Michelin Guide

Michelin Guide is a series of restaurant guides published by Michelin, the French tyre company, and the most influential restaurant rating system in the world. Its anonymous inspectors award one, two or three stars to restaurants judged to offer exceptional cooking, and list many more as recommended restaurants or as Bib Gourmand choices for good cooking at good value. Since 2022 the guide has covered Florida, and its Orlando selection includes restaurants at Walt Disney World.

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History

The guide began as a motoring handbook. In 1900, brothers André and Édouard Michelin published the first edition in France and gave it away free to motorists, filling it with maps, tyre-repair advice and lists of mechanics, hotels and restaurants, to encourage driving and tyre sales. Restaurant listings gradually became the guide's main attraction. Anonymous inspectors were recruited to review restaurants, and in 1926 the guide began marking the finest establishments with a single star. Five years later, in 1931, that grew into the three-star hierarchy still used today: one star for high-quality cooking worth a stop, two stars for excellent cooking worth a detour, and three stars for exceptional cuisine worth a special journey. Alongside the stars, the guide also awards the Bib Gourmand, named for Bibendum, the Michelin Man, for good-quality cooking at moderate prices, and lists further restaurants as recommended — now styled Michelin Selected.

Michelin in Florida

Michelin did not cover Florida until the 2020s. Following an agreement with Visit Florida and the tourism boards for Miami, Orlando and Tampa, the first Florida selection was announced on 9 June 2022. It listed 118 restaurants across the three areas: fifteen received stars — fourteen with one star, and L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Miami with two — and 29 were named Bib Gourmands. Coverage widened in 2025, when Greater Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beaches and St. Petersburg–Clearwater were added, and in 2026 the selection became statewide, growing to 200 restaurants spanning 41 cuisine types. Florida restaurants are reassessed for each new edition, so stars and listings can be gained or lost each year.

Disney restaurants recognised

In April 2024, Victoria & Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa was awarded one Michelin star, becoming the first Disney-owned and operated restaurant, and the first restaurant owned by a United States theme park destination, to earn one. Its maître d'hôtel, Israel Pérez, received Michelin's 2024 Florida Service Award at the same ceremony. The restaurant retained its star in the 2025 guide and again in 2026, a third consecutive year.

Two other Disney restaurants are recognised in the 2026 guide: Cítricos, also at the Grand Floridian, and Toledo – Tapas, Steak & Seafood at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort are both listed as Michelin Selected — recommended by the inspectors, but holding neither a star nor a Bib Gourmand. Elsewhere on Walt Disney World property, Capa, the rooftop steakhouse at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando — inside the resort but not Disney-owned — held one star from 2022 to 2025, before moving to the recommended list in the 2026 guide.

See also

• Victoria & Albert's
• Cítricos
• Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
• List of Walt Disney World restaurants
• Walt Disney World