Food is a powerful expression of culture, and nowhere is that more evident and refined than in the diverse culinary landscape of San Francisco Bay Area. At the recent Michelin Guide: California ceremony, held on Wednesday, June 24 in Sacramento, an extensive and eclectic list of both new and familiar chefs and restaurateurs were prestigiously honored for their outstanding culinary excellence. Several of these awardees were of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent and/or focused their cuisine on platforming AAPI flavors and culture in groundbreaking approaches.
From the experimentally boundary-pushing to the precisely traditional, the range of AAPI winners this year all share the common passion of wanting to share their elite culinary talents in ways that elevate, honor, and invigorate their love for the AAPI culture in a distinctly SF Bay Area essence.
See this recently updated full list of all the AAPI Michelin Star restaurants in the SF Bay Area for your next elevated and culturally edifying outing!
Three Stars
Benu
Focus: Korean
Address: 22 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, 94105
Two Stars
Commis
Focus: New American
Address: 3859 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611
One Star
Kenzo
Focus: Authentic Japanese Kaiseki
Address: 1339 Pearl St, Napa, CA 94559
Kin Khao
Focus: Thai
Address: 55 Cyril Magnin St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Mister Jiu’s
Focus: Contemporary Chinese American
28 Waverly Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108
Nari
Focus: Thai-Californian
Address: 1625 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94115
Niku Steakhouse
Focus: Japanese-American
Address: 61 Division St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Nisei
Focus: Japanese-American
Address: 2316 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109
San Ho Won
Focus: Casual Korean, charcoal BBQ
Address: 2170 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA 94110
SSAL
Focus: Modern Californian with Korean Roots
Address: 2226 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109
State Bird Provisions
Focus: American small plates served dim-sum style
Address: 1529 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA 94115
Sun Moon Studio
Focus: Farmer and producer-driven cuisine
Address: 1940 Union St STE 21, Oakland, CA 94607
The Shota
Focus: Japanese Omakase
Address: 115 Sansome St, San Francisco, CA 94104
Special Awards: MICHELIN Exceptional Cocktails Award: Bar team at Eylan
Eylan
Focus: Seasonally-Driven Cal-Indian
Address: 500 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025
We applaud the continual efforts these diverse and intersectional chefs and their entire staff make to provide their SF Bay Area communities with uniquely upscale, refined, and culturally-esteemed dining experiences. We congratulate everyone involved for putting the SF Bay Area on the Michelin map, and we are excited for next year’s results!
