There Are No Michelin Star Restaurants in Michigan – Here’s Why

For many travelers of a certain social status finding a Michelin Star restaurant may be the highlight of their trip. For those looking for any representation of the world's most prestigiously rated restaurants in Michigan, they would find the state lacking.

Is that because there is no fine dining to be found in Michigan? Hardly - there are plenty of publications Rather, Michelin chooses not to rate any restaurants in the state.

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The Michelin Guide dates back to the early dates of the automobile. And yes, the guide and the tire company are one-in-the-same. The well-known story is that Michelin began to rate restaurants around Europe in an effort to encourage car travel and more car travel would lead to needing new tires.

Restaurants featured in the guide are given anywhere from 1 to 3 starts

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So why no Michigan Michelin starred restaurants? The guide is very picky about where they rate. Currently only restaurants in regions like New York, California, Florida and Chicago are rated. Recently added were regions like Atlanta, Colorado and Texas.

But no Michigan. And the narrowly focused regions leave out many other areas of the country. A food blog recently focused on the fact that a culinary hub like New Orleans has no Michelin presence.

So how big a deal is a Michelin star? Some say the stars don't carry the weight they once did. And others feel the rating is more about politics in the restaurant industry and local tourism boards pay to have Michelin include the region's restaurants.

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Either way, with or without a Michelin Star rating, that takes nothing away from Michigan's culinary scene.