The Michelin Guide has put out a second list of "new discoveries" ahead of the release of the updated 2026 California guide in June, including 21 restaurants across the state.
In keeping with the world's insatiable need for content updates, the esteemed Michelin Guide now releases multiple updates per year for each of the cities and regions for which it now publishes guides. These include semiannual announcements about "new discoveries" to the upcoming guide, which can serve as a preview of the new restaurants that inspectors are considering for higher honors like stars or Bib Gourmand inclusion.
And today we get the latest of these roundups of new additions, which is something that started five years ago, and allows for guide additions to be highlighted ahead of the new guide and stars announcements — and also maybe allows them to make a show of noticing restaurants they had previously ignored.
For the Bay Area, the latest additions by Michelin inspectors deemed "culinary gems" are Maria Isabel — which had just opened when the last additions to the guide were announced — Kitchen Istanbul, Via Aurelia, and Minnie Bell's Soul Movement.
Minnie Bell's is notable because it likely shows that inspectors hadn't made it there yet in the two years that it's been open. The quality of fried chicken and soul food dishes like braised oxtail has remained great and unchanged over that span. And Kitchen Istanbul has been buzzed about for several years, in the Chronicle and elsewhere, getting a formal, rave review back in October, so maybe the inspectors only recently took notice and got over there.
Via Aurelia, the upscale Mission Bay restaurant from the Che Fico team, had been open for six months when the last batch of guide additions was announced in March, so it also could be a case of inspectors only recently making it there.
Additionally, Oakland's Joodooboo and Popoca are among the "discoveries," along with the new high-end tasting menu spot in Los Gatos, Vicinity. The remaining 14 restaurants on the list are in Southern California. See the full list here, along with capsule reviews.
The full new guide for California is scheduled to arrive in late June, as it did last year.
The list of Bay Area restaurants with Michelin stars was nearly unchanged in 2025 from the year before, with only two restaurants debuting on the list — Sonoma's Enclos, which debuted at the two-star level, and Oakland's Sun Moon Studio, which debuted with one star.
New restaurants that could be in star contention include Wolfsbane, Restaurant Naides, and Le Cigale — all three of which were on the additions list in March — as well as Maria Isabel, Via Aurelia, Happy Crane, and Vicinity in Los Gatos.
Previously: Five Bay Area Restaurants Added to 2026 Michelin Guide
Photo of the caviar guacamole buñuelo at Maria Isabel, by Jay Barmann/SFist
