OHIO
These 12 Cleveland Restaurants Deserve to be in the Michelin Guide
By Jamie Dutton | Aug. 17, 2025
Rood
AUTHOR BIO: With family spread across the Midwest and a job that has her in airports almost daily, Jamie Dutton finds herself across the center of the U.S. regularly. She’s partial to BPTs a Bell's.
Let’s pretend, for a second, that the Michelin inspectors got lost somewhere between Detroit and Pittsburgh and found themselves in Cleveland, Ohio.
They wouldn’t have to wander far—search “restaurants near me Cleveland” and they’d stumble into corners of the city serving food as precise and creatively ambitious as restaurants in Chicago or New York. There’s no guide here, of course, no red Michelin trophies handed out with trembling ceremony.
But this city deserves recognition. Chefs here are cooking—deliberately, beautifully—and they deserve the attention Michelin would bring. So, consider this the unofficial Cleveland Michelin Guide, or at least the version we’d hand over if the inspectors ever got smart enough to book a flight.
Acqua di Dea
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Downtown Cleveland finally got the seafood restaurant it didn’t know it needed. Acqua di Dea serves focused, unfussy Mediterranean seafood—grilled branzino, garlicky shrimp, crudos with restraint and clarity. It’s elegant without vanity, a restaurant confident in doing one thing well.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Amba
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Doug Katz opened Amba in Hingetown in 2021, and it’s been packed since. The menu runs through India’s pantry with smoky eggplant curry, turmeric-stained cauliflower, and lamb kofta that arrives with a punch of cumin and coriander. Katz doesn’t soften the flavors for people with mild-trending palates—he sharpens them, creating one of the most confident restaurants in Cleveland.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Cordelia
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This downtown spot from chef Vinnie Cimino and Andrew Watts is a love letter to Midwest heritage dishes written in the language of today. There's beef tartare with a schmaltz mayo, pork belly in a sarsaparilla beurre blanc, and, at brunch, a "leftover" plate of cold fried chicken and chili oil pickles that'll remind any Midwesterner of raiding mom's fridge. It’s rowdy, personal, and precise—everything you want from a restaurant that thinks hard about where it is.
What it deserves: Michelin Star
Davis Bakery & Deli
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Old-school Jewish deli classics updated just enough to stay relevant. This isn’t nostalgia—it’s pastrami and rye built like it matters. If Michelin gave stars for clarity of purpose and matzo ball soup, Davis would already have one.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Fahrenheit
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Rocco Whalen’s massive Public Square revival is all gloss and spectacle, but under it, there’s a serious kitchen at work. The short ribs fall apart correctly, the scallops arrive caramelized, and the space feels like downtown finally got a showpiece that cooks.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Kiln
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Doug Katz’s newest entry is quieter than Zhug or Amba, but no less focused. Kiln is about smoke, fire, and restraint—whole carrots roasted until just sweet, meats kissed by char instead of drowned in it. If you don’t understand how good Cleveland’s food scene has become, start here.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
Larder Delicatessen and Bakery
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Jeremy Umansky’s Larder is part deli, part fermentation lab, part culinary rebellion. Larder isn’t just serving sandwiches; it’s building an argument that Jewish deli food belongs on the same plane as fine dining. The bread cracks, the pastrami smokes for days, and nothing feels accidental.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
L’Albatros Brasserie + Bar
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Chef Zack Bruell—the guy behind Parallax and Table 45—opened this French brasserie inside a converted carriage house in University Circle. The menu delivers exactly what it promises: escargots swimming in garlic-fennel butter, hanger steak and frites with Béarnaise, and a cassoulet built on duck confit, sausages, and braised white beans. You can also get a bouillabaisse for two or duck confit with sweet potato purée—dishes that respect tradition without slowing down.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Phở Lee’s Vietnamese Restaurant
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Cleveland needed a Vietnamese restaurant that didn’t pull its punches, and Phở Lee’s delivered. The pho is deep and smoky, the noodles still with chew, and the herbs arrive like they were picked an hour ago. It’s not fancy, just right.
What it deserves: Bib Gourmand
Rood
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Lakewood’s Rood shed its brunch-only reputation and is now helmed by chef Josh Erickson. There’s still a playful neon-drenched vibe, and Erickson is pushing the menu into serious territory. Think bourbon-fig braised oxtail with smoked-cheddar grits or wagyu tortellini in arrabbiata sauce—dishes that prove this place isn’t just about atmosphere anymore.
What it deserves: Michelin Recommended
Scorpacciata Pasta Co.
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Peter Reuter launched this Shaker Heights kitchen after ramping up from a food‑hall stall to a full-service bistro in 2024. The menu is built around seasonality: potato gnocchi pan-seared until golden and drizzled in Gorgonzola cream with house‑cured pancetta, pear, and aged balsamic; orecchiette tangled with fennel sausage, broccoli rabe, Calabrian chili, breadcrumbs, and pecorino; and a mortadella pizza with pistachio-mint pesto, roasted garlic, red onion, and ricotta. It's casual, but the precision—fermented dough, scratch-made pasta, sourdough starter alive for years—signals something you’d find in a guidebook.
What it deserves: One Michelin Star
Zhug
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Another Doug Katz production, Zhug leans into Levantine flavors with precision and balance. It’s all za’atar, labneh, and roasted meats, but done with such clarity that it avoids the now-familiar “modern Middle Eastern” cliché. If Cleveland gets a Michelin guide, it’ll be because places like this make the case impossible to ignore.
