Restaurants added to Michelin’s Texas Guide deserve to celebrate. Restaurants not on the list deserve our support.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
Particularly, I suggested four Dallas and Fort Worth restaurants that should land on Michelin’s Recommended list and none of them did. I suggested three that could get a Michelin star and — you guessed it — none of them did.
Below, I list the eateries I wish had gotten more Michelin shine in North Texas this year. But first, let’s recap the Michelin 2026 news, lightning-round style:
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Fort Worth barbecue joint Goldee’s got 1 Michelin star — the first one in the city in Michelin history.
No Dallas restaurants received 1 new Michelin star. Tatsu and Mamani kept their stars.
Lucia was moved from the value-driven Bib Gourmand to the Recommended category, where it belongs. Michelin defines a Bib Gourmand as a great restaurant that sells two courses, plus dessert or wine, for about $50, and Lucia is pricier than that.
Last year’s list of Bib Gourmand winners didn’t change much. Exception: Lake Highlands restaurant Resident Taqueria was added.
Past Bib Gourmand winners remain: Cattleack Barbeque, Gemma, Mot Hai Ba, Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen and Nonna.
The 2026 list named 24 Recommended restaurants, mostly holdovers from past years.
Georgie lost its Recommended status.
New on the Recommended list — and worth celebrating — are five restaurants in two North Texas cities: Fond, the family-owned pizza shop in downtown Dallas; Jashan, an upscale Indian restaurant in Plano; Lucia, the Italian restaurant in Oak Cliff that was moved from the Bib Gourmand list; Mābo, the Japanese restaurant in Dallas’ Preston Center; and Olōyō, the contemporary Mexican restaurant in Old East Dallas.
After you make reservations at the deserving restaurants noted above, consider visiting the following eight that didn’t make Michelin’s list.
Walkers’ in East Dallas
I don’t want to put my list of D-FW’s snubbed restaurants in alphabetical order, because that would make wine bar Walkers’ last, and I want it first. Walkers’ is a casual sandwich shop, wine bar and New American restaurant on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue. It opened less than four months ago — which could make it seem ineligible for Michelin attention, except Mamani won 1 star last year in half the time. I feel confident that Walkers’ will get another look next year, and I suggest it for a Bib.
Walkers’ is at 3016 Greenville Ave., Dallas. Reservations not needed for the sandwich shop. Reservations recommended for dinner.
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While Dallas diners clamor to get a seat in Walkers’ small dining room, eating or drinking at the bar is just as good.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
The Chumley House in Fort Worth
A few days after I said The Chumley House was Fort Worth’s best restaurant, it was left off Michelin’s list. It’s possible Michelin’s well-traveled critics compared the experience at Chumley House to the iconic Birley clubs in London. This regal restaurant near the Crescent Hotel doesn’t seem suited for a Michelin star, but it felt like a shoo-in as a Recommended restaurant because of its unexpected British menu, executed well.
The Chumley House is at 3230 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth. Reservations recommended.
A popular dish at The Chumley House is butter chicken pie, and I can see why: It’s comforting, a little unexpected and consistently delicious.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Sushi Kozy in downtown Dallas
Dallas might have too many omakase restaurants, but Sushi Kozy in downtown stands out with the one-bite wonders coming from chef de cuisine RJ Yoakum, formerly of Georgie, combined with chef-owner Paul Ko’s nigiri. For the second year, Sushi Kozy was placed on Michelin’s Recommended list — an honor — but I hoped Sushi Kozy in downtown Dallas would earn 1 Michelin star.
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Sushi Kozy is at 2000 Ross Ave., Dallas. Reservations required.
Chef-owner Paul Ko (left) and chef de cuisine RJ Yoakum are the stars at Sushi Kozy in Dallas.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Osteria il Muro in Denton
When Osteria il Muro in Denton didn’t win a James Beard award in mid-2026, I almost cheered. Not because it wasn’t deserving, but because it meant more pasta for us. It’s already so hard to get a seat at this tiny place, and I’m curious if Michelin’s secretive inspectors even tasted chef-owner Scott Girling’s Italian food. It’s possible they didn’t travel to Denton, which is miles outside Dallas and Fort Worth boundaries. (Though they did travel to Jashan in Plano, Cattleack Barbeque in Farmers Branch, Harvest at the Masonic in McKinney and Smoke’N Ash BBQ in Arlington.) Osteria il Muro is the only restaurant on this list where I’ll say, again: More for us.
Osteria il Muro is at 311 W. Congress St., Denton. Reservations are difficult to get. Here’s what to know before you go.
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Osteria il Muro owner and chef Scott Girling makes pasta before service in summer 2026.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
Meridian in Dallas
My biggest Michelin surprise — beyond Goldee’s new star — is Meridian not making the Recommended list. This one’s so easy. An evening here could include happy hour with $8 house wine and one-bite appetizers for $3 to $3.50 each. Or a cheeseburger with a side of fries. Or a many-course dinner where chef Eduardo Osorio dishes out scallop crudo, charred broccolini, sturgeon with chanterelles, a 26-ounce rib-eye and bowls of pasta to pass. It’s your favorite chef’s favorite restaurant, and I thought Michelin might love it.
Meridian is at 5650 Village Glen Drive, Dallas.
Chef Eduardo Osorio prepares Snake River white sturgeon at Meridian in Dallas.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
Don Artemio in Fort Worth
Although Fort Worth is in the spotlight because of the Goldee’s accolade, Cowtown’s other restaurants didn’t get much attention. Don Artemio is a contemporary Mexican restaurant with an enjoyable seafood restaurant next door, Dos Mares. Since Michelin arrived in Texas in 2024, I expected Don Artemio to make its Recommended list because of the Saltillo, Mexico-inspired menu. So far, it hasn’t.
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Don Artemio is at 3268 W. 7th St., Fort Worth. Reservations recommended.
One of the opening dishes at Don Artemio in Fort Worth in 2022 was chilitos gueros rellenos with confit cabrito.
Shafkat Anowar/Staff Photographer
The Charles in Dallas Design District
Open since 2018, Italian restaurant The Charles helped remind Dallasites that the Design District was a dining destination. Look at the neighborhood now: It’s home to flashy supper club Delilah, pizza and pasta shop Ospi from former Top Chef contestant Jackson Kalb and Mexican restaurants Puerto and Maroma. The Charles’ owners didn’t sit back and watch the DDD change without them; they reinvented the restaurant’s menu and design in early 2026. I thought it could catch Michelin Recommended status, and I think it’s still a great dinner date spot.
The Charles is at 1632 Market Center Blvd., Dallas. Reservations recommended.
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Flaming semifreddo affogato is a dessert at The Charles in Dallas’ Design District.
Tom Fox/Staff Photographer
Georgie in Dallas’ Knox neighborhood
This one’s tough: Georgie lost its Recommended status, which is rare. The restaurant is now under the watch of French chef Bruno Davaillon, who cooked at Dallas’ longtime Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek before opening his own restaurant, the now-closed Bullion. After recent changes in leadership at Georgie, Davaillon was put in charge, and he’s reinventing its menu. I haven’t been back since Davaillon took over earlier this year, but I will soon. I wonder if Michelin critics went before Davaillon was ready.
Georgie is located at 4514 Travis St., Dallas. Reservations recommended.
Chef Bruno Davaillon slices truffles over saké poached leeks at Georgie in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II/Staff PhotographerWhat are your biggest surprises from this year’s announcement of the Michelin Guide Texas?
The Michelin Guide Texas revealed its 2026 winners on Oct. 8, 2026.