New Additions to The MICHELIN Guide California May 2025

San Francisco

Sungho
Cuisine: Korean 

Devotees of Korean cuisine will be gratified to find this refuge within the Tenderloin, which highlights a number of homey dishes seldom found in Bay Area. The chef drew inspiration from the memory of his grandmother’s kitchen for a collection of hearty slow-simmered meat stews, including a gukbap that boasts fall-off-the-bone pork and tender rice. Similarly comforting is the kalguksu, a mild soup featuring hand-cut noodles made with rich galbitang beef broth. The generous portions are meant for sharing, including in the case of the jeon, crisp savory pancakes studded with seafood or kimchi, or yangnyeom-gejang, a spicy dish of raw marinated crab for bolder tastes. Excellent house-made kimchi, friendly service, and a lively K-pop playlist seal the deal.

Palo Alto

Ethel's Fancy
Cuisine: Californian

Honoring the shared name of his mother and grandmother, Chef/owner Scott Nishiyama has taken off his fine-dining toque to don more casual garb at this Palo Alto charmer, and thankfully he hasn't missed a stitch. Appropriately, the space has a rustic-meets-elegant vibe, mirrored in eclectic, down-to-earth Californian cuisine that showcases peak-season ingredients prepared with care and refinement. A small menu, geared towards sharing, exemplifies this creative ethos with dishes like a beautifully fried "katsu-style" cutlet of swordfish matched with spiced kumquats and tangy Dijonnaise. Intriguing desserts like a hojicha tapioca pudding topped with a rice cracker bark are hard to resist, and the friendly, professional service sweetens the pot even further.

Menlo Park

Eylan
Cuisine: Indian

Chef Srijith Gopinathan has struck gold once again with this swanky Menlo Park sensation, drawing in crowds with his inventive blend of regional Indian cuisine with a fresh Californian twist. To illustrate this singular approach, take a flaky, paratha-like flatbread filled with Dungeness crab and paired with a rich, complex sauce featuring fennel, poppy seeds, and mint. Wood-fired grills add an additional layer of interest, providing a robust char to the likes of lemon-grass scented gulf shrimp, chili-glazed celeriac and pineapple kebabs, and whole sea bream, as well as lending a subtle smoke to sauces. The compelling balance of flavors makes each dish stand on its own, but an assortment of carefully chosen wines and clever cocktails certainly doesn’t hurt matters.

Sacramento

Kin Thai
Cuisine: Thai

Sisters and co-owners Napis Lindley and Napak Kongsitthanakor have brought the vibrant, punchy flavors of Thai street food to this modern converted warehouse space in Midtown. The menu spans a wide array of regional specialties, running the gamut of flavors from sweet and sour to funky and hot—and diners seeking heat will get their wish with a request of “Thai spicy.” Approachable favorites like pad Thai (served wrapped in a thin egg crepe) and flaky potato-filled curry puffs share space with lesser-known delicacies like clay-pot shrimp and Isaan sausage. Sweets like mango sticky rice and roti with condensed milk hit their marks, but a Thai tea slushy (topped with brown sugar boba or grass jelly) is especially worthwhile.

Majka
Cuisine: Italian

Husband-and-wife team Alex Sherry and Chutharat Sae Tong are the driving force behind this charming neighborhood spot, which has risen to the forefront of the Sacramento pizza scene thanks to excellent ingredient-driven pies with naturally leavened crusts. The standout offering is an ever-changing daily creation highlighting seasonal toppings—as in the inspired combination of white asparagus, English peas, and ramps with peppery pecorino Calcagno. Better yet, Friday and Saturday evenings come with specials like lemony Ora king salmon crudo, crisp-skinned roast chicken, and skillfully made agnolotti with a silky filling of fava beans and mint. An exceptional assortment of natural wines (notably, grower Champagnes) further gilds the lily.

Pho Momma
Cuisine: Vietnamese

It may not look like much from the outside, but there’s a reason that pho lovers flock to this unassuming strip-mall operation. The staff and ambience do offer an above-average level of charm, but it’s the cooking, made with apparent care and high-quality ingredients, that really sets it apart. Naturally, pho is the main event here, offered in a variety of sizes and featuring either chicken or beef broth, both long-simmered and deeply flavorful, to be decked out with accompaniments ranging from tender meats to house-made pork wontons. Fried crab and cream cheese wontons are also offered as appetizers, though diners are better steered towards fresh spring rolls, like a signature offering filled with crispy pork sausage and served with a tangy peanut dipping sauce.

