Had Michelin Guide inspectors visited Dallas and Houston in the 1980’s, they would have found a fiery culinary revolution in full swing.
Dubbed “The Gang of Five” and “The Texas Mafia,” Dallas-based chefs Dean Fearing, Stephan Pyles, and Avner Samuel, along with Houston’s Robert Del Grande and cookbook author Anne Lindsay Greer, were reconstructing the Texas menu and calling it Southwestern cuisine.
Inspired by Greer to work together, the young renegades’ fusion of Texas tradition with rustic Mexican flavors, French and other regional styles became all the rage. Reworking chilis, chipotle, jicama, and other ingredients into daring inventions like goat cheese quesadillas with cilantro pesto, they inspired new global fine-dining and fast food menus along with the nascent farm-to table movement.
Fearing stays tuned up at Fearing’s Restaurant (2121 McKinney Ave. Tel. 214- 922-4848. fearingsrestaurant.com) at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, while Pyles and Samuel hung up their toques in 2020.
Del Grande retired in 2022, although his Annie Café & Bar (1800 Post Oak Blvd. Tel. 713-804-1800. theanniehouston.com) lives on. Credited as the unsung hero of Southwestern cuisine, Greer passed away last year at 83.
Their revolution put culinary Texas on the map and ignited today’s hot culinary scenes in Dallas and Houston. Expectations were high in both cities along with Fort Worth and San Antonio when the Michelin restaurant guide made its Texas debut last November in a three-year, $900,000 deal.
Staged at Houston’s 713 Music Hall, the inaugural ceremony recognized 117 restaurants representing 26 cuisines. Michelin’s famously secretive reviewers were stingy, deeming no restaurant to have “excellent cooking, worth a detour” (two stars) or “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey” (three stars).
Fifteen contenders earned one star, for “high-quality cooking worth a stop.” Two restaurants received Green Stars for sustainable gastronomy. There were 45 Bib Gourmands, signifying “good quality, good value cooking,” 57 recommendations for meeting the Michelin standard, and four special awards..
Barbecue joints sizzled with four one-star winners. Garnering 29 total prizes, Texas barbecue elevated America overnight to more than one-third of all Michelin-recognized barbecue restaurants worldwide. Austin led all cities with 47 total awards. Dallas and San Antonio scored two one star restaurants each.
The hit parade in Austin (austintexas.org/things-to-do/food-and-drink/) included seven stars, 14 Bib Gourmands, both Green Stars, 23 recommendations, and one special award.
Texas Monthly once heralded Franklin Barbecue (900 E 11th St. Tel. 512-653- 1187. franklinbbq.com) as “the best barbecue in the known universe.” In 2015, chef/owner Aaron Franklin became the first pitmaster to win a James Beard award, for Best Chef: Southwest. His peppery post oak-smoked Texas brisket and other fare are daily sellouts. Surprisingly, he was not one of the three Austin barbecue joints claiming Michelin stars, but he was one of four Bib Gourmand barbecue honorees.
La Barbecue (Photo by Meg Nanna)
The star trio of barbecue restaurants receiving Michelin stars included Leroy and Lewis Barbecue, InterStellar BBQ, and trailblazing la Barbecue (2401 E. Cesar Chavez. Tel. 512-605-9696. labarbecue.com), the first-ever woman- and lesbian-owned BBQ restaurant in Texas. Raised in a BBQ family, founder LeAnn Mueller passed away in 2023, but her wife Ali Clem perpetuates the restaurant’s acclaim for succulent, spicy classics and house-made items like jalapeno sausage.
Live fire from a 20-foot hearth touches every dish at one-star winner Hestia (607 W. 3rd St. Tel. 512-333-0737. hestiaaustin.com), the handsome sibling of Emmer & Rye (51 Rainey Street, Suite 110. Tel. 512- 366-5530. emmerandrye.com), which along with sustainability-driven Dai Due (2406 Manor Road. Tel. 512-524-0688. daidue.com) took home a Bib Gourmand and Green Star award.
Nixta Taqueria (2512 E. 12th St. nixtataqueria.com) earned a Bib Gourmand and the Young Chef/Culinary Professional Award for chef-owner Edgar Rico. Raised in California’s Central Valley and schooled at the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Rico jour neyed from Los Angeles to Mexico before landing in Austin and opening his taco and tostada joint in 2019. Heirloom maíz (corn) from Oaxaca, duck confit tacos, omakase-style service, and other draws define what Michelin called Rico’s “scrappy” style.
