For more than a century, the Michelin Guide has remained a reliable resource for discerning travelers seeking the best places to dine and stay.
The guides began as a simple marketing decision. Around the turn of the 20th century, Michelin’s founders started distributing free guides as a way to encourage travel via automobile, which would logically eventually lead to more tire sales. However, in 1920, hoping to lend the guides some more legitimacy, Michelin began selling them for 7 francs each.
Soon, it became apparent that readers were increasingly drawn to the dining portions of the guides, so Michelin hired its first set of restaurant inspectors and began awarding its coveted stars in 1926.
Today, Michelin inspects and awards stars to fine-dining restaurants in more than 30 countries and territories—and the United States is home to more than 200 of them.
Additionally, beyond Michelin-starred restaurants, the US is also home to an ample number of otherwise Michelin-recognized restaurants, those that have received distinctions such as the Michelin Bib Gourmand Award (which recognizes great food at a great value) and the Green Star (which recognizes restaurants with sustainable and eco-friendly practices).
Where to Find Michelin-Recognized Dining by the Beach
All that said, if you trust the Michelin Guide (as so many travelers have before you) and want to plan a foodie-friendly vacation for this year, packed with fine dining…but you also want to be near the beach, where should you go?
I’d recommend not limiting yourself to a single destination, but, instead, taking a bit of a road trip. There are two states with plenty of shoreline and plenty of Michelin-recognized restaurants, too: California and Florida. Traveling down these states’ coasts allows you to explore a range of beachy locales, while savoring top-tier flavors as you go.
(While, yes, overall, New York City does have the most Michelin-starred restaurants out of any other destination in the country, and you could feasibly visit these restaurants while also traveling in and out of the city to nearby beaches, I have a hard time saying that these restaurants are truly “near the beach.” Plus, the process of combining beach days with NYC nights sounds, personally, like too much trouble and hassle to be worth it.)
Now, whether you plan a road trip through California or Florida, as suggested, or you decide to visit a beach destination that only has a single Michelin-recognized restaurant, here are some of the U.S.’s best Michelin-recognized restaurants near the beach.
The Top Michelin-Recognized Beachside Restaurants in the U.S.
Caruso’s – Santa Barbara, CA
Not only is Caruso’s, which you’ll find situated within the luxury Rosewood Miramar Beach resort, near the beach—it actually overlooks it. Whether you’re dining al fresco, or you’re enjoying the restaurant’s polished interior, you’ll be treated to remarkable views of the Pacific Ocean.
The restaurant boasts both a Michelin star and a Michelin green star, though that’s hardly the end of its distinctions. It also touts a 3-star rating from the Sustainable Restaurant Association and is a Forbes Five-Star Restaurant.
The food here is as fresh as it gets. Caruso’s works with dozens of regional farms and producers to source everything from berries to microgreens to seafood. It also has its own apiary, with four beehives that produce 25 pounds of honey monthly.
So what can you expect on the menu?
Menus are seasonal and you can choose from a four-course dining experience or a chef’s tasting experience, and options range from Santa Barbara abalone with barley, delicata squash and Mauna Kea chocolate to Wagyu ribeye with vegetable terrine and truffles. Don’t miss the bean-to-bar tasting experience to cap off your meal; single-origin chocolates from Hawaii are paired with whiskey and cacao husk tea.
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon – Miami, FL
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon is the only restaurant in Florida that is both in a coastal city and can claim two Michelin stars (the other two-starred restaurant in Florida is in Orlando).
A restaurant with a Parisian past (there are a handful of L’Atelier outposts across the globe, with the original found in the Saint-Germain neighborhood of Paris), it’s now made a home in the Miami Design District. The culinary concept is focused on a high level of craft, as exhibited at the in-demand counter seating where patrons are invited to watch the chefs at their work.
The menu provides both a la carte options, as well as seasonal, four-course tasting menus. While a la carte options are limited, they are surprisingly affordable for fine-dining (so long as you don’t order the Kaluga caviar for $280). Starters such as Wagyu tartare, foie gras and crudo all come in under $50, and entrees like a Wagyu striploin or heritage chicken stuffed with black truffle aren’t too far off.
