Jacksonville restaurants earn Michelin recognition

Jacksonville city officials used a City Hall ceremony on Aug. 5 to present Michelin recognition placards to Eggboy, Rue Saint Marc and The Bearded Pig after the three restaurants were listed by the Michelin Guide. Mayor Donna Deegan said the honors gave Jacksonville its first representation in the guide, while Visit Jacksonville President and CEO Michael Corrigan said the listings would raise the city’s profile with visitors. The recognition follows Michelin’s expansion into Northeast Florida this year, when the guide began covering Jacksonville and nearby markets for the first time. No Michelin stars were announced for Jacksonville, but the three restaurants joined the guide’s official listings. ### Which Jacksonville restaurants were recognized? Eggboy, Rue Saint Marc and The Bearded Pig were the three Jacksonville restaurants named at the Aug. 5 ceremony, according to News4JAX and First Coast News. Deegan and Visit Jacksonville presented placards to the restaurants’ owners and chefs at City Hall. First Coast News described the three as representing different parts of the local market: Eggboy for breakfast and brunch, Rue Saint Marc for French-inspired dining and The Bearded Pig for Southern barbecue. (news4jax.com) The Bearded Pig’s owners, Michael Schmidt and Chad Munsey, said the recognition reflected work by the full staff rather than a single chef or owner. ### Was this Jacksonville’s first Michelin moment? May 28 was the first time Michelin included Jacksonville and Northeast Florida in its Florida guide coverage, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported. That initial release did not award any stars to Northeast Florida restaurants, but it did recommend several establishments from Jacksonville, Amelia Island, St. Augustine and Gainesville. (firstcoastnews.com) Deegan said the Aug. 5 recognition still carried symbolic weight for the city. “For the first time, Jacksonville is represented,” she said at the ceremony, according to News4JAX. ### What kind of Michelin recognition did they receive? Michelin’s Northeast Florida rollout in May involved recommendations rather than stars, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. (jaxdailyrecord.com) The publication reported that Michelin had not awarded stars to any establishment in Northeast Florida but had recommended several, including Bearded Pig, Rue Saint Marc and Eggboy. (news4jax.com) The Michelin Guide says its inspectors judge restaurants on ingredient quality, harmony of flavors, mastery of technique, the chef’s voice in the cuisine and consistency over time. The Daily Record reported that service and decor are not part of Michelin’s food rating criteria. ### Why did city officials make a public event out of it? Michael Corrigan of Visit Jacksonville said the recognition would change how outsiders view the city’s food scene. “They were doing great things, but now they’re going to have international notoriety of being a great place to go see when you’re in Jacksonville,” Corrigan told News4JAX. (jaxdailyrecord.com) A June 2025 FinanceBuzz study cited by News4JAX had ranked Jacksonville the most boring city in America among 75 major cities and said 54% of the city’s restaurants were chains, tied for the fourth-highest share in the country. News4JAX framed the Michelin event as a rebuttal to that reputation. ### What did the restaurant owners say? (news4jax.com) Nicholas and Zachary Presti of Eggboy told News4JAX they first learned of the Michelin news through an email they initially thought might be fake. They said they were “ecstatic and grateful” after realizing the recognition was real. Chad Munsey of The Bearded Pig said the award reflected “10 years of hard work,” while Schmidt called it validation for a team effort. (news4jax.com) Schmidt also told First Coast News that he expected more attention for Jacksonville restaurants to follow. ### Where does this go next? Michelin’s official Jacksonville listings are already live on the guide’s website, where the city now appears alongside other Florida dining markets. (news4jax.com) Future Florida guide updates will determine whether any Jacksonville-area restaurants move from recommendation status into Bib Gourmand or star categories. (guide.michelin.com)