The Michelin Guide revealed its fifth Toronto & Region selection on 22 September 2026, naming 15 starred restaurants among 111 listings spanning 33 types of cuisine.
Pearl Morissette holds its ground
Restaurant Pearl Morissette, in Lincoln, Ontario, retained the two stars it received the previous year, the only restaurant at that level in the region. Fourteen restaurants held one star, including aKin, Alo, DaNico, Don Alfonso 1890, Edulis, Kappo Sato, Shoushin and Sushi Masaki Saito. No restaurant was newly awarded a star in this edition, though two kept their existing stars despite changes of head chef. The guide’s Bib Gourmand category, reserved for good food at moderate prices, grew to 31 restaurants, alongside 65 further recommended addresses.
Among the changes behind the scenes, Yorkville restaurant Aburi Hana reopened on 17 September with a new chef and concept just days before the ceremony, while Oakville’s Hexagon closed earlier in the year.
Five years in Toronto
Michelin launched its Toronto & Region guide with the first of its now five annual editions in 2022, and has since expanded the geographic area it covers to include restaurants beyond the downtown core, in towns such as Lincoln and Oakville in the wider Golden Horseshoe region. The guide’s inspectors revisit starred and listed restaurants anonymously each year, meaning a restaurant can lose a star as easily as gain one if standards slip, which keeps pressure on kitchens even in years without new promotions.
Why It Matters
A guide with no new star promotions might look uneventful at first glance, but consistency at the top signals a maturing dining scene rather than a stagnant one, and the steady expansion of the Bib Gourmand list points to Michelin paying closer attention to Toronto’s everyday, moderately priced restaurants rather than only its most expensive tables. For a city guide now in its fifth year, that shift in emphasis matters as much as any new star.
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