Atlanta’s 2024 Michelin Guide was announced on Monday night, with 57 restaurants recognized in several different categories at a ceremony held at the Georgia World Congress Center. Get to know the nine eateries that were awarded one Michelin star each, and read more about the Atlanta Michelin Guide ceremony here.
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
Atlas
Nestled inside the St. Regis Atlanta, Atlas has changed quite a bit since it earned a 3-star rating of “excellent” from the AJC in 2015. Back then, former dining editor John Kessler praised Atlas for its straightforward, unfussy menu and focus on hospitality.
Under new chef Freddy Money, who took over as culinary director in 2023, the restaurant has continued its high level of service but completely revamped its dining philosophy, a combination that proved irresistible to Michelin Guide inspectors.
Inspectors described Atlas as “impossibly elegant,” officials said at Tuesday’s ceremony, and the restaurant does place a particular focus on ambiance. The dining room boasts an enviable collection of fine art sourced from the private collection of Joe Lewis, founder of the Tavistock Group which owns Atlas.
With new leadership in the kitchen, the restaurant serves only a short “Tavern Menu” for a la carte items, reserving most of the kitchen’s energy for its three tasting menus which cater to omnivores, vegetarians and vegans with equal care. Unlike many of Atlanta’s other ultra-high-end restaurants, Atlas makes it easy for those who don’t eat meat or animal products to enjoy a meticulously crafted meal in luxurious surroundings.
88 West Paces Ferry Rd. NW, Atlanta; 404-600-6471, atlasrestaurant.com
— Henri Hollis
Credit: Unknown
Credit: Unknown
Bacchanalia
One of Atlanta’s first farm-to-table restaurants Bacchanalia first opened in 1993 on Piedmont Road, moved to Westside Provisions District in 1999 and landed at its current location on Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard in 2017. Along the way, it’s retained its reputation as the standard bearer for fine dining in Atlanta, with chefs/co-founders Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison winning accolades including a James Beard Award in 2003.
Executive chef Kai Nalampoon’s prix fixe tasting menus change seasonally, based on available produce (much of which is grown on Quatrano and Harrison’s farm, garnering the restaurant a Michelin Green Star for its sustainable practices). But some favorites make it onto most menus, including the famed crab fritters, which Atlanta Journal-Constitution food and dining editor Ligaya Figueras praised for their moistness and lightness in a 2017 review.
The restaurant was featured in the 2017 movie “Baby Driver,” in which a character describes it as “the finest wining and dining of all the wines and dines in town.” Indeed, the combination of stellar service and a pioneering culinary program that continues to reinvent itself keeps it on the short list of Atlanta’s must-visit spots.
1460 Ellsworth Industrial Blvd. NW, Atlanta. 404-365-0410, starprovisions.com/bacchanalia
— Yvonne Zusel
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
Credit: Yvonne Zusel
Hayakawa
Atsushi Hayakawa took a huge leap after closing his 15-year-old sushi restaurant on Buford Highway and moving to the sparkling new Star Metals development in West Midtown. His omakase counter, simply named Hayakawa, opened in January 2023 as the most exclusive and expensive of Atlanta’s new wave of high-end sushi tasting menus.
A spot at the eight-seat counter will cost diners $315 for 16 courses. A $68 sake flight can be added when making a reservation. Hayakawa has not been reviewed by the AJC since its relocation to west Midtown, but the chef has a reputation for sourcing some of the best fish in the city while his showmanship and hospitality have developed a loyal following.
The setting at Hayakawa mirrors the chef’s personality: Austere at first, but natural and warm as it becomes more familiar. The simple wood and stone decor keeps the focus on Hayakawa’s consistently gorgeous food. With a Michelin star under its belt, expect Hayakawa’s already limited reservations to become nearly impossible to book.
1055 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta; 770-986-0010, hayakawaatl.com
— H.H.
Lazy Betty
Lazy Betty has been at the vanguard of creative gastronomy in Atlanta since its debut in Spring 2019. A concept from Le Bernardin alums, chef-partners Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, Lazy Betty’s globally inspired, exquisitely plated dishes are driven by technique and seasonality.
The restaurant offers a seven-course tasting menu, including a vegetarian option, with an optional wine pairing. The kitchen takes exacting measures to ensure that every bite is memorable – from a flaky biscuit with housemade flavored butter to the final sweet morsel of a petit four. The front of house delivers excellent service without pretense.
The acclaimed restaurant relocated in the spring from Atlanta’s Candler Park neighborhood to the former Empire State South space at 999 Peachtree St. in Midtown where it continues to offer tasting menus as well as a limited a la carte food and beverage menu served in the bar. The new location resulted in a four-star review from the AJC, an improvement from its original three stars in 2019.
999 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta; 470-851-1199, lazybettyatl.com.
