NYC Has The Most Michelin Stars Of Any US City — But How Many Does It Have?

A Michelin star has long been the ultimate mark of excellence for a fine dining restaurant, and no place in the United States can lay claim to more than New York City. With legendary spots like Per Se and Le Bernardin to new showstoppers like the Korean restaurant Jungsik, the Big Apple has set the standard for American dining decade after decade. But while there is no denying that NYC is the reigning king of American restaurant scenes, what does that actually look like? How impressive is New York's dominance in local Michelin stars?

As of 2025, New York City boasts 72 restaurants that have earned at least one Michelin star. Of course that number, and the number of stars each restaurant earns, can change from year to year as the publication continually reassesses the excellence of each spot. Case in point, in 2024, New York had 74. Dividing up the restaurants by ranking, the city has five spots with the highest level of three Michelin stars, 13 with two, and 54 with one.

The three-star restaurants on the list include the aforementioned Per Se, Le Bernardin, and Jungsik, as well as Eleven Madison Park and the Japanese restaurant Masa. It's worth noting that New York has more than double the Michelin-starred restaurants than the second-place city, San Francisco, which has earned 30 total. However, San Francisco's number actually may be more impressive when you consider New York has more than 10 times the California city's population.

Rounding out the top five of American cities, Los Angeles comes in at third place with 27 Michelin-starred restaurants, followed by Washington, D.C., with 25 and Chicago with 19. That means that there are plenty of amazing Michelin-starred restaurants for food lovers to visit in major cities, including our 40 favorites across the U.S. But if you start looking abroad, the American numbers don't look quite as impressive.

Unsurprisingly, the French-founded Michelin Guide leans heavily towards European restaurants, with France itself collecting the most stars. Italy, Germany, and Spain follow close behind with the third, fourth, and fifth most stars. However, the city with the most Michelin-approved restaurants isn't in Europe; it's Tokyo. The Japanese megalopolis is the world champion of luxury dining, with a stunning 169 star-winning restaurants and 12 top-rated destinations. That's well ahead of even Paris, the second-place city with 134 Michelin-starred restaurants. Japan overall boasts the second most Michelin restaurants of any country, and it probably doesn't hurt that Tokyo is the third largest city in the world. But that still shouldn't put a damper on the accomplishments of Japan's amazing fine dining scene.

The Michelin Guide's starred recommendations only represent a fraction of the culinary offerings in most major cities, being almost entirely focused on pricey high-end restaurants. But the Guide is still an invaluable resource for exploring the creativity and diversity of a city's restaurant scene — and when it comes to America, New York still reigns supreme.