From TIME · Tulasi Srinivas · · 2m
The Michelin star that closes restaurants
Two in five Michelin-starred restaurants shut within a few years, and the star itself is part of the reason.
In brief
Two in five Michelin-starred restaurants shut within a few years, and the star itself is part of the reason. A Michelin star raises a restaurant's costs faster than it raises its revenue, which is why so many starred kitchens close. Originally reported by TIME.
The star that kills
Two out of every five Michelin-starred restaurants close within a few years of getting the honor. The award is supposed to be a crowning achievement, not a countdown.
The numbers behind it
A 2024 UCL study by Daniel Sands tracked elite New York restaurants opened between 2000 and 2014. By 2019, 40% of the starred ones had closed, against roughly 20% of equally praised restaurants with no star.
Everyone raises their price
Once the crimson plaque goes up, suppliers charge more, landlords raise rent, and newly marketable staff need bigger paychecks. The kitchen reaches for rarer ingredients. Every plate costs more to make.
“Every plate becomes more expensive to produce, yet few diners can absorb the escalating cost of eating there.”
Thin margins, big tickets
At Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, a main runs €80 to €135 and the tasting menu €260 to €360. A full three-star dinner with wine clears $400 to $600 a head, and the margin is still thin.
“The diner is paying as much for craft and spectacle as for food.”
An unwritten rulebook
Keeping a star means meeting unspoken standards for the wine list, the choreography of service, the opulence of the room. That locks owners into high overhead exactly when they need flexibility.
Chefs walk away
Michel Roux Jr closed Le Gavroche in January 2024 after 56 years, citing the grind. Magnus Nilsson shut two-star Fäviken in 2019, admitting he had stopped waking up excited for work.
Chicago's cautionary tale
Atelier, a 22-seat room in Lincoln Square, won a star within its first year of opening in 2023. Rising rent, wages, and inflation closed it abruptly in May 2026. The owner said the finances left no choice.
“Chasing a Michelin star takes nerve; keeping one takes a very deep pocket.”
Built to sell tires
The guide started in 1900 as a free roadmap from tire makers André and Édouard Michelin, meant to get French motorists driving. Stars arrived in 1926, the three-tier hierarchy in 1931.
Status, sold back to us
Indian restaurants have only ever been starred outside India, and the first taquería got one in 2024. Cities now pay Michelin for inspector visits, while regular diners get pushed out by gastro-tourists.
“Michelin figured out how to sell status back to us, one unsustainable plate at a time.”
What it means
A Michelin star raises a restaurant's costs faster than it raises its revenue, which is why so many starred kitchens close.
