From Mountains to Main Streets: MICHELIN Guide Unveils First Statewide Selection for Colorado

Today, the MICHELIN Guide revealed the first-ever statewide selection for Colorado. The selection welcomed one new MICHELIN Star restaurant, which is Milpero located in Denver.

In addition to a new Starred restaurant joining the MICHELIN Guide family, the selection also included three new Bib Gourmand restaurants, which awards restaurants for great food at a great value. The three restaurants include Annette in Aurora, and both Pig and Tiger and Rougarou, which are located in Denver. The full restaurant selection across the state now included 63 restaurants spanning 22 different cuisine types.

"The first statewide Colorado selection reflects the remarkable evolution of the state's culinary landscape from its humble beginnings in 2023," said Gwendal Poullennec, the International Director of the MICHELIN Guide. "From established culinary hubs to emerging dining destinations, the talent, creativity and diversity found throughout Colorado continue to impress our Inspectors. The evolving culinary scene has become a destination in and of itself, offering travelers compelling reasons to explore the state through its restaurants. Congratulations to this year's chefs and restaurant teams for their continued hard work and passion."

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

One MICHELIN Star

Milpero (Denver; Mexican cuisine)

Chef Johnny Curiel has already established himself as an adept practitioner of contemporary Mexican cuisine, but at this rarefied workshop, his aims are more ambitious still. A multifaceted tasting menu studiously marries tradition with invention, celebrating regional cuisines. The myriad of distinctive moles stitched throughout the meal illustrates the point, from a beet-tinted mole rosa dotting a bluefin tuna flauta, to a robust mole amarillo matched with American wagyu and hearty ayocote beans. The meal ends with a satisfying yet whimsical flourish of warm chocolatey champurrado poured over an atole mousse in the shape of a corn cob. Service is seamless and warmly hospitable, and both striking cocktails and a singular assortment of top-flight Mexican wines are sure to impress.

Bib Gourmand

The MICHELIN Guide Inspectors identified three 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 and now includes 13 restaurants.

MICHELIN Special Awards

In addition to the Bib Gourmands and Stars, 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 Colorado 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 Colorado features the state's most spectacular hotels, including Dunton Hot Springs (Two MICHELIN Keys) a unique luxury hotel tucked in a remote area on the Dolores River; modern eco-hotel Populus Denver (One MICHELIN Key); or the St. Regis Aspen (selected) a world-class luxury accommodation at the foot of Aspen Mountain.

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.

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.