All the Stars in The MICHELIN Guide American South 2025

Two Stars

Louisiana
New Orleans

Emeril’s
Cuisine: American/Creole

The younger E.J. Lagasse, son of the indomitable namesake, now oversees a outstanding eating room that has celebrated Creole delicacies for greater than three a long time. His willpower is palpable as he charts a brand new course, bringing modern refinement and vibrant originality to the fore. BBQ shrimp tarts, deep-flavored gumbo and excellent, golden-brown cornbread paired with French butter really feel acquainted and new without delay. This is cooking that bursts with character and sophistication and by no means at the price of taste. Generously spaced tables and plush banquettes provide direct, unobstructed views right into a gleaming kitchen fronted by floor-to-ceiling glass. All the whereas, an outstanding service workforce tends to each element with heat and generosity.

One Stars

Georgia
Atlanta 

Atlas
Cuisine: American

When the evening requires a grand celebration, few locations match fairly like Atlas. Snuggled inside the luxury St. Regis Atlanta, this restaurant is impossibly elegant. Fine artwork graces the partitions—it is house to The Lewis Collection and its works by Japanese-born painter and printmaker Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita—however it’s not simply the paintings that impresses. Order à la carte from this seasonal American menu with European influences or have fun with the tasting menu for dishes like tender lobster plated with smoked paprika butter sauce and heirloom summer season squash, and poached halibut composed with a trio of beet preparations. Wagyu beef from Australia is a decadent finish to the savory programs. Impressive cocktails, a cheese cart and kooky desserts full the well-rounded expertise.

Bacchanalia
Cuisine: American

Dark wooden, a black industrial ceiling set with a constellation of Edison bulbs, and brown leather-based banquettes give Bacchanalia a good-looking sophistication, but there’s nothing too treasured about this longstanding spot. The multicourse prix fixe entails a little bit of aptitude, with some dishes arriving on carts or nestled inside glass cloches, and the cheese course is a superb shock. Rather than an anticipated slice, the workforce presents a intelligent take with a crumbly oat date cake and a dot of black garlic sauce surrounded by rings of parmesan. Chilled lobster in a ponzu sauce with brilliant English peas and horseradish oil can also be memorable however it might simply be the fragile grapefruit soufflé garnished with spicy pistachio crumble and rose crème anglaise that takes the cake.

Hayakawa 
Cuisine: Japanese

Rotating with the seasons and altering weekly, the meal is a procession of small programs and hews towards the construction of kaiseki. After gadgets akin to an appetizer trio with clear fish soup, scallop sashimi with miso-mustard sauce and simmered monkfish, it is time for sushi. The chef crafts nigiri from imported fish that wants little embellishment and is abundantly sized within the custom of Hokkaido type in deference to the chef’s hometown.An area legend for his Japanese delicacies on Buford Highway, Chef Atsushi Hayakawa has begun a brand new chapter in West Midtown. Located in a glowing workplace construction, the slick lair hosts a mere handful of diners per seating. His stage is a backdrop of dark-streaked stone and a silken wooden counter; and using a microphone to banter with friends amplifies Hayakawa’s buoyant character.

Lazy Betty
Cuisine: Contemporary

Now situated in Midtown, Chef Ron Hsu and Chef/co-owner Aaron Phillips oversee a up to date tasting menu with intelligent combos that spotlight regional components. The tuna roll is a stunner, made with feuille de brick and full of lemon, crème fraîche, and wrapped in paper-thin sheets of bluefin tuna. Cod, poached in a ham hock broth, rests atop fava bean and zucchini succotash with a inexperienced tomato relish for an particularly flavorful plate, whereas crown-roasted duck with a caramelized miso sauce is one other sturdy savory course. Finished with a blackberry banyuls discount on the desk, it is a good looking dish. Lemon panna cotta, surrounded by mint granita and lined with a coconut foam is a refreshing finale.

Mujō
Cuisine: Japanese

Located in West Midtown, Mujō is an intimate setting with a moody magnificence. A U-shaped counter crafted of Southern cypress pops on this sq. room with darkish partitions and low lighting. This is the area of Chef J. Trent Harris and his expert workforce who make all really feel effectively cared for. Here, custom has been changed with a rollicking good time, the place the always-surprising interpretation of omakase begins with an array of zensai like a morsel of Florida cobia grilled over binchotan, dressed with a purple miso sauce and a few native pattypan squash. After some cooked bites, it is time for the uncooked. Nigiri wants little to impress, whereas supplemental dishes provide the likes of Hokkaido hair crab, tosazu and mozuku. Regulars know dessert is not an afterthought; so save room.

