The Abridged version:
- The annual announcement can shape the fortune of restaurants, with the possibility of stars being added or taken away with each new Michelin Guide.
- Michelin’s California guide first recognized the Farm-to-Fork Capital in 2019, and included 15 area restaurants in its ranks in 2025.
- Sacramento-area restaurants have described a bump in new customers after being recognized in the Michelin Guide.
The Michelin Guide revealed its latest California restaurant selections during a Wednesday night ceremony at Eve in San Diego.
Sacramento’s one-star restaurants, The Kitchen and Localis, retained their designations. Canon and Pho Momma retained their Bib Gourmand status, as did Nixtaco in Roseville, given to restaurants serving excellent food at moderate prices.
No new Sacramento stars or Bib Gourmands were announced.
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The Kitchen held on to its one star. Founded in 1991 by the Selland family, the restaurant earned Sacramento’s first Michelin star in 2019 and has maintained it ever since. Chef Kelly McCown, who took the helm in 2014, runs the restaurant as much like a dinner party as a tasting menu experience, narrating courses from the open kitchen and inviting guests to wander through and ask for seconds.
Localis also kept its star. Chef Chris Barnum-Dann’s Midtown tasting menu restaurant held the distinction since 2022. The result comes after allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior, belittlement and wage tampering, which Abridged reported earlier this year, surfaced against Barnum-Dann.
The night’s biggest California news came from outside Sacramento. Californios in San Francisco was promoted to three Michelin stars, becoming the first Mexican restaurant in the United States to reach the guide’s highest honor. Enclos in Sonoma was also promoted to three stars.
Michelin first included Sacramento in its California guide in 2019. The guide awards one to three stars based on five criteria: quality of ingredients, mastery of flavor and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in the cuisine, harmony of flavors and consistency between visits.
Keyla Vasconcellos is a food and travel journalist based in Sacramento. Her work has appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, Eater, Forbes and beyond.