
New York City is no stranger to MICHELIN Star restaurants. In fact, as of October 2023, NYC, known as The Melting Pot of America for a reason, is home to over 400 MICHELIN Guide restaurants (449 to be exact).
Typically, when someone hears that an institution has made the MICHELIN Guide, they automatically assume that the restaurant is out of their budget. While there are some affordable MICHELIN-starred restaurants in NYC, some call for a special occasion that might break the bank.
Restaurant interior experts at Restaurant Furniture analyzed the menus of all 45 restaurants in the U.S. that have two or three MICHELIN Stars to determine which ones are the most and least expensive. They were ranked based on their standard menu pricing per person.
To no surprise, the top two most expensive MICHELIN-starred restaurants in the country are right here in New York.
Masa in New York is the most expensive Michelin-starred restaurant in the city. The standard tasting menu offered by the Japanese restaurant costs a whopping $750 per person.
Masa Takayama, a renowned Japanese chef, established the Columbus Circle restaurant in 2004. The restaurant has earned the maximum three Michelin Stars, with the third star awarded in 2009. Masa has the unique distinction of being the first Japanese restaurant in the US to receive three Michelin Stars.
The restaurant has a casual dress code and offers two options for dining. The cheaper option is the $750 Omakase menu. For a more immersive experience, diners can choose the Hinoki Counter Experience, which costs $950 per person. This experience guarantees seating at the sushi counter and interaction with one of their highly skilled sushi chefs.
Sushi Noz, located on the Upper East Side, secures the second position on the list. Their standard tasting menu price is $525 per person. Chef Nozomu Abe established Sushi Noz in 2007 with the idea of offering an elegant sushi dining experience.
Their menu adheres to the Edomae style and takes roughly 2.5 hours to complete. The meal starts with a series of small plates, followed by a choice of seasonal nigiri, and ends with miso soup, tamago, and dessert. The restaurant received its first Michelin Star in 2020 and now holds two.
Restaurant Furniture also researched the most affordable MICHELIN Guide restaurants, and the two topping the alternative list are also located in The Big Apple.
In first place is Aquavit in Midtown, with the standard tasting menu priced at $175 per person. First opened in 1987, the restaurant has two MICHELIN Stars. The five-course menu offers exquisite Nordic cuisine, beginning with yellowtail and pear, followed by scallop and chestnut. The experience then moves on to cod and cauliflower before a beef and black trumpet dish, concluding with an almond and maple dessert.
Second is Le Bernardin, just a few blocks away. This is the cheapest three-MICHELIN Star restaurant in the US, with a dinner menu priced at $210 per person. The seafood restaurant, owned by Maguy Le Coze and Chef Eric Ripert, has held its three Michelin Stars since 2005. Some of its menu’s highlights include caviar tartare, seafood truffle pasta, and Japanese Wagyu.