The Michelin Guide will announce its latest picks for Colorado restaurants on Monday, Sept. 14, awarding not just stars but also offering recommendations for dining destinations with some of the best food in the state.
This will be the fourth year that the guide’s secret eaters have operated here, but it will be the first time they have ventured outside of the six original territories covered by the first three guides. Those were Denver, Boulder, Aspen, Vail, Snowmass Village and Beaver Creek Resort. That’s a lot of territory, as Colorado is the eighth-largest state at about 104,000 square miles.
Over the years, the guide has taken some criticism for its choices, some of which have appeared inconsistent; in addition, its stars have been doled out almost entirely to chef’s table-style restaurants.
Here are three things to watch for when the 2026 guide is released on Monday.
How seriously will Michelin take its new statewide mandate?
When the guide arrived in Colorado in 2023, only six municipalities were included in the ratings. All of them had pitched in financially to a state fund that paid to bring the guide here. Three years later, the rest of Colorado is about to join the party, including places like Aurora, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Breckenridge, Telluride, Colorado Springs and Crested Butte.
But how seriously will the guide take it? Will restaurants like Rootstalk in Breckenridge, Bin 707 Foodbar in Grand Junction and other contenders be considered for stars? Will the guide offer recommendations for eateries throughout the metro area, including smaller establishments or mom-and-pop shops in suburbs like Arvada, Aurora and Golden?
There are currently 49 restaurants listed in the Colorado guide, nine with stars and 10 with Bib Gourmand nods. These numbers, we hope, should at least double with the new coverage.
Will non-chef’s counter restaurants win Michelin stars?
Chef Toshi Kizaki, whose first restaurant is the south Denver institution Sushi Den, opened the chef’s counter of Kizaki in 2025. Months later, Kizaki was recognized with a Michelin star.(Photo by James Florio/Provided by BON Communications)
Of the nine restaurants that have won stars, seven have chef’s counters, meaning they serve only one menu per night. That includes two of the three brand-new eateries that took home their first stars in 2025: Kizaki, Margot and Mezcalaria Alma. But quality meals are served in a variety of settings — not just at chef’s tables — and there are at least a dozen Denver-area spots that probably deserve a star based on the criteria that the guide has set forth with its existing awards. There are a few more across the state. We’ll be watching to see if that situation changes.
Will anyone lose a Michelin star or a recommendation?
So far, only a handful of restaurants have lost favor with the guide and fallen off the list, including Wyld in Beaver Creek and AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q in Denver (even before it was engulfed in scandal). Others have closed, but none of the starred restaurants have surrendered that designation. One even lost its head chef — but kept its star. It’s possible that will happen this year, however, as reviewers get a better handle on Colorado’s restaurant scene.
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