The Abridged version:
- Sacramento had 15 restaurants in the 2025 Michelin Guide. That number could change when the 2026 guide is released Wednesday night.
- Newly recognized restaurants like Majka and Pho Momma describe a surge in new customers, alongside new pressure to keep standards consistent.
- Frank Fat’s and Mulvaney’s B&L were removed from the 2025 guide. Owners of both said it hasn’t changed much about how they operate, even as Visit Sacramento points to Michelin’s presence as a sign of the city’s growing culinary reputation.
When Michelin expanded its California guide to include Sacramento in 2019, the city had already spent years calling itself the Farm-to-Fork Capital and building a restaurant scene to match. With the 2026 guide set to be released Wednesday night, it’s time to ask: how much does Michelin recognition really help Sacramento-area restaurants?
The Sacramento region currently has 15 restaurants in the Michelin Guide. For the restaurants currently on the list, recognition has meant new customers and new pressure to keep up. But those that lost their spots on the list say business has largely continued as it was before.
New inclusion brings outside customers
Majka Pizzeria learned firsthand what a Michelin mention can do for a restaurant. Walk into the Midtown eatery in Sacramento most nights now and the room is packed, dishes moving fast between a small open kitchen and a dining room that barely seats more than a few dozen people.
Co-owner Alex Sherry has watched the energy shift since Michelin took notice, estimating roughly a 20% increase in traffic since the recognition.
“We were already getting busier with our expanded small plates and pasta menu, and then when we were recognized by Michelin it put that momentum into overdrive,” he said.
New customers are driving in from outside the city. Some are coming from outside the region just to eat there. But Sherry said the attention hasn’t changed how Majka actually cooks.
“We source the very best ingredients we can find, cook them well, treat them with respect, and try not to over complicate anything,” he said. “Now with the recognition, it is important that we stick to our principles and continue to provide this type of food even with the increased traffic.”
Asked about Michelin’s impact on Pho Momma, co-owner My Le pointed to the crowds. After the restaurant earned a Bib Gourmand designation, given to restaurants that serve excellent food at moderate prices, she saw waits stretching past half an hour most nights.
“So many new faces, friends and families are gathering here to try our food,” Le said. “The best part about the waves of new customers was all the appreciation for food they’ve never had or tried before.”
With only 12 tables, Pho Momma was already running at 80-90% capacity before the recognition, leaving little room to grow in covers. The rush filled in the midday gap instead, with customers waiting 90 minutes or more and stretching service deep into the afternoon, pushing sales up roughly 30% on those days.
The pressure showed up too. “Once being recognized as a Michelin restaurant, the standards have to stay consistent and high,” Le said. “Everyone is watching and critiquing all the time.” Pho Momma’s menu prices have held steady since the award, resisting customers who’ve said Le should charge more.
Recognition given, then rescinded
Frank Fat’s and Mulvaney’s B&L were both previously Michelin recommended, a tier below Bib Gourmand and two below starred restaurants, and neither was included in the 2025 guide.
Frank Fat’s has been a fixture in Downtown Sacramento since 1939, and Kevin Fat, the founder’s grandson and now CEO of the Fat Family Restaurant Group, isn’t especially bothered that the restaurant isn’t currently on the list.
What he notices instead is who’s coming through the door. Multigenerational regulars are still showing up, he said, but now they’re bringing their kids and grandkids along too.
“We’re getting a very different crowd in these days,” he said. “We’re more diverse as far as agewise. We’re getting a lot of younger generations.”
Fat sees Michelin’s larger value less in what it’s done for his own restaurant and more in what it’s done for Sacramento as a whole. “The benefit of having Michelin come in is really putting Sacramento on the map, on a global stage,” he said. “We have great talent here. We’ve got great food here. We have diversity here as far as cuisine.”
Patrick Mulvaney has spent decades as one of Sacramento’s most visible advocates for the Farm-to-Fork movement, and he co-founded Mulvaney’s B&L in 2006, years before the restaurant earned its own spot on the Michelin list.
Asked about the restaurant’s Michelin status at last year’s Tower Bridge Dinner, Mulvaney said it hasn’t changed much either way. “It hasn’t made that much difference for us since. The original recognition probably didn’t help that much either.”
“They choose who they choose, and that’s fine,” he said. “But look at how much more there is to choose from in Sacramento now. We used to be just Applebee’s, and look at where we are today.”
A benefit to Sacramento at large
Of the Sacramento region’s 15 Michelin-recognized restaurants, just two have stars: The Kitchen and Localis. While chef Kelly McCown of The Kitchen said he appreciated Michelin’s recognition, he also noted that the fine dining restaurant has been a Sacramento draw since 1991, long before the guide came to town.
“The Kitchen restaurant is proud to be able to serve our community for the last 35 years,” McCown wrote in an email. “We are extremely proud of our team and we are honored to be recognized in the California Michelin Guide and look forward to being a part of the rich culinary community of the Sacramento region.”
Visit Sacramento, the city’s tourism agency, doesn’t worry about which restaurants are currently listed. What matters is that Sacramento is on the list at all, chief operating officer Kari Miskit said.
“Michelin’s presence in Sacramento proves our restaurant scene has the depth, talent and challenger mindset to sustain international attention,” Miskit said. “While recognition and awards might fluctuate year to year, just being a part of the guide signals to a culinary traveler that this is a destination worth exploring.”
For Miskit, the bigger shift is one of identity. “Michelin is an incredible validation, but it doesn’t replace our core identity, it amplifies it,” she said. “It shifts Sacramento’s narrative from a government town to a cultural and culinary hub.”
That shift extends to how visitors plan their trips, she said. “It has fundamentally shifted the visitor mindset from ‘where should we eat while we’re in town?’ to ‘we are going to Sacramento specifically to eat at these places,’” Miskit said.
Since arriving in Sacramento in 2019, Michelin has recognized the city’s restaurants at every level of the guide, from recommended restaurants to Bib Gourmands and stars. Wednesday’s ceremony will reveal whether Sacramento’s presence in the guide grows, shrinks or stays the same for another year.
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.