I found this list very underwhelming and wished they had included a few more gems like O Ya and Sarma. Felt very Asian restaurant heavy and not entirely representative of some of the creative talent we have. I wasn’t expecting anything glorious but I’m also shocked that anyone got a 1 star. I look forward to seeing how this evolves over the next few years and hope this will light a culinary fire under chefs asses
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We have an expression in science “mile wide and inch deep”. The Michelin take on Boston seems to be “inch wide and inch deep”.
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I was expecting at least more Bib Gourmands…like yume ga arukara
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I love that, and I agree.
They’re a tire company, after all. What do they know about food unless it’s rubbery?
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The title of this thread should be:
Boston 2025 Michelin List, Out!
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Michelin ratings are always part of discussions with people interested in food but one tends to forget that the ratings have to be seen in a context beyond just a specific city and more at least across different cities in the country. And Yume ga Arukara is a good example as we really liked it when we had their udons several
years ago but when you look at other comparable udon shops in LA, SF etc. which all don’t have a Bib gourmand they don’t stand out in any way
Overall, I think the ratings are looking reasonable
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There is much on this list with which I would want to quarrel, but let me start by saying something about Zhi Wei Cafe. I get food from them very, very often because they are the place closest to South Station that offers decent food at an OK price. But they are in no way superior to, say, Great Taste or Winsor just up Beach, and offer significantly less tasty food than the DTX Gene’s.
To me this one big error – picking a so-so place over significantly superior offerings nearby – casts the validity of the entire list into question.
ETA: Remember that we’re scraping the bottom of the Michelin barrel here, the “recommended” category, defined as spots that “simply serve good food”.
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Come, come. Halt the hyperbole, honkperson!
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Boston paid too much to only have seven restaurants included in the guide and so they tend to throw in some additional ones quite randomly
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T’was late at night when I posted 
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I’ve been to Sumiao several times. Most recently just a couple weeks ago. It is fantastic. Should it be on this list at any level? I have no idea, Michelin is its own animal. In any case, I’m glad I got in there before the “foodies” start going.
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Chef Chris Coombs has a longer post on Instagram about yesterday’s outcome and it is a good summary - a wake up call for Boston. A wake up call for chefs and guests not to always play it save culinarily wise but being much more open to push boundaries
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I think the Michelin take is shallow because it compresses restaurants with a very wide range of experiences into two categories. I think it is narrow because there are many Boston restaurants equally or more deserving of recognition that escaped their grasp.
Their take on Boston is also revealing, both about the Boston dining scene and the cultural mismatch with Boston inherent in the Michelin model. There is a very high preponderance of set menus among Michelin-starred restaurants. The Michelin criteria weigh the “chef’s personality reflected in the cuisine”, and set menus are one of the ways they look for expression of personality. It’s interesting but not surprising that the sole 1-star restaurant serves omakase, by definition a chef-driven menu. Culturally, set menus are a heavier lift in Boston, for a number of reasons. Time is a big factor – there are not a great many Bostonians inclined or able to take 2-hour lunch breaks. [One anecdote – back in the 1970s the French organization CECAM sponsored international workshops that lead to the development of computational methods known as “molecular dynamics simulation”. American participants discovered their European counterparts typically took 2-hour lunch breaks. The Americans used that time to take over the supercomputer in Saclay. Years later the Nobel Prize for the methods developed in the 70s was awarded to three American scientists, not entirely a coincidence.]
I think for a substantial number of Boston restaurants to attain Michelin stars, the burden is not entirely on the restaurants – it would require a cultural shift. Perhaps it’s time for an alternative to Michelin that recognizes excellence in different ways.
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Absolutely.
yeah the list is kinda meh, way too asian heavy and missed real boston gems like o ya and sarma. shocked anyone got a star tbh.
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Not sure if I agree in today’s world of Michelin - it might be true 10-20 years ago but if you look at restaurants who got stars across the US (and in Europe) there are restaurants with tasting menus (mainly 2 and 3 stars) but the majority of 1 star places often don’t have tasting menus but only alc. Also, I don’t think Boston isn’t in anyway unique that nobody has time for long lunches but that is the case for any city in the US (and I doubt Michelin is using lunches to evaluate restaurants)
I agree with Chef Coombs that it is more an issue with nobody (chefs and customers) is willing to take risk - many menus in Boston are quite boring and consist mainly on small variations on some standard dishes.
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Y’all should take a look at this post, which was the best take on where we stand as a city right now with the restaurant scene and the Michelin guide:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRQeK38DKQY/
I think he absolutely nailed it. Our restaurant scene is actually dying more than it is striving and that trend started nearly a decade ago. Sure, we can still eat well - but not nearly as well as we could have previously and should be, especially compared to other cities. Economics and legislation are direct factors.
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Oof, what an analysis. By no means am I an expert, but I hope that policymakers in our region take note of these observations.
Thank you for sharing.
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I read somewhere (sorry, can’t remember where) that because Sarma is in Somerville, they couldn’t be considered as only Cambridge and Boston paid to play. Does anyone know if that is accurate?
Yeah, I think they missed a lot of potential Bib Gourmands. I get that that Boston is not always leading edge in food, but I think there are more worthy restaurants then they have listed. I wonder how they decided on what to try.
To be fair, I’m pleasantly surprised that 3-1-1 got the shout out. If there was a restaurant I thought could get one, I would have voted 3-1-1 myself. I’m glad they recognized it for what it does well, even if everyone likes to give the “but it’s not NY standard….blah blah blah”.
Well, the one good thing is that many of my favorite places not on their radar - won’t suffer from the excessive crowds these list can generate. My boss - whom I’ve prodded about going to 3-1-1 because she loves Japanese food - is on waitlist now. No vacancies for the recently released block of reservations. 
Maybe it was the holiday timing, or maybe it was this list…
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