Michelin‑listed Roxanne closed
- Philadelphia shut down Roxanne, the Michelin-listed restaurant at 607 S. 2nd St. in Queen Village, after city inspectors found it had been serving food without the required license. - Roxanne still appeared in the 2025 Michelin Guide this week, even as Philadelphia’s licensing system says food businesses need a food preparation or retail establishment license to operate. - Philadelphia can post a Cease Operations order and fine businesses $300 a day after license revocation, part of a broader city enforcement process. (phila.gov)
Philadelphia ordered Roxanne to stop serving food at 607 S. 2nd St., closing a Michelin-listed dining room in Queen Village. (www.inquirer.com) The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the city posted a Cease Operations notice after inspectors found Roxanne had operated without a food license for more than a year. (www.inquirer.com) Roxanne is chef Alexandra Holt’s restaurant, and Michelin still lists it in the 2025 guide at the same South 2nd Street address. Michelin describes it as a “Creative” restaurant and says it is part of the 2025 selection. (guide.michelin.com) In Philadelphia, restaurants cannot legally operate on reputation alone. The city’s licensing page says food businesses need the appropriate food preparation or retail establishment licenses to serve the public. (www.phila.gov) The city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections uses formal enforcement steps that include a Notice of Intent to Cease Operations and a Notice of Cease Operations Order. Those orders apply to business-license and code violations, not restaurant prestige. (www.phila.gov) Philadelphia also says a business that keeps operating after revocation can face fines of $300 per day, and police can assist in enforcing a closure. That is the city’s standard warning for businesses operating without a valid license. (www.phila.gov) The closure lands awkwardly for Michelin, which has spent the past year elevating Philadelphia’s dining scene. This month, Michelin highlighted Roxanne in a feature on six restaurants that “put Philadelphia on the map.” (guide.michelin.com) For diners, the immediate effect is simpler than the guidebook politics: Roxanne cannot be open and serve customers until the licensing issue is resolved. (www.phila.gov)
