspectors but didn’t rise to the levels of excellence required for a star.

Finally, there’s also the so-called “Bib Gourmand” selections which are meant for restaurants which offer “good value” — essentially smaller, simpler restaurants offering delicious, approachable (and affordable) meals; but no wine cellars, fireworks, purse stools, hand-crafted steak knives, or whatever else it takes to attract the attentions of international bon vivants these days.

Marc Vetri and Chad Williams

With all that said, the Guide is here now. This is a brand-new reality for Philly’s restaurant scene. It will change some things. Most things will remain entirely unaffected. But tonight, everyone shined their shoes and did their hair and showed up at the Kimmel Center to rub elbows with some of the most talented and/or well-connected people in the food and tourism world. It was a see-and-be-seen kind of night, but everyone was really there for just one thing: to hear the announcement of this year’s stars, and to see who among Philly’s (and Boston’s) restaurant community might be recognized for the first time ever.

And here’s who made the Guide:

Michelin Green Star:

Pietramala, Ian Graye

Michelin Bib Gourmand: 

• Angelo’s
• Dalessandro’s
• Del Rossi’s
• Dizengoff
• El Chingon
• Fiorella
• 4th Street Deli
• Pizzeria Beddia
• Royal Sushi & Izakaya
• Sally

Michelin Recommended:

• Ambra
• Forsythia
• Hiroki
• High Street
• Honeysuckle
• Illata
• Kalaya
• Laser Wolf
• Laurel
• Little Water
• Mish Mish
• My Loup
• Pietramala
• River Twice
• Roxanne
• Southwark
• Suraya
• Vedge
• Vernick Food & Drink
• Vetri Cucina
• Zahav

Michelin 1 Star:

• Her Place Supper Club, Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp
• Friday Saturday Sunday, Chad Williams and Hannah Williams
• Provenance, Nich Bazik

Her Place Supper Club receives a Michelin Star

Friday Saturday Sunday receives a Michelin Star

Provenance receives a Michelin Star

There were no 2 or 3 star ratings handed out to Philly this year, but then none were really expected. But three 1 star winners in our first year? Plus the recognition for Pietramala and the dozens of Bib Gourmand and Recommended selections? That’s a pretty solid inaugural year for Philly.

So huge congrats to everyone who got their names called tonight. You did the city proud.