— Ligaya Figueras
Credit: Emily Blackwood/Mujo
Credit: Emily Blackwood/Mujo
Mujo
It was no surprise to see Mujo earn a well-deserved Michelin star after the luxurious sushi restaurant received the first 4-star review in nearly a decade from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A passion project for Castellucci Hospitality Group owner Federico Castellucci and chef-partner J. Trent Harris, the omakase counter continues to stack up plaudits and keep its reservation book filled.
Harris sources incredible ingredients by keeping in near-constant contact with his fish buyers in Japan, but the creative, ever-changing menu shows that there’s more to the kitchen than an impressive Rolodex. The service is warm and welcoming even as the staff displays in-depth, expert knowledge, while the vibe is modern and sexy.
691 14th St. NW, Atlanta; 404-400-6832, mujoatl.com
— H.H.
Credit: Courtesy of Brush Sushi
Credit: Courtesy of Brush Sushi
O by Brush
O by Brush is Chef Jason Liang’s omakase experience housed inside Brush Sushi in Buckhead Village. The restaurant relocated from Decatur, where it had a loyal following, and upgraded the space and experience, earning a 3-star review from the AJC. The omakase experience is a more rarefied, personal meal served from a chef’s counter in a private room inside Brush. The Michelin guide highlights Liang’s extensive, multi-course menu and creative cooking, as well as his skill in dry-aging the fish used in his nigiri. The guide also noted how the “wide-ranging sake selection” complements Liang’s food. Brush’s beverage program is curated by sake sommelier Mona Allen, one of the only Black women to be certified by the Sake School of America, who was profiled in the AJC earlier this year.
3009 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta. 678-898-3239, obybrush.com
– H. H.
Credit: Omakase Table/Brandon Amato
Credit: Omakase Table/Brandon Amato
Omakase Table
One of three elite omakase restaurants located in West Midtown, Omakase Table was left on the outside looking in as Mujo and Hayakawa were given Michelin stars in 2023. When the restaurant earned a 3-star review from the AJC last year, it felt a bit unfinished, especially since it had operated for months without a liquor license. The calm, formal atmosphere feels a bit like a temple to sushi, but there’s no questioning Chef Leonard Yu’s talent. There’s plenty of decadence at Omakase Table, where we tasted three different uni side-by-side and enjoyed dishes of A5 wagyu with black truffle, but Yu’s superpower lies in his delicate touch with more subtle flavors. This year, Omakase Table has earned a star alongside its West Midtown sushi brethren, indicating that Michelin’s reviewers believe the restaurant overcame its early stumbling blocks.
788 W. Marietta St., Atlanta. 404-205-5876, omakasetableatl.com
– H. H.
Credit: Courtesy of Heidi Geldhauser
Credit: Courtesy of Heidi Geldhauser
Spring
Georgia native Brian So opened his nationally acclaimed restaurant Spring in 2016 on the Marietta Square, along with general manager and sommelier Daniel Crawford (who also won the 2024 Atlanta Michelin Outstanding Service Award). The restaurant has gained attention for its extensive list of natural wines and its tight seasonal menu that sources ingredients from local growers. Past favorites include chicken liver pate toast and charcoal-grilled group with eggplant.
The geographix scope of the Michelin inspectors in 2023 was limited, leaving Spring out in the cold for recognition in 2023. The restaurant was recognized with a star this year in time for it to close in early 2025 for several months to remodel. Fans can keep an eye out for So and Crawford’s second restaurant, a Korean-focused eatery that’s set to open in the next few months on Church Street in Marietta.
36 Mill St., Marietta. 678-540-2777, springmarietta.com
Credit: Nicole Lewis
Credit: Nicole Lewis
Staplehouse
Staplehouse has gone through several iterations since it opened in 2015 in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, first as a restaurant subsidiary of Giving Kitchen, a nonprofit that aids food service workers in need, to a neighborhood market offering prepared foods to-go, and finally its most recent chapter, a lunch counter by day and a five-course tasting menu by night.
Years before it became a brick-and-mortar, Staplehouse was the dream of chef Ryan Hidinger and his wife Jen. The two began holding pop-up dinners at their home while raising funds to open their own restaurant. After chef Ryan Smith married into the family, he joined Hidinger on the Staplehouse mission with plans for the two to become co-chefs. But Hidinger was diagnosed with a rare late-stage cancer in 2014 and died before they could launch the restaurant.
Smith, his wife (and Ryan’s sister) Kara and Jen Hidinger carried on that dream, and it quickly climbed the ranks as an Atlanta dining destination, earning honors from Bon Appetit, GQ and Eater. It was last given a three-star review by the AJC’s dining critic Ligaya Figueras in 2016, but in its latest form, it offers counter-service lunch Thursday-Sunday featuring pizzas, sandwiches and salads, and on Fridays and Saturdays guests can snag a seat at the five-course communal dinner for $180 per person. The experience is a throwback to the dinner parties that started it all more than a decade ago.
541 Edgewood Ave. SE, Atlanta; 404-524-5005, staplehouse.com
— Olivia Wakim
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