O by Brush 
Cuisine: Japanese

Brush Sushi is situated in a sleek procuring heart with the likes of Rolex and Dior, however step inside this trendy house to find O by Brush, a separate omakase counter helmed by Chef Jason Liang. The intensive procession will start with a number of starters earlier than transferring into nigiri akin to superbly wealthy shima aji, warayaki sawara that’s hay smoked over coals then sliced and full of rice, and anago tempura temaki completed over binchotan coals. A tasting of dry-aged hirame and kanpachi is a pleasant shock, as is the tamago tasting, that includes the traditional type alongside a young, cake-like model. The wide-ranging sake choice, additionally out there by the glass or carafe, is the right complement.

Omakase Table
Cuisine: Japanese

Here at this critical counter-focused setting, discover Chef Leonard Yu and his small workforce presiding over a multicourse expertise that leans conventional whereas providing a pleasant stability of selection and seasonality. A smattering of otsumami start the night on a powerful notice with shaved wagyu beef calmly poached in sukiyaki sauce with a quail egg. The chef’s signature dish, uni gohan with otoro, is decadent, whereas corn potage delivers a formidable depth of taste. Meanwhile, nigiri showcases character with none flash: Kawahagi is topped with flash-frozen liver paste that melts on the tongue, whereas sharkskin sole with engawa is given a improbable sear. Finally, Japanese panna cotta completed with contemporary strawberries alongside a flavorful musk melon is a lightweight, refreshing finale.

Marietta

Spring
Note: This restaurant is briefly closed.
Find your technique to this small however well-appointed restaurant in Marietta the place uncovered brick and a vaulted ceiling executed in darkish wooden create an endearing attraction. Chef Brian So oversees a tightly edited, modern American menu with a powerful give attention to seasonality. Skillful however easy cooking is the dictum right here, the place components communicate for themselves, and plates are beautiful with out ever being showy. The house-made sourdough with garlic chive butter is scrumptious, however do not refill, because the pan-seared wild king salmon topped with Hollandaise sauce and trout roe is equally interesting. A maple-glazed cruller with sliced almonds in an amaretto crème anglaise is a daring and distinctive dessert, and the wine listing is particularly spectacular.

Louisiana

New Orleans 

Saint-Germain
Cuisine: Contemporary 

The previous adage about not judging a e book by its cowl couldn’t be extra apt for this little restaurant in Bywater. An unassuming entrance promoting “natural wines and garden patio” results in a quaint bar the place Chefs Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith begin the meal with a number of nice bites. Once contained in the intimate eating room, the modern tasting kicks into excessive gear with a griddled cornbread cake smeared with butter aged and cultured in-house. The mixture is outrageously satisfying. A sequence of petite programs follows, every one showcasing refined sauces and daring flavors. Carolina Gold rice with crab and ginger is a winter-proof knockout. Other hits embrace squab with creamed greens in addition to a heat cheese soufflé bolstered by brûléed sugar.

Zasu
Cuisine: American Contemporary

Chef Sue Zemanick is not any stranger to the New Orleans eating scene, having frolicked within the kitchens of a few of the metropolis’s famed eating places earlier than opening Zasu in 2019. Set in an easy-to-miss cottage in Mid-City, it is a sublime oasis with a smooth eating room marked by wooden flooring, darkish inexperienced partitions and gold tones. The menu is tightly edited, that includes a dozen or so dishes centered on seafood and mixing native flavors with French strategies. A scallop shell holds two completely seared scallops in a Thai chile-lime butter with watermelon radish for a refreshing opener, whereas tilefish on a mattress of Swiss chard, candy potatoes and seashore mushrooms in a beurre blanc is a satisfying principal course. End with one thing candy like the nice and cozy peach cake with vanilla yogurt sauce.

North Carolina

Charlotte

Counter

Cuisine: Contemporary 

To say that Counter is an outlier within the Charlotte eating scene dangers understatement: this bold, mercurial undertaking from Chef Sam Hart is sui generis. The boldly immersive expertise options shifting ideas fueled by Chef Hart’s multifarious passions and creativity, drawing on themes of nostalgia, music, private historical past and extra on a multicourse tasting menu. Local merchandise are celebrated, together with herbs and greens from close by city farms, mixed with wide-ranging culinary influences that make for a really memorable meal. The tight-knit workforce offers effortlessly gracious hospitality, and the beverage choices are certain to impress.

South Carolina 

Charleston 

Malagón Mercado y Taperia 
Cuisine: Spanish

Don’t be fooled by this unassuming spot off King Street; Malagón is a discover. It’s a small house with an interesting old-world atmosphere, the place cabinets are stocked with wines and imported produce and an open kitchen affords a peek on the goings-on. Chef Juan Cassalett’s tapas-focused, Spanish menu has a transparent spark. Nothing is overcomplicated, and there’s magnificence within the precision in dishes like fried rabbit leg with a savory crème fraîche dipping sauce and la bomba de la Barceloneta, with diced pork stuffed inside mashed potato after which fried. It’s all deceptively easy and deliciously shocking, as within the arros con cangrejo, a paella-style dish tossed with crab that delights with every chunk. Spanish wines steal the highlight on an attention-grabbing listing.

