The Michelin Guide Returns to Prove It Doesn’t Understand Las Vegas

You have to wonder … Did the LVCVA get its money’s worth? The tourism board led a coalition of Southwest counterparts to sponsor a new edition of the Michelin Guide for the best, most ambitious restaurants in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.

And by Nevada, they mean Las Vegas. That’s fine. We’ve been hungry for Michelin to return and hand out stars ever since the Great Recession pulled the plug on our very own dedicated guide, which ran for just two years in 2008 and 2009.

Even with the understanding that there’s never a perfect list — and awards of any kind foster debate by definition — it couldn’t be more clear that Michelin learned absolutely nothing about Las Vegas in the 17 years since it’s been gone.

During Wednesday night’s ceremony at the Fontainebleau, only four Vegas restaurants received stars. And three of ‘em are French fine-dining powerhouses that scored the same or lower than last time around. The other recognized restaurants are pretty great overall, but you also got familiar names that built their reputations in other markets, at least two coasting on better days, and a couple random surprise picks that nobody expected from Chinatown. (For cred, I suppose.) The rankings are based on reviews by anonymous inspectors, but it feels like they used leftover notes from 2009 and asked ChatGPT to fill in the rest.

According to Michelin, there isn’t a single restaurant in Las Vegas (or the rest of the California-free Southwest) that serves “exceptional cuisine worth a special journey” to earn three stars.

So, here’s how things ended up for Vegas:  

Two Stars (“Excellent cooking worth a detour”)

One Star (“High-quality cooking worth a stop”)

Bib Gourmand (“Friendly establishments that serve good food at moderate prices”)

Selected by Michelin — which is considered good, but not quite “one star” good

By all accounts, everyone agrees the Vegas dining scene has only gotten better and more interesting in the past 17 years. But you’d never know it by reading the new Michelin Guide.

Off the top of my head, Amador Cocina Fina, Tamba, Maroon, and Bar Boheme aren’t just glaring omissions, but restaurants that are especially strong in representing the culinary spirit of Las Vegas: where it is now and where it’s going.

And if you don’t believe me, listen to food writers John Curtas and Lorraine Blanco Moss, who both agreed on Endo and Bazaar Meat when naming which restaurants should make the Michelin Guide on City Cast Las Vegas just a few months ago.