Are There Michelin Star Restaurants in Saudi Arabia?
Updated 9 October 2026 · Star counts and prices checked October 2026
No. Saudi Arabia has a MICHELIN Guide, but no Michelin-starred restaurant. Its first selection, completed in December 2025, listed 51 restaurants in Riyadh, Jeddah and AlUla: 11 Bib Gourmands and 40 recommended, with no stars. It is the only country with a MICHELIN Guide and not a single star.
So the Kingdom sits halfway: Michelin’s anonymous inspectors now eat their way around its cities, but none of their choices has yet been judged worth a star. Here is what the guide picked in each city, how the Kingdom’s restaurants are ranked otherwise, and where the nearest stars are, a short flight away in Doha and Dubai.
Does Saudi Arabia have a MICHELIN Guide?
Yes, since 2025. Michelin announced the MICHELIN Guide Saudi Arabia on 25 June 2025 with the Saudi Culinary Arts Commission, focusing on Riyadh and Jeddah. Unusually, the selection was revealed in three stages, on the 15th of October, November and December 2025, and the restaurants received their plaques at a celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh on 4 February 2026. Michelin didn’t say why no restaurant was given a star, nor when the next selection will be published.
The special awards went to Elia Kaady of Maiz in Riyadh (Young Chef), Yaza in Jeddah (Service, for the team of chef-owner Hakim Bagabas) and Il Baretto in Riyadh (a new award for an exceptional mocktail). Michelin also rates Saudi hotels: 17 hold MICHELIN Keys in the 2026 selection, though a Key rates the whole stay, not the restaurant.
Are there Michelin star restaurants in Riyadh?
No. Riyadh has the most restaurants in the guide, with 7 Bib Gourmands, Michelin’s award for good cooking at a moderate price: Em Sherif Café, Fi Glbak, KAYZŌ, Mirzam, Najd Village, Sasani and Tameesa. Four of them, Fi Glbak, Mirzam, Najd Village and Tameesa, serve Saudi cooking. The recommended list adds names familiar from Paris and New York, such as Julien by Daniel Boulud, Benoit and Taleed by Michael Mina, alongside Saudi kitchens such as Maiz and Takya.
Are there Michelin star restaurants in Jeddah?
No. Jeddah had 2 Bib Gourmands and 12 recommended restaurants in the first selection, among them The Lucky Llama (a Bib Gourmand), Yaza, and Kuuru, a Nikkei restaurant blending Japanese and Peruvian cooking. Kuuru is the Kingdom’s highest-ranked restaurant on another list: it rose to No. 6 in the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants in February 2026 and was named the Best Restaurant in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh’s Marble (No. 12) and Myazu (No. 45) are the other Saudi entries.
AlUla
The desert oasis of AlUla, with its Nabataean tombs at Hegra, has 5 restaurants in the guide, 2 of them Bib Gourmands: Joontos and Tofareya, which serves Saudi cooking.
Where is the nearest Michelin star restaurant to Saudi Arabia?
Doha, about an hour and a half’s flight from Riyadh. It has 3 starred restaurants: IDAM by Alain Ducasse, at the Museum of Islamic Art, Jamavar and Alba. The cheapest starred dinner menu there is at Jamavar, QAR 395 (about $110). Our page for Michelin star restaurants in Doha lists them all, with lunch and wine pairing prices.
Dubai, about two hours from Riyadh, has many more: 20 starred restaurants, 2 of them with three stars, including Trèsind Studio, the world’s only three-star Indian restaurant. See Michelin star restaurants in Dubai, and Abu Dhabi next door. Our guide to halal Michelin star restaurants covers the Gulf’s starred restaurants that offer halal options.
When will Saudi Arabia get Michelin stars?
Michelin hasn’t said. MICHELIN Guides are revised every year, so the next selection is the first chance for a Saudi restaurant to win a star, and we’ll update this page as soon as its date is announced. When the Kingdom’s first stars arrive, we’ll add pages for Riyadh, Jeddah and AlUla with every starred restaurant’s prices. Our calendar of MICHELIN Guide ceremonies shows when each guide reveals its stars.