Rich Table, Bar Tartine Snubbed by Michelin Once Again

It’s that time of year again, as the Michelin inspectors bestow the city’s best restaurants with the highly desirable star rankings. But before stars are given out next week, the Bib Gourmands must make their debut. The Bibs are a more extensive list that is awarded to restaurants offering "exceptional good food at moderate prices," which means a much bigger pool of candidates, and a confounding mix of price points that depend upon the definition of "moderate." (Kokkari Estiatorio and Tacos Sinaloa aren’t exactly comparable.)

Also of note: restaurants that make it onto the Bib Gourmand list aren’t currently eligible to earn stars, so some of the restaurants that have dropped off could be in the running to receive stars at the announcement on October 25. Here’s the full list of the 75 winners below (wagers, guesses and bets on who might be the next Michelin-starred restaurants are welcome in the comments):

11 restaurants joined the party

‘āina,  Bravas (Sonoma), Bywater (South Bay), Del Popolo, Lai Hong Lounge,  Nopalito, Okane, Shed Café (Sonoma), Tacos Sinaloa (East Bay), Tsubasa, Two Birds/One Stone (Napa Valley) and Village Sake (Marin) all made their debut as Bib Gourmands this year. Most interesting is the addition of Aina, which was (until dinner was added last week) a brunch-only restaurant. Most restaurants added are on the newer side, with the exception of Nopalito, Lai Hong Lounge, Tacos Sinaloa (though the brick-and-mortar location is only a year old), and Shed Café.

11 restaurants bid the list adieu

Brick and Bottle, Chevalier (Lafayette), Chino, Contigo, Fringale, Gather, La Perla, Marinitas, Sazón, The Farmer & The Fox, and Rivoli have all departed. No explanation, despite the obvious removal when a restaurant closes (Brick & Bottle, Chevalier, Chino and The Farmer & The Fox) is given, so we’ll have a better idea of who has improved when the stars are announced next week. (Gather has a solid chance.)

No stars for these restaurants, again

Rich Table and Bar Tartine, arguably two of the city’s best restaurants, remained on the list, precluding them from the running for even one Michelin star this year. The Bibs are a strange phenomenon, grouping restaurants like Rich Table (with entrees that hover around $30, and a $93 tasting menu) and Lai Hong Lounge (a dim sum restaurant in Chinatown with a health score of 68) into the same category. Michelin remains famously tight-lipped on the rhyme and reason behind such choices but it does cast a shadow upon the meaning of this (or any) list.

Stay tuned for next week’s star-studded announcements, and check out the full list of 2017’s Bib Gourmands below (and look here for each of them mapped):

Anchor Oyster Bar

A16

Backyard

Bar Tartine

Bistro Aix

Bistro Jeanty

Bistro 29

Chalkboard

Chapeau!

China Village

Comal

Cook St. Helena

Coqueta

Corso

Cotogna

Delfina

Del Popolo

Diavola

Dosa

Evvia

Farmhouse Kitchen Thai

Farmstead

FIVE

Glen Ellen Star

Grace’s Table

Great China

Hong Kong Lounge II

Insalata's

Ippuku

Izakaya Rintaro

Kappou Gomi

Kokkari Estiatorio

La Costanera

Lai Hong Lounge

Le Garage

Mamacita

Mason Pacific

Michel Bistro

Millennium

Monti's Rotisserie

M.Y. China

Nopalito

Oenotri

Okane

Orchard City Kitchen

Poggio

Ramen Gaijin

Redd Wood

Rich Table

Risibisi

Scopa

Sichuan Home

Sir and Star

1601 Bar & Kitchen

Sociale

Starbelly

Sushi Ran

Thai House

Trestle

Vesta

Village Sake

wonderful

Wood Tavern

Yank Sing

Yuzuki

Zero Zero

Zola

Z & Y

• San Francisco’s 2017 Bib Gourmands, Mapped [ESF]
• San Francisco's 2016 Michelin Stars, Mapped [ESF]
• San Francisco’s 2016 Bib Gourmands Have Arrived [ESF]