Michelin Announces Bay Area’s Best Restaurants That Won’t Break the Bank

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 5, 2017 – Michelin today revealed a list of 67 restaurants in the greater San Francisco area that received its highly regarded Bib Gourmand designation. These restaurants offer excellent food at a reasonable price and are included in the upcoming 2018 edition of the MICHELIN Guide San Francisco.

In its forthcoming 12th edition for the Bay Area, Michelin inspectors included four restaurants that are new to the list, including locations in the East Bay, Marin and Peninsula areas.

This year’s list of affordable favorites notably includes chef and author Tanya Holland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen in West Oakland -- a casual and welcoming place open for breakfast and lunch, where visitors enjoy a cuisine based on organic and seasonal ingredients, like a signature buttermilk fried chicken with a cornmeal waffle.

Pausa, a contemporary Italian restaurant and bar located in San Mateo, also earned a Bib Gourmand this year.  Owners Andrea Giuliani and Steve Ugur serve authentic Italian food paired with an Italian wine list, cocktails and spritzes. 

The Michelin inspectors awarded a Bib Gourmand to Playa, a popular Mexican restaurant in Marin owned by Peter Schumacher with Bill and Vanessa Higgins.  The executive chef serves flavorful cuisine based on local, sustainable and organic ingredients.

Royal Feast, in Millbrae, also received a Bib Gourmand designation in this year’s guide. Modestly decorated, Chinese chef Zongyi Liu delivers authentic Sichuan dishes prepared with composure.

Bib Gourmand restaurants are selected by Michelin’s famously anonymous food inspectors, who choose restaurants serving high quality food on their menus and make it possible to order two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less (tax and gratuity not included). These selections are very often the same restaurants that the Michelin food inspectors frequent when they are off the clock.

These local inspectors are trained to scrupulously apply the same time-tested methods used by Michelin inspectors for many decades throughout the world. This ensures a uniform, international standard of excellence. As a further guarantee of complete objectivity, Michelin inspectors pay all their bills in full.

The 2018 Michelin star selections for San Francisco will be announced on Oct. 12. The MICHELIN Guide San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country 2018 goes on sale on Oct. 17 for a suggested retail price of $18.99.

San Francisco MICHELIN Guide 2018 Bib Gourmands

About the MICHELIN Guide

The MICHELIN Guide selects the best restaurants and hotels in the 28 countries it covers. Providing a showcase of gourmet dining around the world, it highlights the culinary dynamism of a country, as well as new trends and emerging young chefs. Creating value for restaurants through the distinctions that it attributes each year, the MICHELIN Guide contributes to the prestige of the local gastronomy, thereby making cities and countries more attractive to tourists.  Backed by its rigorous selection method and longstanding knowledge of the hospitality industry, the MICHELIN Guide provides customers with unique expertise that enables it to offer them a true quality service.  The different selections are available in both print and digital versions. They are accessible via the Web and on a full range of mobile media that offer navigation capabilities adapted to individual usage as well as an on-line booking service. With the MICHELIN Guide, the Group continues to support millions of travelers, allowing them to live a unique mobility experience.