Michelin Guide Southwest selects 12 New Mexico

The MICHELIN Guide’s new Southwest edition put New Mexico into Michelin’s U.S. coverage for the first time, with 12 restaurants from the state recognized at an August 26 ceremony at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Michelin said the inaugural regional guide spans Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, and totals 64 restaurants across 24 cuisine types. (newmexico.org) New Mexico’s tourism department said the state’s showing also included two of the guide’s four special awards for hospitality professionals. ### Which part of Michelin expanded here? The 2026 MICHELIN Guide Southwest is a new regional book rather than a Nevada-only or New Mexico-only guide. Michelin said Las Vegas was chosen earlier this year to host the inaugural Southwest ceremony, with chefs invited to learn on stage whether their restaurants had received stars or other distinctions. (michelinmedia.com) Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the MICHELIN Guide, said Michelin’s inspectors found “authenticity, creativity and sense of place” across the four-state region. Michelin framed the launch as both a return to Las Vegas and a broader expansion into the Southwest. (newmexico.org) ### What did New Mexico actually get? New Mexico received recognition for 12 restaurants, according to the New Mexico Tourism Department. The state announcement did not say any New Mexico restaurant earned a Michelin star, but it said 12 were included in the inaugural Southwest selection and that New Mexico culinary professionals won two special awards. (guide.michelin.com) Local reporting in New Mexico said the state’s 12 restaurants were split between Bib Gourmand and Michelin-recommended designations rather than stars. Those reports identified Santa Fe and Albuquerque-area restaurants among the honorees, including Frontier Restaurant and Campo at Los Poblanos. (newmexico.org) ### Why is Las Vegas part of this story? Las Vegas hosted the ceremony and was also one of the biggest winners. Michelin said Restaurant de Joël Robuchon earned two stars, the only two-star award in the Southwest, while four restaurants received one star: é by José Andrés, Guy Savoy Las Vegas, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Las Vegas and Monte in South Salt Lake, Utah. (newmexico.org) MGM Resorts said six of its restaurants were honored in the inaugural guide and that its properties collected four Michelin stars overall, more than any other Las Vegas resort operator. MGM said Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand received two stars, while L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and é by José Andrés each received one star. It said China Poblano earned a Bib Gourmand and Gymkhana and Michael Mina Bellagio joined the selected list. (abqjournal.com) ### Does this mean New Mexico now has Michelin-starred restaurants? The available official releases indicate no. Michelin’s August 26 release listed all of the new starred restaurants in the Southwest, and none were in New Mexico. (michelinmedia.com) The starred restaurants were in Las Vegas and South Salt Lake. That still leaves New Mexico with a larger Michelin footprint than before. The New Mexico Tourism Department said the state had 12 recognized restaurants in the inaugural guide, giving diners and tourism officials a Michelin-backed roster to point to even without a star. ### Where can readers check the list themselves? Michelin said the full selection is available on the MICHELIN Guide website and mobile app. (investors.mgmresorts.com) The guide’s event page says the August 26 ceremony has ended and directs readers to updates on Michelin Guide events and selections. New Mexico’s tourism department published its own September 1 recap of the state’s results, and MGM Resorts issued an August 27 breakdown of the Las Vegas honors at its properties. (michelinmedia.com) Those two releases, alongside Michelin’s August 26 announcement, are the clearest official records of what was awarded and where. (guide.michelin.com) (newmexico.org)