Contemporary-style Barley Swine, intimate Japanese-driven Craft Omakase, and American hotspot Olamaie rounded out the one-star group.
Musaafer (Photo courtesy of Musaafer)
Earning 25 awards, culinary Houston (visithoustontexas.com/restaurants-and-bars), encompasses a galactic 13,000 restaurants representing cuisine from 70-plus countries and American regions. Newly minted Michelin stars include Musaafer (5115 Westheimer Rd., Ste. C-3500. Tel. 713-242-8087. musaaferhouston.com) a lavish Indian dining palace with exquisite dishes to match. Never mind the shopping mall location as you enter the multi-dimensional restaurant and embark on Executive Chef Mayank Istwal’s innovative interpretations of culinary traditions from across India. From seafood standouts like tandoori octopus to the succulent Butter Chicken Experience, the ride tantalizes from start to finish.
Three European standouts include Le Jardinier (5500 Main St. Tel. 713-714-3015. lejardinier-houston.com), the Houston out post of Chef Alain Verzeroli’s fine-dining col lection with siblings in NYC, Miami, and Geneva, Switzerland. Housed inside the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the elegant room is Verzeroli’s stage for seasonal French dishes with connections to nature. Go for bites at the bar, the two-course “Art Lovers Lunch” or dinner entrees such as the Spiced Duck a L’Orange.
BCN Taste & Tradition (4210 Roseland St. Tel. 832-834-3411. bcnhouston.com) is for rare Spanish vermouths, mouthwatering jamon Iberico, sizzling seafood and more. BCN is short for Barcelona, birthplace of owner Ignacio Torras and Chef Luis Roger, formerly at Spain’s incomparable El Bulli. Located in a 1920’s home, the restaurant features Pablo Picasso’s owl jugs from Torras’s private art collection.
Delving into Mediterranean gastronomy, history, and culture, March (1624 Westheimer Rd. Tel. 832-380-2481. marchrestaurant.com) delivers creative six- and nine-course “discovery” menus with drink pairings in a graceful setting.
Mexico City native Hugo Ortega has been the face of traditional Mexican cuisine in Houston since 1983. With five concepts today including Hugo’s, Caracol, and Xochi, the globally acclaimed James Beard winner’s star power is undeniable.
Yet Michelin went with another serial award-winner, Tatemó. Following the Mexi can technique of “tatemar,” meaning roast, toast, or grill, chef-owner Emmanuel Chavez upholds the ancient tradition of nixtamalized maíz (maize) in his tasting menus.
Houston’s culinary lineage includes Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, founded in 1976 by the grandsons of 1897 Greek émigré and restaurateur H.D. Pappas. Michelin recom mended the restaurant and recognized Stephen MacDonald with the special Sommelier Award. Twelve Bib Gourmand winners included wood-fired Italian-influenced comfort food hotspot Rosie Cannonball, Mala Sichuan Bistro, and modern bistro and wine bar Nancy’s Hustle.
Dallas (visitdallas.com/food-drink) scored the evening’s first honors when Julian Shaffer, the 26-year-old bar manager of classy American-driven Rye (1920 Greenville Ave. Tel. 972-803-3391. rye.restaurant) restaurant took home the Exceptional Cocktails Award.
Complementing seasonal small plates like the “Dessert for Dinner” of kangaroo tartare, crab and caviar cannoli, and blue cheesecake, Shaffer’s repertoire includes the Cherry Blossom & Coconut and Calvados & Pear cocktails. The wines, whiskies, and Shaffer’s go-to, the Negroni, are also reasons to go.
Rye was among 16 recommended Dallas restaurants, along with Fearing’s and Crown Block (300 Reunion Blvd. East. Tel. 214-321-3149. crownblockdallas.com). Conceived by celebrated restaurateur Elizabeth Blau, a driving force behind Vegas’s culinary transformation in the 1990’s, this hot-ticket steak and seafood aerie sits atop the iconic 50-story Reunion Tower.
Restaurateurs hitting the stage twice included Julian Barsotti for his Italian concepts Nonna (Bib Gourmand) and Barsotti’s (recommended), and Charles Martin, with recommended honors for El Carlos Elegante and Mister Charles.
Hanoi-born Carol Nguyen’s lively Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen (1907 Greenville Ave. Tel.: 469-250-7183. ngonvietkitchen.com) scored a Bib Gourmand for her pho, spring rolls, rice, and other authentic hometown street-food inspired dishes.
