San Francisco had itself a very good Wednesday night. At a ceremony held June 24 at the Eve waterfront events space in San Diego, the Michelin Guide handed out its 2026 California star ratings — and the Bay Area walked away with the two biggest prizes of the evening, a pair of historic third stars and three brand-new first-time honorees. The night's headline was the elevation of Californios in San Francisco's SoMa to three-star status, making it the first Mexican restaurant anywhere in the world to receive that distinction. Not in Mexico, not in Spain, not anywhere — the first. Also promoted to three stars was Enclos in Sonoma, a winery-owned restaurant that opened in late 2024 and somehow shot from debut to the top of the guide in roughly 18 months. Northern California now claims seven three-star restaurants total, more than any other region in the state.
Californios Makes History
Chef Val M. Cantú's Californios has been building toward this moment for over a decade. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star in 2015, its second in 2017 — making it at the time the first Mexican restaurant in the U.S. to hold two stars — and has occupied that two-star tier ever since, according to Wikipedia. Cantú's original Mission District location closed during the pandemic in 2020, and the restaurant reopened in a larger SoMa space in 2021. The relocation gave the kitchen room to breathe and the menu room to grow. In awarding the third star, as reported by the Press Democrat, Michelin's inspectors described Cantú as combining "a passion for Mexico's rich heritage, an electric jolt of imagination and masterful technique" to produce "a truly singular gastronomic destination." The menu draws on a sweeping range of Mexican flavors, deploying top-tier ingredients and subtle international influences to transform familiar dishes into something genuinely new. From the Michelin Guide's own description: a pillowy sourdough tortilla paired with an ethereally crisp mezcal-battered black cod, heirloom white corn tortillas accented with black sesame and poppy seeds to match smoked quail in a complex house mole.
Accepting the award from the stage, Cantú said the win was "all for the culture" — and in its scope, it genuinely is. According to SFGATE, the achievement is unprecedented not just for San Francisco or for the U.S., but globally: the Michelin Guide exists in Mexico, yet no restaurant there has ever received three stars. Californios got there first. The SF Chronicle's restaurant critics previously described Californios as pushing "the scope of Mexican cuisine to dizzying heights" — a sentiment Michelin's inspectors, apparently, share.
Enclos Vaults to Three Stars
The second three-star honoree was Enclos in Sonoma, the tasting menu restaurant at Stone Edge Farm Vineyards & Winery. Chef Brian Limoge opened the restaurant in late 2024 and it leapt straight to two stars in its first year on the guide — already a remarkable achievement — before jumping to three stars barely a year later, as reported by Eater SF. Michelin's inspectors described Limoge's tasting menu as a marriage of "global flavors, refined technique and exceptional ingredients," with produce sourced from the affiliated Stone Edge Farm and "subtle nods to the chef's New England roots." The SF Chronicle noted the restaurant's theatrical service touches, including brodo poured tableside from an antique silver urn. Enclos now stands as Sonoma County's highest-rated restaurant and a signal of how seriously the region is being taken as a culinary destination.
Three New Stars in San Francisco
Three San Francisco restaurants received their first Michelin stars Wednesday. The most closely watched was Wolfsbane, the Dogpatch tasting menu restaurant from husband-and-wife team Rupert and Carrie Blease, who previously ran the decade-long Michelin-starred Lord Stanley on Polk Street before closing it in May 2025. As Hoodline previously reported when it was added to the guide's recommended list, Wolfsbane is a collaboration with Tommy Halvorson, the former Serpentine chef who owns the Dogpatch space at 2495 3rd St. The $248-per-person nine-course tasting menu takes what the Bleases honed at Lord Stanley and pushes it further, with Rupert's California-focused cooking accented by Nordic, Japanese, and French influences. Michelin's inspectors called it a "much-anticipated return to fine dining."
The second new star went to Naides, the intimate 10-to-12-seat Filipino tasting menu counter at 708 Bush Street from chef Patrick Gabon and his partner Celine Wuu. As SF Standard detailed in its February review, Gabon — who cooked at Sons & Daughters and two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Milka in Slovenia before returning to the Bay Area — opened Naides in the space Sons & Daughters vacated when it moved to the Mission. The restaurant is named after Gabon's mother. Michelin called it a "jewel box operation" and a "labor of love," noting Gabon's use of ingredients native to the Philippines like pili nuts and calamansi, as the SF Chronicle reported. The restaurant is one of only a handful of Filipino-led restaurants to hold a Michelin star anywhere in the world.
The third new SF star went to Troubadour in Healdsburg, the dual-concept restaurant from Melissa and Sean McGaughey that operates as a sandwich shop by day — drawing on the couple's popular bakery Quail & Condor — and a French tasting menu restaurant by night. Michelin inspectors described the evening menu as highlighting California ingredients "with flair and technical precision," according to the SF Chronicle.
The Night's Losses
Not everyone left San Diego smiling. Four Bay Area restaurants lost their star ratings this year. The most anticipated removal was Le Comptoir at Bar Crenn, chef Dominique Crenn's French omakase counter — though that loss was expected after Crenn announced in early June she would close the concept, per Eater SF. Bar Crenn itself remains open. Also losing their stars were O' by Claude Le Tohic, the Union Square French restaurant; The Shota, the Financial District omakase sushi spot; and Kenzo, the kaiseki restaurant in Napa.
Special Awards and the Green Star Confusion
San Francisco's Maria Isabel took home the Exceptional Cocktail Award, with beverage director Evan Williams recognized for a program that draws on centuries-old Mexican beverage traditions and innovative technique. Sons & Daughters general manager Frida Blomdahl Hay received the Service Award, as noted by Eater SF.
Wednesday also produced what Eater SF called "the head-scratcher of the night" — the apparent revival of Michelin's Green Star designation, just weeks after the guide announced it would retire that category in favor of a new initiative called "Mindful Voices." Despite that announcement, two restaurants were given new Green Stars at the ceremony: Monte's in Santa Barbara and Six Test Kitchen in Paso Robles. Michelin has not yet explained the apparent reversal.
Where the Bay Area Stands
With seven three-star restaurants, Northern California now has twice as many top-tier Michelin restaurants as New York City and more than any other region in the state, according to Press Democrat. The full Bay Area Michelin Guide — all 29 starred San Francisco restaurants visible in the official Michelin Guide app — reflects a dining scene that, for all the hand-wringing about high costs and closures, keeps producing world-class cooking at every tier, from State Bird Provisions and Kin Khao to Benu and Atelier Crenn. The three-star night, though, belonged to a SoMa taco and a Sonoma winery — which feels very Bay Area.
