In 2027, the Michelin Guide American Great Lakes Edition will take readers to six U.S. cities: Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland and our very own Pittsburgh.
Anonymous restaurant inspectors are currently eating their way through the Steel City, detailing their bites, confirming their suspicions, and writing up reviews; but we won’t know their thoughts until the guide’s release next year. For now, Pittsburghers can merely speculate about what could come from a Michelin recommendation, Bib Gourmand or even a star or two.
What is the Michelin Guide?
The word “Michelin” may sprout a number of images: a stack of white bubbles that form a man-shaped marshmallow; cutting-edge automotive research; a tire, or four. But the Michelin Group isn’t just the world’s largest tire manufacturer, they are also the engineers of the world’s most influential food guide.
The story goes that the Michelin brothers, way back in 1889, wanted to encourage more travel (and the purchase of more cars and more tires). As such, a free guide full of travel tips, maps, gas station locations and lodging information was born. The Michelin Guide went through a number of changes, as it began charging for the book, removing its advertising, listing hotels and focusing on restaurant reviews. Now, more than a century later, Michelin has expanded and sold millions of guides showcasing thousands of establishments across three continents — all highlighting fine dining, good value meals and amazing experiences.
As for what an actual review looks like, they aren’t long. Usually it’s two to three sentences on the food and chef, along with a collection of symbols noting the establishment’s quality or offerings. Inspectors look at five focal factors when making their reviews: ingredient quality, flavor and cooking techniques, value, consistency and a chef’s personality.
The highest honor Michelin gives is their star, with a truly exceptional restaurant receiving up to three. However, Michelin has expanded beyond exclusively fine dining. The title of Bib Gourmand is given to restaurants offering quality food at a reasonable price, noted by an icon of the Michelin Man, Bibendum. The guide also offers recognitions for interior design (a fork and knife icon), “simply good food” (The Plate) or a notable drinks list.
Bill Fuller is the president of big Burritos Restaurant Group and a prominent chef based in Pittsburgh for more than three decades.
“It gives people a tool when they’re traveling and visiting to pick restaurants.”
Fuller said he’d be surprised if any of the Great Lakes cities got stars in this first edition, but that he anticipates “a lot of Bib Gourmand and Plate stuff.”
“I’ve dined at one or two star places and there’s a lot that goes into that,” Fuller said. “As far as — not just the food — but the service, the decor, the plates, the glassware, the environment, the styles of service. And I don’t know if any of us here are really there.”
Derek Dawson, vice president of strategic initiatives for VisitPITTSBURGH, said that Pittsburgh has plans to grow.
“I think we’re gonna be a really great Bib Gourmand city and then we’ll see what we can do in the future years as far as stars go.”
Why Pittsburgh?
The cities of the American Great Lakes Edition, which somewhat reflect the traditional description of Great Lakes cities, are home to more than 3.2 million people combined. The largest of the six, Indianapolis, has a population of just over 900,000. Pittsburgh is the smallest city, with a population of 307,000.
“It’ll just be another way for people to get a little bit more familiar with the smaller cities,” said Fuller.
The Michelin Group states that the expansion of the guide is to promote travel to new destinations.
Tourism bureaus in Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Cleveland are paying Michelin hundreds of thousands of dollars over a three year period for their inclusion in the guide. Pittsburgh has not publicly disclosed a financial partnership.
Dawson said each city has their own agreement with Michelin.
“It’s very individualized based off of the destination.”
According to VisitPITTSBURGH, Allegheny County currently sees around 21 million visitors a year, creating $7 billion in economic impact, annually.
“Our culinary scene plays a really key and major important role in attracting visitors,” said Dawson. “ So our goal here is that folks are gonna come to town, stay longer, explore more neighborhoods, try more restaurants, bakeries, etcetera, etcetera.”
Restaurateurs gaining Michelin stars often report a bump in sales, though capturing the overall economic impact to a region is a tall, largely unstudied order. Still, many tourism boards aiming to boost local travel remain eager to cut a piece of the pie.
Fuller doesn’t think Great Lakes restaurants independently pull very many tourists like many previous Michelin Guide cities’ establishments do.
“People go to New York and a part of the going to New York is going out to restaurants,” said Fuller. “There’s less for these [Great Lakes] restaurants than there are in these bigger markets. So it’ll be interesting if that does maybe help grow the tourism a little bit.”
Pittsburgh’s inner-state, not-so-neighboring Philadelphia earned its place on the Michelin Northeast Cities Guide in 2025, with three restaurants receiving stars. According to Dawson, Pittsburgh is trying to leverage this tested knowledge and bring it home. By working with partners at the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, conversations were coordinated between Michelin-recognized restaurants in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh restaurateurs interested in the guide.
“The biggest feedback was, ‘Don’t do things different just to chase Michelin. Michelin is gonna find who you are, and you’ll be rewarded for that,’” said Dawson.