Los Angeles 

Komal
Cuisine: Mexican

In the bustling Mercado Del Paloma, Chef Fátima Juárez runs this little stall specializing in corn. Heirloom varieties sourced from Mexico and nixtamalized in-house form the heart of the menu. A quesadilla lined with squash blossoms and sweet corn bound with melty quesillo earns top marks. Golden-fried plantain balls set in a smoky black mole is another accomplished winner. From tlacoyas topped with cactus to tacos lined with short rib, be liberal with the salsa for extra punch and power.

West Hollywood

Somni
Cuisine: Contemporary/Spanish

Chef Aitor Zabala and his dedicated team have awakened Somni, or "dream" from a long sleep and have fashioned this revamped iteration as a distinctly personal and unique dining experience. Tucked away just off Santa Monica Ave. the dining room's soothing, creamy palette with light wood and glass is marked by a colorful bull's head from the original spot, hinting at the Spanish-inflected cuisine. A procession of small bites is meticulously arranged and endlessly creative, sating diners with an abundance of rich flavors and textural interplay (think mussel escabeche, gazpacho, or the iconic shiso tartare tempura). All the while, the kitchen and service teams are in lockstep as they create and serve these arresting dishes.

Hermosa Beach

Vin Folk
Cuisine: Californian/Contemporary

Vin Folk is the kind of place you want to come again and again. The staff is friendly and welcoming; the ambience is just right—both indoors and out—and the offerings are widely appealing. Chefs Kevin De Los Santos and Katya Shastova bring a breath of fresh air to Hermosa Beach with their menu of shareable, globally minded dishes. Whether it's the mussels tart, a riff on a pot pie with flaky pastry and seafood in a warm fennel cream, or the half Jidori chicken that's a favorite for the whole table, there's something delicious to be had. End on the perfect note with goat cheese fromage blanc with diced pear and honey buckwheat granita. It's a popular spot, so plan ahead and make reservations.

Encinitas

Atelier Manna
Cuisine: Californian

Husband-and-wife Andrew and Larah Bachelier have fashioned a hipster haven at this Encinitas hideaway where the covered patio dining area is set with furnishings crafted from recycled and upcycled materials. Meanwhile in the kitchen, local ingredients are the basis for a streamlined selection of seasonally focused and shareable dishes for breakfast and lunch. Whether you've ordered the locally caught halibut with sudachi and coconut leche de tigre or the grilled Salmon Creek Farms pork rack with a tableside pour of pomegranate-infused jus, expect plates that are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the palate. Their nonalcoholic drinks menu features a variety of skillfully crafted and delicious thirst quenchers.

Carlsbad

Lilo
Cuisine: Californian

Good things often come in small packages, and it's certainly true of Lilo, where guests are welcomed to a moveable feast beginning on the heated patio with an array of small bites before moving into the sleek dining room. Chef Eric Bost and his team take clear pride in providing an extra level of care in their dishes, evidenced in plates like dry-aged Japanese kin medai paired with a ragout of geoduck and bone marrow or 40-day dry-aged beef ribeye with preserved gurumelo mushrooms, seaweed, and bordelaise. Halfway through, the dishes shift from savory to sweet for a one-off orgeat ice cream topped with celery root bushi and Ossetra cavia, and later concludes with a myriad of desserts like sweet cream gelato topped with hoja santa and finger lime.

Oceanside

Tanner's Prime Burgers
Cuisine: American

What happens when a fine dining chef leaves the white tablecloths behind? Enter Tanner's Prime Burgers, from Chef Brandon Rodgers. As expected, this place is all about the hallowed beef; single-source USDA prime, to be exact. Naturally, burgers are the go-to order, available in single or double sizes with toppings like American cheese, bacon, caramelized onions, and more in a brioche bun. Of course, fries are the perfect sidekick, and theirs are fried in beef tallow and double cooked for a perfectly crisp exterior. Still hungry? Order their vanilla tallow ice cream sandwich crafted from two chocolate chip cookies, or sip on a Dutch chocolate milkshake.

24 Suns
Cuisine: Chinese Contemporary 

24 Suns from Chef/owner duo Nic Webber and Jacob Jordan retains the nimble mindset of its pop-up roots with an ever-evolving rotation of dishes and ingredients that are driven entirely by the season. Set in a former dive bar that has been transformed into a comfortable space with tables, booths, and bar seating, this spot filters fine dining through a casual lens. The menu is split between snacks and dumplings, chef's selections, and shareable plates for the table, while the wine list features a nice mix of by the glass and bottle, as well as sake. This is the sort of place to order without limits to sample the likes of jiaozi with shrimp in a doubanjaing butter sauce and shrimp Robuchon in a crispy shell with spicy mustard, pickled goji berries, and Thai basil. Save room for dessert, especially the butterscotch black sesame budino.

Hero image: Ricardo Mora/Vin Folk