A Michelin sign outside a restaurant in France, where the guide originated. | Photo: Shutterstock.
Earning a Michelin star is supposed to be a good thing, right?
According to researchers at the University of London, it may not be quite the booster many restaurateurs hope for.
The researchers looked at highly rated restaurants and Michelin-star earners in New York City from 2000 to 2019 and found that, at least statistically, those with stars from the fabled tire company were more likely to close down than those without, according to a report in The Times of London.
More than 40% of the restaurants that had earned a Michelin star had closed by the end of 2019, the study found, while one in five of those without a star had shuttered over the same period.
The study, which was also published in August in Strategic Management Journal, looked at how third-party reviews, ratings and rankings can hurt or capture value for restaurants.
Author David Sands spoke with restaurant operators about the effect of earning a star and found a “dark side” that put such restaurants at greater risk.
“While restaurateurs frequently reflected on a feeling of achievement after receiving a Michelin star and highlighted that this led to a heightened focus on their restaurant, their staffs, and themselves, the consequence of Michelin stars were not all necessarily favorable,” he wrote.
Earning a star can cause landlords to raise rents, for example, workers to ask for higher wages (or be poached), and suppliers to bump up costs—not to mention higher consumer expectations.
As shows like “The Bear” have dramatized earning and maintaining Michelin stars or other top reviews can create extreme pressure for restaurant operators, despite the prestige and new business such accolades can bring.
The famed Michelin guide originated in France in 1900 and became a gold standard for fine dining. The guide came to the U.S. for the first time in 2005, focusing solely on New York City. In that first guide, 39 New York restaurants earned a star and soon restaurant operators across the city put earning a Michelin star even above a positive review in The New York Times, the study found.
The guide now reviews restaurants in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Colorado and, coming later this year, Texas.
Sands wrote, however, that recognizing the “double-edged sword” of such reviews can help temper adverse outcomes.
Guests are also more likely to be willing to pay higher prices at a Michelin star venue, and such reviews can broaden a restaurant’s audience, Sands found.
One restaurant operator cited, for example, said that though her Michelin star created opportunities for employees to leave, it also enhanced her reputation as an excellent trainer of young chefs.
And, of course, restaurants close for reasons that might not have to do with Michelin-star pressures.
New York restaurateur David Chang last year “paused” the two-star Momofuku Ko, his fine-dining flagship in New York, and at the time said the culinary world had changed significantly over the restaurant’s two decades. Several of his other concepts have shuttered as the chef shifts more to building his media brand and other businesses, though his Majordomo in Los Angeles and Momofuku Las Vegas have carried on, as have Noodle Bar and Bang Bar in New York and the fast-casual Fuku.
In New York, Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske Valtierra closed their restaurant Contra last year, but reopened as a cocktail bar in August called Bar Contra.
In Costa Mesa, California, the Michelin-starred Taco Maria closed last year after a decade because of lease issues. Owner Carlos Salgado at the time said he planned to reopen elsewhere.
This week, the San Francisco restaurant Aphotic, which also has a Michelin star, said it plans to close for good in December. Owner Peter Hemsley blamed “tough times” and a difficult location.
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