Many chefs were inspired by their mother or grandmother. In Belgrade-born Chef Peja Krstic’s case, it was his Serbian grandfather. Mashing up Vietnamese, French, and Texan influences, his Bib Gourmand-winning Mot Hai Ba (6407 Lewis St. Tel. 972-638-7468. mothaibadallas.com) is for tasty riffs like the steamed beef brisket bao with shallot mar malade.
Weeks before the restaurant awards, Michelin debuted its equivalent Key hotel ratings in the U.S., awarding 20 Keys in Texas. One of four one-Key winners in Dallas, Hôtel Swexan (2575 McKinnon Street. Tel. 469-405-1911. hotelswexan.com) features Michelin-recommended upscale steakhouse Stillwell’s, after female ranching legend Hallie Stillwell.
Dallas, which topped Travel Pulse’s global 25 LGBTQ Travel Destinations for 2025, was just behind Houston with 24 Michelin honors, but only one star, for Tatsu Dallas (3309 Elm St., Ste. 120. tatsu-dallas.com). Tatsuya Sekiguchi, a fourth-generation sushi chef from Hasuda, Japan, expertly delivers delicious 15- to 18-course Edomae-style sushi at his ten seat counter in historic Deep Ellum.
In 2017, San Antonio (visitsanantonio.com/restaurants-and-nightlife) became America’s second UNESCO Creative City of Gastrono my after Tucson, Arizona. To date, they remain the sole U.S. designees in this elite group of 56 global cities. With a food culture rooted in Spanish, German, and Mexican traditions, the historic city more than lives up to its Culinary Capital of Texas trademark. Reminding that there are no assumptions in the world of Michelin, only Mixtli (812 S. Alamo St, Suite 103. Tel. 210-338-0746. restaurantmixtli.com) earned a star.
Mixtli (Photo courtesy of Mixtli)
Launched in 2013 inside of a railcar, Mixtli, pronounced “meesh-lee” after the Aztec for cloud, is the dream concept of Chefs Diego Galicia and Rico Torres. Their mission then as now is to reverently present the vast diversity of Mexican cuisine, across regions and time, with ever-changing themed tasting menus.
Since relocated to an expanded space in Southtown, Mixtli’s most recent “La Conquista: 1519” menu charted an ancient culinary journey from Spain to the Yucatan with dishes including the beef and pumpkin mole “Taste Of A New World.” Michelin also recognized bar director Lauren Beckman, and Court of Master Sommeliers-certified sommelier Hailey Pruitt, with the Outstanding Service Award.
San Antonio’s four Bib Gourmand winners are familiar favorites. I met founders Jeff Balfour and Philippe Placé in March 2015 as they were preparing to open Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery (136 E. Grayson Street, Ste 120. Tel. 210-4555701. southerleighatpearl.com) within the historic former 1890’s Pearl Brewery. Connected to two-Michelin Key Hotel Emma (136 E. Grayson Street. Tel: 844-845-7384. the hotelemma.com), the restaurant today is a San Antonio fixture and anchor of the dynamic Pearl District (atpearl.com). Two dozen craft beers brewed onsite provide liquid fuel for Balfour’s Gulf Coast-inspired “cross-cultural” Texas fare. Highlights include an outstanding oyster program, for which Chef de Cuisine Aaron Juvera recently become the first Oyster Master Guild-certified chef in town.
Another Pearl gem is Bib Gourmand recipient Ladino, for its grill-driven menu of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan dishes. Add to the list, Cullum’s Attaboy (111 Kings Court. Tel: 726-229-7301. cullumsattaboy.com) where you’ll find native son Christopher Cullum’s irresistible diner meets-bistro on the St. Mary’s Strip entertainment corridor, and Chef Nicola Blaque’s Jamaican-style The Jerk Shack.
Seven recommendations rounded out Alamo City’s 13 awards, including Little Em’s Oyster Bar and Peruvian standout Leche de Tigre.
Fort Worth (fortworth.com/restaurants) received a Bib Gourmand for back road barbecue shack Goldee’s and recommendations for Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez and Panther City BBQ. Taking stock of the Michelin aftermath, D Magazine opined that while meeting certain expectations, the inspectors missed others “because they behaved like tourists” in beelining for familiar cuisines and tourist traps while not digging deeper into the broader foodscape, ethnic restaurants included.
Deserved recognition and prestige aside, Michelin, Beard and other honors do not have to be every chef’s or patron’s Holy Grail. True of any destination, Texas has culinary gold in every corner, so be your own best guide and judge and always take detours.
