A sandwich shop, an intimate pasta bar and one of Raleigh’s buzziest restaurants.
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Three Triangle restaurants earned their way into the Michelin Guide Wednesday night, joining the ranks of the world’s most distinctive places to eat.
They each earned “Bib Gourmand” honors: Ajja from Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler; Ideal’s Sandwich & Grocery from Ian Bracken and Paul Chirico; and the Carrboro pasta spot Tesoro. The award is for high quality restaurants that inspectors believe represent exceptional value.
But the Triangle missed out on a Star for the second year in a row. Counter- in Charlotte remains the state’s only one-star honoree.
Michelin unveiled its updated guide for The American South during a ceremony in Nashville Wednesday night, honoring restaurants in seven Southern states, including North Carolina. With the Triangle’s three new restaurants, there are now 22 local spots in the Guide.
All 19 Triangle restaurants honored in 2025 retained their spots and distinctions.
Michelin debuted the American South guide in 2025, its first regional guide, bringing the world’s most sought-after culinary honor to celebrated food cities like New Orleans and Charleston for the first time.
The Michelin Guide has been around for a century, highlighting distinctive and exemplary restaurants around the world. The guides have only been in the United States for 20 years, primarily in larger cities like New York, Chicago and Washington, DC.
It’s famous for its star system, which awards one, two and three stars to restaurants based on degrees of excellence. A single star is a lifetime achievement to most chefs and three stars would place a restaurant among the greatest in the world.
Besides Bib Gourmand honors, a restaurant can also earn a “Recommended” distinction, which earns a mention in the coveted Guide.
To be in the American South guide, North Carolina and tourism offices in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte and Asheville paid $1 million over a three-year contract. Until this year, Michelin had only included restaurants from those cities.
Ajja is the sizzling Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurant from Kumar and Siler, built around shareable skewers, dips and salads and wrapped in the grooviest vibe possibly on earth. Kumar, who has a stack of James Beard nominations and semifinalist mentions, said the honor is still sinking in.
“I know the team is really excited and that means more to me than anything,” Kumar said in a phone interview. “It’s a little surreal.”
The restaurant was absent from last year’s Michelin guide, despite local acclaim and national praise, including Best New Restaurant shoutouts from outlets like Esquire Magazine. As a North Carolina chef known for celebrating the seasons through her dishes, Kumar said Michelin’s arrival in the South was overdue.
“It’s odd that the area with the richest food culture in the country wasn’t included in this culinary recognition,” Kumar said. “But it’s an extremely positive thing for Michelin to be in the Triangle. Is it the thing that makes our food community so special? No, but I think it matters a great deal to the world at large, and I think it brings a certain level of pride to our food community. And I think that’s lovely.”
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Ideal’s, a walk-up sandwich shop in East Durham, has been one of the Triangle’s most popular restaurants since it opened in 2021. The menu touches on classic sandwiches from the Northeast, but has been wholeheartedly embraced by Durham’s foodie community, quickly elevating Ideal’s to the city’s most recommended, lauded and craved restaurants of any kind. Still, the owners were surprised to be on the Michelin stage.
“Definitely not something we ever thought we would be included in and it was never a goal of ours,” Bracken said in a press release. “We try not to get caught up in accolades; we just keep our heads down and do what we’ve been doing for the last five years: providing people with an exceptional and affordable product in a timely manner.”
Tesoro opened in downtown Carrboro in 2021 with only 18 seats, serving handmade pastas swayed by the seasons. Owner David Peretin worked in some of the Triangle’s best restaurants before building a place of his own, with a menu touching on both sides of the Adriatic.
The tiny pasta counter became the first restaurant in Chapel Hill or Carrboro to be included in the Michelin Guide.
Only a year into Michelin’s history in North Carolina, tourism officials say they’re already feeling the guide’s impact.
Scott Peacock, marketing director for Visit NC, said the Michelin guide is an honor recognized around the world and that people are seeing the quality of the state’s restaurant scene.
“We’re genuinely really happy with the results and of the attention and awareness it brings to North Carolina restaurants,” Peacock said.
While the state only has one restaurant that has earned a star, the Charlotte fine-dining spot Counter-, Peacock noted that one vital culinary tradition seemed to get an appropriate level of respect: barbecue. In the Guide’s first year in the American South, four Triangle barbecue spots were included in the guide, with Prime Barbecue and Sam Jones BBQ earning Bib Gourmand honors.
“I think it was great to see them recognize barbecue right out of the gate,” Peacock said. “It shows a high level of understanding for our roots and traditions.”
Moving into the third year, Peacock hoped to see Michelin expand its scope and consider North Carolina restaurants outside of the major cities and that’s exactly what the updated guide delivered.
Eastern North Carolina scored in a big way in the 2026 guide, with three restaurants earning Recommended status: Manna and Salita Pizza in Wilmington and Little Native Diner in Greenville. Pump Social in Concord, outside Charlotte, also earned Recommended status.
“I think we’ve seen a good blend and cross-section of restaurants, but I’d like to see a little more recognition of fine dining spots and a deeper look at Appalachian cuisine and coastal cuisine,” Peacock said.
The Wilmington restaurant Manna scored one of the biggest wins of the night, taking home the Sommelier Award, a regional honor recognizing the top wine program in the American South guide. The ceremony named Manna owner William Mellon as the honoree, but he gave the award to the restaurant’s sommelier James Spain.
“Wine’s about stories, it’s fun, it’s not meant to be serious or require a degree to enjoy,” Spain said. “Have fun, drink what’s in the glass and learn something cool.”
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This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 10:43 PM.