MICHELIN Guide Texas honors three new Starred restaurants in 2026 selection

Today the MICHELIN Guide announced the 2026 restaurant selection for Texas. Fabrik in Austin and Goldee's Bar-B•Q in Fort Worth were both promoted to One MICHELIN Star. Additionally, Kappo Kappo in Austin joins the selection with One MICHELIN Star.

The recognition continues with six new restaurants being given a Bib Gourmand for great food at great value. 16 new restaurants join this year's selection as recommended eateries. The full selection includes 149 restaurants with 30 cuisine types represented throughout.

"This year marks another standout year for Texas with three new MICHELIN Stars being awarded," said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide. "Over the past three years our anonymous Inspectors have watched the culinary talent across Texas flourish and continue to push boundaries, which is evident in this year's restaurant promotions. Congratulations to the entire restaurant selection. Your commitment to high quality and culinary excellence has been proven again and again."

Here are the new MICHELIN Starred restaurants, with Inspector notes (Inspectors' comments in full on the MICHELIN Guide website and mobile app):

One MICHELIN Star

Fabrik (Austin; Vegan cuisine)

Chef Je Wallerstein and her husband Silas are off to the races in their new home in Tarrytown. The handsome space suits them: High ceilings, wood beams, intimate tables angled towards the open kitchen and an upbeat playlist that matches the mood. The menu is entirely plant-based, as the team sources produce and vegetables from a wide network of local Texas farms. This is delicious, imaginative cooking where the likes of mushrooms, beets and corn are celebrated as main events with refinement, creativity and class. Vibrant sauces and clever garnishes taste as good as they look. To complete the experience, consider the biodynamic wine pairing, which is as fairly priced as the tasting menu itself.

Goldee's Bar-B•Q (Fort Worth; Barbecue cuisine)

Founded by a youthful and creative cohort, Goldee's is the name on the lips of every barbecue aficionado seeking out great brisket (among other items) in the Fort Worth area. Open only a few days a week from late morning until afternoon, one must go when the getting is this good; and it's absolutely worth the hours-long wait in the Texas sun. The Black Angus brisket, cooked low and slow using local post oak, is meltingly tender with a rich, clean flavor. Turkey is notably juicy, while the jalapeño-cheddar sausage delivers a satisfying snap and balanced spice with molten pockets of Tillamook cheese. Sides like old-school potato salad and savory brisket-studded beans show just equal care. Don't skip the banana pudding, layered with buttery house-made vanilla wafer crumbles.

Kappo Kappo (Austin; Japanese Cuisine)

Born in Paris to Japanese parents, twin brothers Haru and Gohei worked their way around the world before reuniting to open Kappo Kappo within the Austin Proper Hotel. The best seats are certainly at the L-shaped counter, though don't assume this is a typical hushed omakase. Instead, expect a lively ambience with guests chatting and the brothers sharing stories about their lives and their French-Japanese dishes. A single bite kicks off the meal, introducing a gougère filled with a creamy nori emulsion and topped with a tartare of A5 wagyu and toro tuna, plus a spoonful of Ostera caviar. Chawanmushi is a delightful classic before the sashimi course, then a bento box features a variety of items, including a memorable Texas grapefruit terrine.

Bib Gourmand

The MICHELIN Guide Inspectors identified six new restaurants to receive a Bib Gourmand distinction, which recognizes eateries for great food at a great value. The full list can be found below.

MICHELIN Special Awards

In addition to the Bib Gourmands, the Guide announced four Special Awards:

Hotels

The restaurants join the MICHELIN Guide selection of hotels, which features the most unique and exciting places to stay in Texas and throughout the world.

Each hotel in the selection has been chosen by MICHELIN Guide experts for its extraordinary style, service and personality - with options for all budgets - and each can be booked directly through the MICHELIN Guide website and app. The selection for Texas features luxury standouts such as the Bowie House, Auberge Collection (Two MICHELIN Keys), the sprawling Hotel ZaZa Dallas (One MICHELIN Key), and the Thompson San Antonio known for its mid-century influences.

The MICHELIN Guide is a benchmark in gastronomy. Now it's setting a new standard for hotels. Visit the MICHELIN Guide website, or download the free app for iOS and Android, to discover every restaurant in the selection and book an unforgettable hotel.

Learn more about the new Mindful Voices initiatives here.

The MICHELIN Guide in North America  

Michelin announced its first North American Guide in 2005 for New York. Guides have also been added in Chicago (2011); Washington, D.C. (2017); California (San Francisco in 2007, statewide 2019); Florida (Greater Miami, Orlando and Tampa in 2022, adding Greater Fort Lauderdale, The Palm Beaches and St. Pete-Clearwater in 2025, statewide in 2026); Toronto (2022); Vancouver (2022); Colorado (2023); Atlanta (2023), Mexico (2024), Texas (2024), Québec (2024), the American South (2025), Boston (2025), Philadelphia (2025), the Southwest (2026) and the American Great Lakes (2027).     

About the MICHELIN Guide
Recognized globally for excellence and quality, the MICHELIN Guide offers a selection of world-class restaurants.

• The famous One, Two and Three MICHELIN Stars identify establishments serving exceptional cuisine that's rich in flavor, remarkably executed and infused with the personality of a talented chef.

• The Bib Gourmand is a designation given to select restaurants that offer good quality food for a good value - often known as personal favorites among the inspectors when dining on their own time.

• Recommended restaurants and special professional awards are also highlighted by the MICHELIN Guide inspectors.

The MICHELIN Guide remains a reliable companion for any traveler seeking an unforgettable meal and hospitality experience. The Guide was first published in France at the turn of the 20th century to encourage the development of car mobility as well as tire sales by giving practical advice to motorists. Progressively, the Guide has specialized in restaurant, hotel and wine recommendations. Michelin's inspectors still use the same criteria and manner of selection that were used by the inspectors in the very beginning.

The restaurant selections join the MICHELIN Guide selection of hotels, which features the most unique and exciting places to stay around the world. Visit the MICHELIN Guide website, or download the free app for iOS and Android, to discover every restaurant in the selection and book an amazing hotel.

Thanks to the rigorous MICHELIN Guide selection process that is applied independently and consistently in more than 60 destinations, the MICHELIN Guide has become an international benchmark in fine dining.

All restaurants in the Guide are recommended by Michelin's anonymous inspectors, who are trained to apply the same time-tested methods used by Michelin inspectors for many decades throughout the world. This ensures a uniform, international standard of excellence. As a further guarantee of complete objectivity, Michelin inspectors pay all their bills in full, and only the quality of the cuisine is evaluated.

To fully assess the quality of a restaurant, the inspectors apply five criteria defined by Michelin: product quality; mastery of cooking techniques; harmony of flavors; the personality of the chef as reflected in the cuisine; and consistency over time and across the entire menu. These criteria guarantee a consistent and fair selection so a Starred restaurant has the same value regardless of whether it is in Paris, New York or anywhere else in the world.