How Many NYC Restaurants Have Michelin Stars?

Which cities can be considered the foodie capitals of the world? There's Paris, of course, since France is the home of haute cuisine. There's Tokyo, which boasts countless great restaurants, and where you can eat king crab at Japan's most expensive Michelin-starred restaurant. There's London, too, and then, of course, there's the Big Apple — New York City, baby!

New York City has 74 restaurants with Michelin stars at the time of writing, with 13 newly starred restaurants announced in December 2024. It's way ahead of the next highest American city, San Francisco, which has 32 starred restaurants. It's impressive on a global scale, too: In 2024, in a worldwide ranking, New York City was listed seventh, between Hong Kong and Singapore.

For those who don't know, the Michelin Guide, published by the French tire company of the same name, is an annual guide to restaurants around the world. Unlike other rating systems, like the kind you might find on Letterboxd, one star doesn't represent a poor grade. Restaurants in the Guide are given between one and three stars, with one marking a worthy destination, and three marking a world-class dining experience. To receive even one Michelin star is the honor of a lifetime for a chef, and a feather in the cap of whatever city hosts their restaurant — making New York City's embarrassment of riches even more impressive.

New York City has five restaurants with three Michelin stars, representing the very finest dining money can buy — and boy, they sure ask you to spend a lot of it. Per Se, a Columbus Circle restaurant run by the legendary Thomas Keller, charges at least $390 for a tasting menu which may feature dishes like Maine Lobster Wellington or charcoal-grilled Miyazaki Wagyu – and that's not including any of the two thousand wines the restaurant offers. Masa, a sushi restaurant run by Masa Takayama, offers an omakase (or chef's choice) menu for $750 a head. 

The full tasting menu at Eleven Madison Park will set you back $365 per person, whereas Korean restaurant Jungsik, which won three stars in December 2024, charges $295 for its signature menu. Le Bernadin, whose head chef Eric Ripert once worked under Joel Robuchon, the chef with the most Michelin stars in history, is a somewhat more affordable three-star restaurant. It offers a four-course prix fixe for $210, as well as a weekday lunch menu for a scant $130 per person.

There are plenty of other restaurants besides the three-starred heavy hitters, of course. There is the two-star Aquavit, a Scandinavian restaurant in Midtown; there is Frevo, a one-star restaurant almost hidden behind an art gallery; and there is Cote, a Korean steakhouse with one star that offers a "Butcher's Feast" menu of four different cuts plus a selection of sides and dessert for $78 per person.