Ahead of Michelin’s big 2026 awards ceremony, inspectors announced four new D.C. restaurants today that could be up for star(s) or Bib Gourmand (“good value”) status. All instantly join the coveted little red book’s selection of “recommended” restaurants.
These include: Bar del Monte, the Mt. Pleasant hideaway for small Italian plates from chef-owner Oliver Pastan; Rye Bunny, Adams Morgan’s hybrid counter-service standout from the team behind Tail Up Goat; Maison Bar à Vins, a dreamy French bistro, also in Adams Morgan; and El Cielo Bistro, the more-casual a la carte sibling to Michelin-starred Colombian tasting room El Cielo in Union Market.
Some of the picks are drawing national attention as of late, such as Maison being named a2026 James Beard Award finalist for best new restaurant, and Rye Bunny landing on New York Times’s coveted Best Restaurants list this week.
Teasing out its choicesbefore the big reveal — a move that started in 2022 — attempts to drum up more attention to the guide year-round. This year marks the milestone tenth edition for D.C.’s Michelin Guide.
Over the past year, D.C. lost a record number of Michelin-starred restaurants. The 2025 guide included 25 starred restaurants, but many of them have since closed. Kinship and Metier, chef Eric Ziebold’s dualfine dining attraction in Shaw; embattled chef Matt Baker’s Gravitas in Ivy City, which was seized by the city and is auctioning off its wares next week; and Tail Up Goat (which is now Rye Bunny). There were no new stars awarded last year, and D.C.’s only three-starred restaurant — Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia — was demoted to two. The D.C. area is currently home to 29 Bib Gourmand-designated eateries.
The French tire company’s annual crowning of D.C. stars adopted a new structure in 2023, announced live alongside two other cities (New York and Chicago). Boston and Philly joined the mix for the first time last year under a new Northeast cities format. This year’s invitation-only Michelin ceremony will be held in NYC in December.
Here’s what inspectors are saying about each new addition:
Rye Bunny
1827 Adams Mill Road NW, Adams Morgan
Husband-and-wife team Jon Sybert and Jill Tyler “interpret American comfort foods with a contemporary twist” with highlights like anchovy toast and fiery fried chicken.
Maison Bar à Vins
1834 Columbia Road NW, Adams Morgan
Dishes from chef Matt Conroy, including whipped creme fraiche with diced steelhead trout and green strawberry, and rooster crest-shaped pasta with ramps and clams, “appear simple yet are bold and surprising in flavor.”
Bar del Monte
3054 Mt Pleasant Street NW, Mt. Pleasant
“While there might be a line outside the door,” standout orders of chickpea-flour fritters, lamb skewers, and ever-changing seasonal pizzas make it all worth the wait.”
Elcielo Bistró DC
1280 4th Street NE, Union Market
“Chef Juan Manuel Barriento creates a modern, Colombian-inspired a la carte menu” next to its Michelin-starred tasting room, with Latin highlights like shrimp empanadas with garlic mayo and Meyer lemon and chimichurri bison rib-eye.
