The Michelin Guide is often considered the most prestigious restaurant award in the world. The reviewers at the Michelin Guide are famously mysterious, but traditionally, Michelin has centered on fine-dining concentrated in major urban areas. In recent years, the guide has expanded in both types of cuisine and regions. In 2025, the Michelin Guide entered the American South, featuring Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee (Atlanta was the only area covered previously).
With a total of one Michelin star, seven Bib Gourmand awards, and 39 recommended restaurants, North Carolina was one of the most awarded states in the American South. To sample these restaurants firsthand, I was taken on a guided culinary tour courtesy of Visit North Carolina. The tour centered on four of the major cities in North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham. We visited more places than featured on this list, but I chose to curate some of the most interesting restaurants that impressed me. Needless to say, there was plenty of eating.
Asheville
Good Hot Fish
A counter service restaurant inspired by Southern fish camps, Good Hot Fish is all about fried seafood. Here, you can find an excellent rendition of the classic fried fish sandwich (served with sliced white bread), along with classic Southern sides like hush puppies, collard greens, and boiled peanuts. But the menu also features some fun creations, such as the Japanese okonomiyaki-inspired sweet potato cabbage pancake and the shrimp burger that tastes very similar to the ebi filet-o at McDonald’s Japan. Deeply umami and one-of-a-kind, the trout bologna sandwich is also a must-try, along with the bloomin’ onion, quite similar to the infamous Outback Steakhouse version.
Luminosa
Located in the iconic Flatiron Hotel in downtown Asheville, Luminosa is an Italian restaurant with a focus on sustainability, zero waste, and local Appalachian ingredients. This emphasis on sourcing earned Chef Graham House a Michelin 2025 Green Star (awarded to restaurants with a focus on sustainability, although it does appear the Michelin Guide might be slowly phasing out this award) and a Bib Gourmand. The dining room here is beautiful, accompanied by the vibrant and elegant Italian dishes, all helmed by a wood-fired oven in the open kitchen — a dinner and a show.
Leo’s House of Thirst
If you’re looking for a relaxed wine bar that features an extensive wine list with tasty, locally-sourced ingredients, Leo’s House of Thirst is the spot. Dining here is cozy and unpretentious. Step inside the restaurant, and it feels like you’re visiting a friend’s house. The food here focuses on small plates, served tapas-style, and meant to be shared. We recommend the deviled eggs (a Southern staple) with smoked honey, the steak tartare, and the sprouting cauliflower with Sichuan sesame crisp. Accompany everything with several glasses of wine for the perfect night out.
Charlotte
Haberdish
Looking for a modern take on classic Southern cuisine? Haberdish, located in the hip NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte, is a must-try for Southern comfort food. The fried chicken sandwiches are justifiably famous (and generous in size), but don’t skip the house pickles (all pristine North Carolina vegetables) or the hush puppies served with sweet tea butter. The hush puppies are light, airy, and more akin to a cornmeal donut than standard hush puppies. The serving sizes at Haberdish are hearty, so be sure to come hungry.
Kindred
Located across Davidson College, Kindred doesn’t feel like a college town restaurant. The menu and setting here are big city, with elegant plates of pasta, crudos, and tartares. The menu is Italian with heavy use of local North Carolina produce. The pastas are delicious and change depending on the season. And while most restaurants have forgettable bread service, the milk bread at Kindred is a highlight (be sure to save some bread to mop up any leftover pasta sauce). A surprise hit was the duck fat potatoes, one of the best potato dishes I’ve tasted in any restaurant. Served with crab butter mayonnaise, these crispy and decadent potatoes had my table going in for seconds and thirds.
Customshop
A lively restaurant equally suitable for weekday dinner or date night, Customshop in the Elizabeth neighborhood of Charlotte has a creative menu. While the Italian themes are central to many of the dishes, there are also Asian and Latin American influences throughout the menu. The pastas here are creative, including a deeply rich canestri with local shrimp, nduja, sofrito, and gremolata. The spice of the nduja pairs perfectly with the generous amounts of sweet North Carolina shrimp in the pasta. Pair it with a glass of chilled white and you’d leave quite satisfied.
