Tampa earns no new Michelin stars, but maintains previous years’ awards at 2025 ceremony

For its fourth year in the Sunshine State, the prestigious Michelin guide hosted its Florida awards ceremony, this time at Orlando’s Four Seasons Resort.

At roughly 7 p.m. on Thursday night, after an hour of appetizers, handshakes and photo opportunities with tourism boards, the global dining guide started to dish out Michelin stars, Bib Gourmands, and special designations to an eagerly-awaiting crowd of chefs, restaurateurs and reporters.

In Tampa Bay, no new stars were born—but there were bright spots, including previously-starred Tampa restaurants maintaining their status.

In 2023 and 2024, five Tampa restaurants earned a Michelin star: contemporary Italian eatery Rocca, small-scale omakase spots Kōsen and Koya, Scandinavian tasting concept Ebbe and the Tampa Edition’s high-end restaurant Lilac. All those concepts retained their stars.

According to the guide, a star is awarded to “restaurants using top quality ingredients, where dishes with distinct flavours are prepared to a consistently high standard.”

For the first time since the guide’s 2022 arrival in the Florida, restaurants in Pinellas County are eligible to win awards. Unfortunately, no restaurants in Pinellas County snagged any stars or Bib Gourmands during the guide’s inaugural foray across the bridge.

Pinellas did have a lot to celebrate, however, as the county saw St. Pete hotspots IL Ritorno, Sushi Sho Rexley and pan-Asian steakhouse Fortu added to Michelin’s “designated” list at tonight’s ceremony. Safety Harbor’s Best of the Bay-winning Tides Market also picked up a “recommended” designation in the guide.

In the Michelin Guide, a “designation” primarily refers to restaurants recognized for their quality, but not necessarily for earning a Michelin star.

The Michelin guide dishes out three levels of ranking when it comes to Florida restaurants: stars—which range from one to three—the secondary Bib Gourmand that recognizes “establishments that serve good food at moderate prices” and the addition to a localized guide that lists recommended restaurants in a designated area.

Tampa restaurants that currently boast a Bib Gourmand include Gorkhali Kitchen, Streetlight Taco, Rooster & the Till and Psomi, which all maintained their status this year.

Two months ago, the Michelin guide added four new restaurants to Tampa’s “recommended” category, including Big Ray’s Fish Camp, Chef Ebbe Vollmer’s new concept Fisk, Mad Dogs & Englishmen and Cousin Vinny’s sandwich shop—although none of these eateries were bumped up to a Bib.

Other Tampa establishments that are recommended by the Michelin guide range from casual sandwich shops like the beloved Supernatural Food & Wine to local institutions like Bern’s Steak House, Columbia and Mise En Place and Water Street hotspots like Predalina and The Pearl.

In addition to dishing out stars and Bib Gourmands at tonight’s event, the guide also announced its annual awards of Exceptional Cocktail Program, Best Sommelier, Young Chef Award and the Michelin Service Award—with Tampa’s
own Tyler Wolfe snagging the cocktail award for Ponte.

And for the second year in a row, the guide showcased its Michelin Green star—given to restaurants that “demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainable gastronomy”; Miami’s Entrenos and Stubborn Seed took that special award home in 2025.

Orlando’s Sorekara also joined Miami’s L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon as one of two restaurants in Florida that boast a two-star status.

While the international dining guide has been around for well over a century, Michelin’s relationship with the Sunshine State is only four years old. Tourism boards in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and now Pinellas County, Greater Fort Lauderdale and The Palm Beaches engage in transactional contracts that bring Michelin’s inspectors to their respective areas.

Visit St. Pete Clearwater president Brian Lowack recently told reporters that a two-year contract with the Michelin guide will cost the Pinellas-based tourism agency about $90,000 per year, and justified that expense since Michelin stars, after all, translate to tourist dollars. And at tonight’s ceremony, international director of Michelin Gwendal Poullennec said in a pre-recorded video that he hopes that the guide eventually expands to the entirety of Florida.

This is a developing post. Head to guide.michelin.com for more information on Tampa’s newly-added Michelin stars, Bib Gourmands and more.

UPDATED 04/18/25 12:49 p.m. Updated to add Safety Harbor’s Tides Market to Pinellas restaurants with “recommended” designations from the Michelin Guide.

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This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2025.