New Michelin South Winners Released Ahead of Ceremony

In a major surprise, winners of Michelin Guide South were released hours ahead of the awards ceremony in Greenville, South Carolina. Emeril’s in New Orleans will walk away with the highest honor, awarded two Michelin stars. At just 22 years old, chef E.J. Lagasse, son of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, will also win the Michelin Young Chef Award tonight. The ceremony is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Peace Center.

This isn’t the first time that the Michelin Guide has let the winners slip. Last year, Eater reported that Los Angeles’ Somni’s three-star designation was revealed in a video posted to the Michelin Guide’s YouTube channel in advance of the 2025 ceremony in Sacramento, California. 

Tonight’s ceremony will be the first time that restaurants in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee have been eligible for the guide. Michelin also updated the existing guide in Atlanta. Staplehouse is the first Atlanta restaurant to lose its star because it no longer offers its dinner tasting menu.

As Michelin has expanded across the United States, announcing inaugural guides in Colorado and Atlanta in 2023, and in Texas in 2024, many have questioned the role of financial backing to the affair. The new regional guide is produced in partnership with Travel South USA, a multi-state collaboration that promotes tourism across the southern U.S. 

Here’s how the South will fare tonight, according to the leaked press release. 

New Winners of Michelin Guide South:

Two Stars

“Excellent cooking, worth a detour”

• Emeril’s (New Orleans)

One Star

“High-quality cooking, worth a stop”

• Saint-Germain (New Orleans)
• Zasu (New Orleans)
• Counter (Charlotte)
• Malagón Mercado y Taperia (Charleston)
• Scoundrel (Greenville)
• Vern’s (Charleston)
• Wild Common (Charleston)
• Bastion (Nashville)
• Locust (Nashville)
• The Catbird Seat (Nashville)

Green Star

“Restaurants with excellent sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.”

• Counter (Charlotte)
• January (Franklin, Tennessee)
• Luminosa (Asheville)

Bib Gourmand

“Bib Gourmand designation recognizes restaurants that offer “good quality food for a good value” and those that are deemed ‘personal favorites’ among inspectors when dining on their own time, according to Michelin.”

There are 50 Bib Gourmand designations, including Lewis Barbecue in Charleston, Mother in Asheville, Dooky Chase in New Orleans, and S.S. Gai in Nashville. For the full list, check out the press release. 

The Michelin Guide also lists 159 “recommended” restaurants with names like FIG in Charleston, Good Hot Fish in Asheville, Chubby Fish in Charleston, Dakar in New Orleans, and Bad Idea in Nashville — many names we expected to see in the starred list or Bib Gourmand.