Raleigh
Tamasha
Indian cuisine is seeing a moment in America. Around the country, Indian American chefs at Adda and Bungalow are highlighting South Asian flavors with new and exciting menus. In Raleigh, Chef Bhavin Chhatwani of Tamasha is part of this next generation of Indian American chefs. From the smoky and creamy butter chicken to kheema kaelji (minced lamb, liver, potato & parmesan mousse, crispy potato, served with butter brioche like an Indian version of sloppy joes), the food here looks modern yet retains all the spices and heat of traditional Indian cuisine. The dining room here was also one of the most extravagant I experienced in North Carolina. Any culinary trip to Raleigh would not be complete without a visit to Tamasha.
Herons
Simply put, Herons is a destination restaurant. Located in the luxurious The Umstead Hotel and Spa, Herons is a restaurant and a testament to farm-to-table. Here, that statement isn’t simply a marketing line — the restaurant sources much of its produce from its own farm, One Oak Farm (less than a mile away and on the hotel premises). The farm places an emphasis on heirloom species from the Carolinas, and the quality of this produce is apparent in every dish on the menu. Herons does have an à la carte menu, but the best way to enjoy the restaurant is the Five Course Tasting Menu. The course changes depending on the season, but a highlight of my visit this fall was the lobster course. The perfectly cooked lobster was placed atop an heirloom Carolina rice cake and spiced aji dulce curry broth, topped with persimmon from Chef Steven Devereaux Greene’s own garden. A perfect balance of spice, texture, and natural sweetness.
Brodeto
While Italian cuisine is well-represented in the Michelin Guide for North Carolina, Croatian cuisine is more of a rarity. At Brodeto, the menu takes inspiration from the Adriatic Sea, centered on Southern Italian and Croatian. Wood-fired seafood and meats, and fresh pasta are the highlights of the menu here, such as the sardine toast and the perfectly grilled octopus paired with potatoes. But make sure to order the whipped ricotta. Served with Croatian lepinja, a Balkan-style flatbread, the ricotta is impossibly airy and sweet with honey and fig preserves. It’s so good, you might be tempted to order extra for the table.
Durham
Nikos
At first glance, Nikos in Brightleaf Square in Downtown Durham is classic Greek. Bright mezes of roasted beets and hummus accompany spanakopita and plump, grilled keftedes kebabs. However, upon closer inspection, Nikos also features dishes influenced by Southern comfort food. Brunch is where diners can experience this combination. I recommend the decedent knufe pancakes, inspired by the Palestinian cheese and semolina flour dessert of knafeh, reimagined at Nikos as a cheese-filled pancake topped with maple syrup and pistachios praline. And if your sweet tooth is still calling, the brioche French toast, topped with bacon-wrapped bananas, tastes like a combination of banana bread and smoky pork fat.
Seraphine
North Carolina is not only home to global flavors but also regional American cuisine. Seraphine, located in the restored American Tobacco Works, is a must-visit for fans of Louisiana cuisine. The classics of Louisiana cuisine are well-executed here, such as the gumbo, broiled oysters soaked in an over-the-top amount of garlic butter and cheese, fried catfish, and crawfish croquettes. The BBQ shrimp was one of the best I’ve tasted. Smoky and tangy, you’ll want to soak up all the sauce with the provided bread. Be sure to order the icy freezer martini to cut the richness of the food and save room for beignets covered in powdered sugar.
Nana’s
Nana’s has been a culinary institution in Durham since 1992. The interior and menu are a throwback — Nanas feels like the 1990s but in the best of ways. The food here is sophisticated, combining American, Italian, and French with local North Carolina ingredients. Grab a seat at the picturesque bar or in the dining room for date night. The scallop milanese is delicious, featuring scallop two ways — thinly fried scallop cutlets sitting atop a lemony bay scallop beurre fondue. The rye tagliatelle was one of the most interesting pasta dishes I tasted on the trip. The gamely duck was balanced by the sweetness of the muscadine saba, and the rye pasta was nutty, with a similar flavor profile to Japanese buckwheat soba. Make sure to save room for dessert and ask your server about the house-made ice cream, which changes depending on the season.