Vern’s
Cuisine: American Contemporary 

The husband-and-wife workforce of Daniel and Bethany Heinze have created one in all Charleston’s hottest spots. Reservations at Vern’s are extremely coveted, although some could attempt their luck on the handful of bar seats saved for walk-ins. Charleston could also be a dressed-up city, however inside this hotspot, it is extra homey than fussy, with wealthy wooden flooring and tables set with flickering candles. Lowcountry components are championed on a menu that displays Chef Heinze’s travels. It all shifts with the seasons however gadgets like charred sourdough with allium butter or uncooked yellowfin tuna with Calabrian chili are dynamic starters. Pasta is made in home—campanelli with rabbit and vacche rosse cheese in a cacio e pepe sauce is silky-smooth. It’s completely paired with a variety from Bethany’s expertly curated wine listing.

Wild Common
Cuisine: American Contemporary 

Chef Orlando Pagán’s tasting menu is way from widespread, and whereas upgrades like caviar eggs Benedict and wagyu are certainly out there, there’s nothing normal right here. From the value (lower than $100) and the give attention to native components to the wildly artistic dishes with a worldwide bent, that is tremendous eating injected with a little bit of enjoyable. Pho with carrot kimchi or hamachi crudo with coconut and kumquat could kick off the meal earlier than roasted carrot and walnut tortelli with carrot fondue and browned butter whey foam, and entrees like dry-aged New York strip with a polenta cake and king trumpet mushrooms. In one more twist, an aged cheddar sundae affords a savory tackle the ultimate course. The eating room is beautiful, although one of the best seats are arguably on the counter for a view of the kitchen.

Greenville 

Scoundrel 
Cuisine: French 

Chef/proprietor Joe Cash’s upscale French bistro charms with a sublime eating room with hardwood flooring and brick partitions, a full-service bar and an enticing workers who make everybody really feel effectively cared for and welcomed. It’s the most well liked desk on the town, and reservations are a should, although seats on the bar really feel removed from a comfort prize.
High-quality components are ready with care and finesse right here, the place acquainted favorites like Caesar salad are leveled up. Roasted half rooster is tender and juicy with a wonderfully crispy pores and skin, then topped with gnocchi Parisienne and a moutarde sauce for an additional flourish. For dessert, the upscale consolation meals development continues with cronuts served with a pistachio anglaise sauce and crème fraîche.

Tennessee

Nashville 

Bastion

Cuisine: Contemporary

Walk by means of the buzzy cocktail bar to seek out this trendy restaurant within the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. Bastion affords a single tasting menu that includes modern Southern cooking that’s approachable but playful. This is a kitchen that is not afraid to take dangers. Dishes arrive in waves, and the product focus is on full show in a shocking plate of yellow peach and tomato with strawberry miso mayo and mozzarella marshmallows, and in a summery pairing of candy-striped agnolotti full of squash accompanied by a luscious bowlful of creamed corn. Black cod poached in champagne butter over kohlrabi noodles is topped with a parsley salad with bacon for a intelligent dish. Southern chess pie is bested with sake lees and cantaloupe sherbet for a terrific finale.

The Catbird Seat
Cuisine: Contemporary

Originally opened in 2011, this prized perch has ushered in a brand new chapter with its relocation to the highest ground of the Bill Voorhees Building. Headed by husband-and-wife chef duo Andy Doubrava and Tiffani Ortiz, The Catbird Seat is dominated by a big U-shaped counter that surrounds the kitchen. There is a youthful, maximalist vibe to this delicacies, and a level of dedication to locality, seasonality and preservation. The meal is constructed round an array of stimulating small bites which will embrace such morsels as a sublime tackle a rooster wing, right here deboned, stuffed and dressed with sauce Perigord. A wee bowlful of crisped lamb neck set atop creamy Carolina Gold rice and dressed with sweet cap mushroom-infused broth and pickled radish pods is one more tempting chance.

Locust
Cuisine: Contemporary

Reservations are a should at Chef Trevor Moran’s compact, Japanese-influenced spot. It’s laidback and just a bit bit quirky, the type of place the place the complete menu can also be supplied at lunch and so they’re solely open a number of days. There is an easy magnificence and a transparent consideration to element in each dish, all designed for sharing. Beef tartare hand rolls, a home traditional, at all times delight. From there, discover seafood like Maine diver scallops with shaved inexperienced apple. A Japanese omelet with shredded Jonah crab is easy however spot on, however do not skip dessert. The ever-changing iterations of their kakigori could current a block of the best, powdery shaved ice full of a dense ardour fruit cream and caramelized honeycomb, then draped with wealthy milk foam and topped with a confit egg yolk.

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