13 CA Restaurants Added To Michelin Guide 2025: See List

CALIFORNIA — California continues to dominate in the MICHELIN Guide, which just added 13 new Golden State restaurants to its vaunted ranks. The lineup is just as diverse as ever, whether it's Korean soups in San Francisco, hand-ground tortillas in Los Angeles, Thai food in an art gallery warehouse in Sacramento, or a test kitchen shared with muralists in Encinitas. This list shows the fascinating ways that chefs all over the state not only cook meals, but invite you to experience them. Without further ado, here are the latest must-try restaurants:

1. San Francisco: Sungho

At Sungho, you’ll be transported out of San Francisco and into the kitchen of Chef Seongho’s Korean grandmother. The menu eschews more traditional Korean restaurant offerings in favor of warm stews and his grandmother’s gukbap, a comforting, hearty meal where rice is served in a hot and flavorful broth, often with meat and vegetables. Michelin praised one gukbap for having “fall-off-the-bone pork and tender rice.”

Outside of stews and soups, the restaurant offers generous, family-sized portions of jeon (crisp and savory pancakes studded with seafood and kimchi); yangnyeom-gejang, a spicy dish of raw marinated crab, and kimchi to your heart’s content.

2. Palo Alto: Ethel’s Fancy

The family vibes continue at Ethel’s Fancy, a homey, rustic restaurant in Palo Alto named after the name of the mother and grandmother of Chef and owner Scott Nishiyama. A small menu geared toward family sharing features creative Californian dishes like katsu-style swordfish with spiced kumquats or hojicha tapioca pudding topped with rice cracker bark.

3. Menlo Park: Eylan

This buzzy Menlo Park restaurant puts a unique Californian twist on Indian cuisine. Large crowds are attracted to inventive pairings like paratha flatbread with Dungeness crab and a fennel, poppy seed and mint sauce. Wood-fired grills add a rich, smoky flavor to dishes like lemon-grass scented gulf shrimp, chili-glazed celeriac, and pineapple kebabs. Eylan is also notable for its well-curated wine and cocktail lists.

4. Sacramento: Kin Thai

Sisters and co-owners Napis Lindley and Napak Kongsitthanakor bring the bold and fragrant flavors of Thai street food to a converted warehouse and art gallery in the heart of Sacramento to great effect. Brave souls can ask for “Thai spicy,” while those seeking more familiar Thai food will enjoy their pad Thai, crepe cakes, or rice plates. Kin Thai has a delectable dessert section with treats like mango sticky rice with condensed milk, and a Thai tea slushy with brown sugar boba or grass jelly.

5. Sacramento: Majka

Majka is an inventive twist on the traditional mom-and-pop pizzeria and bakery that centers on special daily plates. Each week, the restaurant offers unique pizza, pasta, and small plate specials featuring seasonal ingredients and suggested wine pairings. On any given day you could get a special deal on the asparagus pizza with sugar snap peas, ramps, buffalo mozzarella, and parmesan, spinach ricotta ravioli, King Salmon Crudo, or fried risotto balls.

6. Sacramento: Pho Momma

If you love pho, Pho Momma is your mecca. The menu is centered around every pho noodles in every conceivable combination, whether you like it with beef, meatballs, chicken, shrimp or tofu. The menu also boasts an impressive list of spring rolls, fried appetizers like a variety of different egg rolls or wontons, and a long list of “Momma’s Specials,” which feature everything from Momma’s Garlic Noodles to Curry Vermicelli. Wash it all down with a long list of milk teas, iced Vietnamese coffee, sweet iced tea, or shakes.

7. Los Angeles: Komal

SoCal certainly has no shortage of Mexican food, but not many ground fresh, ethically sourced corn using ancient Indigenous techniques. Komal, located inside LA’s beloved Mercado La Paloma, is an artisanal molino (or mill) that uses the nixtamalization technique to make hand-crafted, ethically sourced tortillas, tacos, tostades, and more. It also includes rare dishes like tlacoyos and molotes de plátano, which “reflects both the rich culinary heritage of Mexican cuisine and the couple's dedication to reinvesting in Mexico’s Indigenous farming communities.”

8. West Hollywood: Somni

You’ll feel like you’re stepping into a Salvador Dali painting at Somni, which means “Dream.” The imaginative restaurant offers an endless array of singularly unique Basque and Catalan small bites eaten under the watchful eye of a psychedelic bull sculpture. At Somni, the servers are cooks, the cooks are servers, and reality briefly folds into a gorgeous meal.

9. Hermosa Beach: Vin Folk

Enjoy some beachy deliciousness at Vin Folk, which takes diners on a tour around the world through intriguing, shareable dishes like mussels tart, chili crab, beef tongue, Jidori chicken, or goat cheese fromage blanc with diced pear and honey buckwheat granita.

10. Encinitas: Atelier Manna

Atelier Manna is pure SoCal: eating fresh, seasonal, local ingredients outside on a covered patio, which happens to be in Michelin-rated Chef Andrew Bachelier’s own backyards. The test kitchen is a funky “canvas for the community,” featuring a gathering space where everywhere from muralists to metalworkers can practice their craft alongside the chefs. In addition to the seasonal California menu which features dishes like local halibut crudo and a Manna Bowl with farro, citrus, avocado, quinoa, and more, Atelier Manna is notable for its extensive nonalcoholic beverage list.

11. Carlsbad: Lilo

Lilo is as much a guided experience as it is a restaurant. The journey begins on a heated patio, where guests are treated to a series of small bites. In the dining room, guests enjoy a series of deluxe savory plates like dry-aged Japanese kin madai paired with a ragout of geoduck and bone marrow. Halfway through, savory turns to sweet in the form of delicious ice cream, like orgeat ice cream topped with celery root bushi and Ossetra cavia, or weet cream gelato topped with hoja santa and finger lime.

12. Oceanside: Tanner’s Prime Burgers

Unlike many of the other new restaurants on this list, this one is pretty simple: a good, old-fashioned burger joint. However, the twist is that it offers burgers good enough to be in the Michelin Guide. Enjoy single-source USDA prime beef burgers on a delicious brioche bun, with a range of toppings like cheese, bacon, or caramelized onions, accompanied by equally delicious fries, milkshakes, ice cream, and cookies.

13. Oceanside: 24 Suns

This former dive bar is now a deluxe, fresh take on Chinese food complete with a stellar wine and cocktail list. Browse between innovative snacks, dumplings, chef’s selections and shareable plates like jiaozi with shrimp in doubanjaing butter sauce, or shrimp Robuchon in a crispy shell with spicy mustard, pickled goji berries, and Thai basil. Then top it off with a delicious dessert menu of ginger ice cream, black sesame budino, or chocolate ganache.

RELATED:

• 15 Restaurants Added To CA Michelin Guide 2025: See List
• This CA Restaurant Is The Best Place To Eat In America: Yelp
• This SoCal Restaurant Among 10 Best New Hot Spots In US