Contrary to popular belief, the MICHELIN Guides aren’t all about 'fine dining.' From luxurious restaurants to village pubs, the prestigious red guides offer something for everyone—regardless of price bracket.
Since 1997, "good quality, good value restaurants" have been pointed out using the Bib Gourmand award. The price limit for Bib consideration varies from country to country, and depends on the cost of living. It’s not just about the price though—the cooking has to be good quality, too.
The 2018 Edition of the Washington, D.C. contains 22 restaurants awarded a Bib Gourmand, with Hazel, Ivy City Smokehouse and Fabio Trabocchi's casual Sfoglina debuting on the list for the first time.
There’s no set formula for a Bib Gourmand-designated restaurant—they are all unique and can vary greatly from one establishment to the next. The aforementioned Ivy City Smokehouse offers thoughtful and sustainable seafood that has been smoked in-house; Dumpling Galaxy, located inside the Arcadia Mall in New York City's bustling Queens borough, offers some 100 different varieties of dumplings; and Smalhans in Oslo, Norway, is a sweet urban café during the day, which then morphs into a restaurant serving set menus and plates meant for sharing at night.
What Bib Gourmand establishments do have in common is their simpler style of cooking, which is recognizable, easy-to-eat and often something you feel you could attempt to replicate at home. A Bib restaurant will also leave you with a sense of satisfaction, at having eaten so well at such a reasonable price.
It might not be as well-known as the Michelin Star, but the Bib Gourmand is hugely popular with our followers, and our inspectors spend an equal amount of time seeking them out.
This value-for-money award proves that great food doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag.
