It’s been a big week for those of us who get a little geeky about great food in this region.

The 2025 MICHELIN Guide rolled out back on the 3rd, and with it, said geeks began to make plans to try restaurants they may have heard of but never tried, or made room for a return to visits to places they’ve enjoyed that are now getting some serious national, if not global, recognition.

Back in the Spring, MICHELIN announced their official step into the “American South” (their term, not mine) in 2025. MICHELIN already had a guide in Atlanta going back to 2023, but the rest of what is generally considered the South was not included. Their announcement in April explained that they’d be pushing into Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to go along with their pre-existing Atlanta Guide.

Missing from that as it applies to us is the rest of Georgia, to include Savannah, of course.

At last check, Savannah is part of the American South, no?

That announcement-as you might expect- ruffled a few feathers here in Savannah and rightly so. Is Savannah worthy of a look? Of course it is, as is Athens and even little ol’ Augusta. There’s a lot of great food around the State of Georgia that was left out of this particular chapter of that “American South.”

Does that mean we didn’t get a look? No, it most certainly does not. By comparison, I know for a fact that Savannah has drawn significant attention every year from the James Beard Foundation for consideration in their James Beard Awards (America’s highest culinary honor). If someone from Savannah doesn’t win, that doesn’t mean they weren’t considered. The Grey and Chef Mashama Bailey are the Hostess City’s most recent recipients. Last year, Savannah’s Common Thread and Lone Wolf Lounge were nominees.

But this is a MICHELIN beef.

For their part, MICHELIN says they aren’t finished entering the “American South” and there is precedent for such a move. The Guide expanded into Florida in phases as well. They entered Miami, Orlando and Tampa in 2022, added Greater Fort Lauderdale, The Palm Beaches and St Petersburg/Clearwater in 2025 and will be adding the rest of the state in 2026. Quite obviously, we will be seeing Savannah at some point in the future, but no one is putting a date on that just yet.

Worth mentioning here is the fact that no restaurants on Hilton Head Island were recognized in the guide. Being honest, I thought there was a chance, however small, that this could happen. It did not. Meanwhile, some of my personal favorites in Charleston got some love to include Chubby Fish, Malagón and Vern’s. If you’ve not tried any of those, you must.

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