Nov 18, 2025 - Food and Drink

No new Michelin stars for D.C. restaurants this year

Anna Spiegel

Table with four sandwiches on white plates, including a sandwich with greens and bacon, two sandwiches with melted cheese and red sauce, and a sesame seed bun sandwich. Two drinks, one iced with lime, one white cocktail with two cherries. — Your Only Friend, Shaw's popular sandwich and cocktail bar, earns a Bib Gourmand. Photo: Vina Sananikone

Michelin didn't award any new stars to D.C. restaurants this year — the first shutout since the guide launched here in 2017.

The big picture: This is the first time D.C. restaurants haven't earned stars from the tire company, which did award two new "Bib Gourmands" for high-value dining.

State of play: The city's 2025 "little red book" is fairly static. But! Two new Bibs include:

PhoXotic, a new Vietnamese soup shop in Bloomingdale
and Your Only Friend, Shaw's popular sandwich and cocktail bar.

José Andrés earned a special award for "Mentor Chef" at Minibar, his acclaimed two-star Penn Quarter restaurant.

The intrigue: The Inn at Little Washington lost one of its three stars — leaving no three-star restaurants in the D.C. guide for the first time.

Michelin announced the demotion ahead of the awards ceremony — part of a broader shakeup that also saw star losses at Alinea in Chicago and Masa in New York.
And that's after the drama of Virginia passing on Michelin's new Southern restaurant guide because state tourism officials didn't want to pay to be included.

How it works: Michelin tells Axios it revisits restaurants annually, and "fully acknowledges the impact of its decisions" on them.

Demotions reflect a "deficiency" in one or more judging areas: ingredient quality, flavor and technique, consistency or the chef's personality "as reflected in the cuisine."

It's possible to win back a star — but that has yet to happen in D.C.

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No new Michelin stars for D.C. restaurants this year

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