Stubborn Seed – Miami Beach, FL
In Miami Beach, Top Chef’s Jeremy Ford claims both one Michelin star and a Michelin green star at his restaurant, Stubborn Seed.
The Michelin green star is new—awarded in 2025, and rightfully so (the restaurant has its own farm, where it sources many of its ingredients, and a composting program that transforms the restaurant food scraps into compost to use at that farm)—but Stubborn Seed has been a Michelin-starred restaurant since 2022, when Michelin launched its first Florida guide. Additionally, the restaurant has received nods from the James Beard Foundation, and is also an AAA Four Diamond restaurant.
However, it’s not just the pros that have heaped praise onto this eatery. Ample reviewers on platforms such as Google call the restaurant one of the best Michelin-starred experiences they’ve ever had, whether dining in Miami or worldwide.
Choose from a three, six or nine-course tasting menu, or order off the a la carte menu. While the a la carte options are limited, they still include tantalizing options like braised leek and gruyere raviolo, ginger and citrus-cured Japanese yellowtail, and stubborn truffle chicken.
Aubergine the Restaurant at L’Auberge Carmel – Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA
For years, reviewers said that Aubergine the Restaurant at L’Auberge Carmel was deserving of more than just its one Michelin star, which was awarded in 2019—and, finally, the powers that be listened, and this Carmel-by-the-Sea restaurant received its second star in 2024. Now, it can add that accolade to its many others, including numerous James Beard Foundation awards and honors from Wine Spectator, Forbes Travel Guide, Travel & Leisure and Food & Wine.
The restaurant offers a modern but comfortable sense of luxury, without being overly intimidating or stuffy. The seven-course tasting menu changes daily and the wine cellar boasts nearly 2,000 different selections (don’t worry; if you’re not really a wine drinker, the expert sommeliers are ready to help).
Since the menu is always changing, you’re never sure what you might find, but favorites that reviewers have mentioned in recent history include the rustic bread with clarified tallow and mushroom gelee; kinmedai; and “a scallop course that was so delicate and well balanced it felt like a dream.”
The Chef’s Counter at MAASS – Fort Lauderdale, FL
In Fort Lauderdale, the Michelin-starred Chef’s Counter at MAASS sits within the Four Seasons Fort Lauderdale, and offers a distinctly high-end feel, made possible in part thanks to the experience’s exclusivity. There are only 14 seats available at the chef’s counter, but if you manage to snag one, you’ll be treated to an intimate, immersive meal, wherein you watch this award-winning culinary team in action just steps away.
The experience includes a curated tasting menu, and you have two options: There’s the Excursion tasting menu, which is a focused, two-hour tasting, and then there’s the Voyage, which is a three-hour experience that specifically highlights international and luxurious ingredients.
Addison – San Diego, CA
In San Diego, Addison holds an impressive three Michelin stars, the first and only starred restaurant of its kind in all of Southern California. The 10-course tasting menu, with its seasonal and regional influences, is the highlight here, and it comes in at $395 per person—but reviewers say it’s well worth the investment.
From the environment to the perfectly choreographed service, to the elegantly prepared dishes, reviewers stress that going to Addison isn’t just dinner. It’s an event that needs to be treated with a certain level of gravitas.
Recent items to appear on the tasting menu? Spanish anchovies with potato, wild arugula and Meyer lemon jam; chicken liver churro with bitter chocolate and white truffle; fish and chips with burnt onion dip and dill relish; and olive wagyu with squid ink crackers, tartare and black garlic.
Providence – Los Angeles, CA
In Los Angeles, Providence similarly lays claim to three Michelin stars, and the American seafood restaurant has been recognized many times over as one of the best restaurants in not just Southern California but the country overall.
While Providence does not have a Michelin green star, its sustainability efforts are worth acknowledging. All the seafood is wild-caught and sustainable. The restaurant sources produce from its own rooftop garden and likewise has an apiary. It’s even worked with its suppliers to cut down on plastic waste.
All of those efforts toward freshness and sustainability shine through in the restaurant’s food, with the tasting menu including a handful of seafood options (king crab with Kaluga caviar, for example, or striped bass with autumn squash and cacao), alongside duck and wagyu for the non-seafood eaters. Dessert options include pear with fermented sweet rice, or house-made Hawaiian chocolate.
