The Michelin Guide this week anointed two Southern California restaurants — Heritage in Long Beach and Valle in Oceanside — with one new star apiece. That brings the grand total of Michelin-starred restaurants in SoCal to 35 — 25 in greater Los Angeles, five in the San Diego area, three in Orange County, and two in Santa Barbara County.
Los Angeles has no three-star Michelin restaurants. The only three-star joint in all of Southern California is Addison in San Diego. San Francisco, by contrast, has three three-star Michelin restaurants, while Napa/Sonoma wine country has two.
Two Los Angeles restaurants also lost their stars — Hatchet Hall and Phenakite, which chef Minh Phan has closed, although she recently reopened Porridge + Puffs, her restaurant in Historic Filipinotown. She spoke to Good Food a few months ago about the challenges of running a restaurant in the post-pandemic era and using food to express her creativity.
More: Cento Pasta Bar, Villa’s Tacos: Michelin’s latest LA discoveries
Michelin also named a few SoCal restaurants as Bib Gourmands, its list of more affordable restaurants: Carnes Asadas Pancho Lopez (Lincoln Heights), Cobi's (Santa Monica), Eat Joy Food (Rowland Heights), Mabel's Gone Fishing (San Diego), and Villa's Tacos (Highland Park).
In addition, Austin Hennelly, the bar director at Kato — chef Jonathan Yao's one-star restaurant in DTLA — received Michelin's Exceptional Cocktail Award. He talked to Good Food last summer about his mind-blowing non-alcoholic beverage pairings.
Click here to see a full list of 2023 Michelin restaurants, including Bib Gourmands. Below are all the Michelin-starred restaurants in Southern California.
Addison in San Diego is the only three star Michelin restaurant in Southern California. Photo by Eric Wolfinger
Three Michelin Stars
Addison — San Diego
n/naka, which has also received numerous other awards and nominations, retained its two Michelin stars. Photo by Stan Lee
Two Michelin Stars
Hayato — Downtown LA
Mélisse — Santa Monica
n/naka — Palms
Providence — Hollywood
Sushi Ginza Onodera — West Hollywood
Gucci Osteria in Beverly Hills remains on the Michelin one star restaurant list for California. Photo by Elina Shatkin/KCRW
One Michelin Star
715 — Downtown LA
Bell's — Los Alamos
Camphor — Downtown LA
Caruso's — Montecito
Citrin — Santa Monica
Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura — Beverly Hills
Gwen — Hollywood
Hana re — Costa Mesa
Heritage — Long Beach
Jeune et Jolie — Carlsbad
Kali — Hollywood
Kato — Downtown LA
Knife Pleat — Costa Mesa
Manzke — Pico-Robertson
Maude — Beverly Hills
Morihiro — Atwater Village
Nozawa — Beverly Hills
Orsa & Winston — Downtown LA
Osteria Mozza — Hollywood
Pasta|Bar — Encino
Q Sushi — Downtown LA
Shibumi — Downtown LA
Shin Sushi — Encino
Soichi — San Diego
Sushi I-NABA — Torrance
Sushi Kaneyoshi — Downtown LA
Sushi Tadokoro — San Diego
Taco María — Costa Mesa
Valle — Oceanside