Four Mississippi Coast restaurants, including one that opened this year, were among the eateries that earned a coveted recommendation Wednesday from the Michelin Guide.
The Michelin Guide brought its prestigious award system to the American South in 2025, visiting restaurants in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
This year, Maringouin, which opened in May in Ocean Springs, joined holdovers Siren Social Club, Vestige and White Pillars among the restaurants that Michelin recommends. No Mississippi Coast restaurants received stars or a Bib Gourmand designation.
Anonymous inspectors go out and sample restaurants in each of the six states and judge them based on five criteria: quality of the ingredients, harmony of flavors, mastery of techniques, personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine, and consistency across the entire menu and over time.
A look inside of a dining room at White Pillars, a farm-to-table restaurant in Biloxi run by chef Austin Sumrall and his wife, Tresse. Provided by Tresse Sumrall 2026 honorees
The four Mississippi Coast restaurants that earned a recommendation, and what the Michelin Guide says about them:
MARINGOUIN: “Attached to The Roost Boutique Hotel and named after the Cajun-French word for mosquito, this buzzy restaurant has the full attention of Ocean Springs. The upscale menu is ambitious in its aim to deliver Southern flavors with Latin and Asian inspiration. Think shrimp and sausage dumpling with red coconut curry or pork belly skewers with peanut miso and furikake. Other past hits include ribeye with Sichuan au poivre and lamb chops with salsa verde. Indeed, dinner here is a proper night out with many guests dressing the part. The cocktail program is equally thoughtful and shows impressive range.”SIREN SOCIAL CLUB: “Siren Social Club dares to be different. Tucked inside Hotel Vela, it’s hidden behind a door that leads to a dining room and bar enlivened with tropical themed wallpaper. Sit at the bar, chef’s counter or a table for a taste of Chef/owner Austin Sumrall’s cooking. From onion soup and handmade pastas to beef Wellington, it’s all given a European accent, and their hand-crafted cocktails are the perfect complement. A bowl of house-made ravioli (with half filled with ricotta and the other half with Bolognese) is tossed in a vodka sauce for a comforting dish. Prefer fish? Order the pan-seared scallops with king trumpet mushrooms and fondant potatoes with beurre blanc and smoked trout roe. The lemon posset with lemon curd and seasonal jam is just right for dessert.”VESTIGE: “On the edge of the Mississippi Gulf Coast in downtown Ocean Springs, Vestige stands firm as one of the most ambitious restaurants in the region. Open since 2013, husband-and-wife team Alex Perry and Kumi Omori offer a contemporary tasting menu influenced by Japanese ingredients and local sourcing. Dishes are complex, incorporating the likes of shiso, seaweed, aged miso, and koji. Past highlights include mochi cornbread and wild-caught tilefish with seaweed gribiche. Modern art hangs on the walls, tables are generously spaced, and however involved the cooking may be, the friendly staff and quaint dining room put everyone at ease without a hair of pretension.”WHITE PILLARS: “The husband-and-wife team of Chef Austin Sumrall and Tresse Sumrall opened White Pillars almost a decade ago. Guided by the seasons, Sumrall’s cooking is inspired solely by locally sourced ingredients. This is a farm to table, nose to tail spot where the menu shifts accordingly. It’s not overly fancy or fussy, but it is skillful. Dinner may offer items like tender pork bourguignon with creamy rosemary mashed potatoes before a dessert of peach cobbler with house-made sweet corn ice cream.” 
Chef Alex Perry, from left, sous chef Carson Neaves, Kumi Perry, Rachel Gnapp, Mike Anthony and Steve Mockler at Vestige in Ocean Springs in 2019. Julian Brunt Special to the Sun Herald The rating system
STARS: The rating system awards one star to “a very good restaurant,” two stars for “excellent cooking worthy of a detour” and the most prestigious three stars for “excellent cuisine worth a special journey.”
BIB GOURMAND: A “special distinction recognizing restaurants that serve high-quality food at great value, helping diners discover outstanding meals for every occasion and every budget. While the price threshold varies a little from country to country depending on the cost of living, Inspectors apply the same principle worldwide: great value for money.”
RECOMMENDATION: A restaurant in the Recommended selection is the sign of a chef using quality ingredients that are well cooked; simply a good meal,” says Michael Ellis, International Director of the MICHELIN Guide books. “It means that the inspectors have found the food to be above average, but not quite at star or Bib level.”
This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 7:01 AM.
