Michelin adds 11 Los Angeles restaurants

Michelin has added 11 Los Angeles restaurants to its California Guide ahead of the state’s next star ceremony, expanding the city’s watchlist before awards are announced on June 24 in San Diego. Los Angeles Magazine reported the additions on May 22, and Michelin’s own California update says new restaurants are added to the Selection twice a year. (guide.michelin.com) The May round also brought another batch of Bay Area additions, according to Michelin’s California page and a separate SFist report. The changes do not confer stars or Bib Gourmand status by themselves, but they place the restaurants inside Michelin’s current California Selection. ### Which Los Angeles restaurants were added this time? Michelin’s May 2026 California update lists 11 Los Angeles-area additions: ALTO, Casa Leo, Electric Bleu, KOJIMA, Lielle, Lynx, Seline, SORA Craft Kitchen, Tomat, Vin Folk and Zizou. Michelin’s article presents them as restaurants that “won over” its inspectors and marks them with a “New” symbol on its site and app. Los Angeles Magazine said those 11 additions joined the guide this week. Michelin’s own write-up includes short descriptions for several of them, including ALTO in Studio City, KOJIMA in Sawtelle and Lynx, the pizza-focused project from Joshua Skenes. (guide.michelin.com) ### Does this mean any of them have Michelin stars now? Michelin said in its May California update that “Stars and Bib Gourmands” will be revealed at the annual ceremony on June 24. That means the current additions are recommendations in the broader Selection, not star announcements. (guide.michelin.com) The guide uses these interim updates as a preview of restaurants inspectors have recently added to coverage. SFist, describing the same process in Northern California, said the additions can serve as a preview of restaurants under consideration for distinctions such as stars or Bib Gourmand inclusion. That characterization is SFist’s, not Michelin’s formal promise. (guide.michelin.com) ### What happened in the Bay Area at the same time? SFist reported on May 21 that Michelin highlighted four Bay Area “new discoveries” in the latest round: Maria Isabel, Kitchen Istanbul, Via Aurelia and Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement. The same report said Oakland’s Joodooboo and Popoca, along with Vicinity in Los Gatos, were also part of the wider statewide discoveries list. (guide.michelin.com) SFist said the second roundup covered 21 restaurants across California, with 14 of them in Southern California. The report also named Maria Isabel, Via Aurelia, Happy Crane and Vicinity as Bay Area restaurants that could be in star contention, attributing that framing to the guide’s role as a preview ahead of the full California release. (sfist.com) ### How does Michelin describe these midyear additions? Michelin said inspectors spend the year “on the road” looking for restaurants to recommend, and that new establishments are added to the Selection twice a year. The company said those restaurants appear on its website and mobile app with a “New” symbol. (sfist.com) The Los Angeles and California restaurant pages already reflect those additions, with entries such as Lynx and SORA Craft Kitchen appearing in Michelin’s Los Angeles listings. Michelin’s California page shows the broader statewide Selection that will feed into the June ceremony. (sfist.com) ### What comes next on the calendar? June 24 is the next key date. Michelin said that is when California Stars and Bib Gourmands will be revealed at the annual ceremony, which the user’s source material and preliminary reporting place in San Diego. Restaurants added in May remain in the Selection until then, when Michelin will announce its 2026 California distinctions. (guide.michelin.com 1) (guide.michelin.com 2)