Michelin stars don't guarantee financial success

Michelin stars aren't permanent

Michelin stars must be maintained year-to-year. Restaurants have lost their stars for a variety of reasons, including chef changes and inconsistent quality.

Michelin awards stars (along with other distinctions)

Stars are the most prestigious of Michelin’s ratings and are often—but not exclusively—awarded to high-end, expensive restaurants. In addition to the Guide's famous stars, restaurants are also recognized for "Comfort and Quality," which includes a five-point scale.

Affluence largely influences where Michelin stars are awarded

Countries with high GDP are the most highly decorated with Michelin stars. As this 2024 in-depth statistical analysis notes, though, that appears to be changing, with the Guide beginning to recognize other areas of the globe.

Chefs face intense pressure to maintain Michelin stars

Explore the pressure pursuing a star puts on chefs—sometimes at the expense of their mental health, and social media's impact on the culinary landscape. A conversation with Nick Kokonas, co-owner of the three-starred Alinea in Chicago, gets into the ways Michelin’s rankings affect business.

Why diners and chefs are ditching the Michelin Guide

The Michelin Guide's influence appears to be waning, indicating a shift in the perception of fine dining in contemporary culture. Trends show that diners today prefer getting recommendations from more informal networks, especially after lackluster experiences at Michelin-rated restaurants. Some chefs claim the star ratings don’t significantly influence their business, and others reject the pressure of obtaining a Michelin star altogether. Read more about the shift in this article.

Winning a James Beard Award can have mixed effects

Winning the honor doesn't mean a restaurant will be set for the future. Most found that while winning gave an initial bump in the number of reservations, that pattern didn’t necessarily hold for long enough to make a real difference in the numbers.

How Michelin-starred chefs cook steak

Earning a Michelin star is no easy feat; neither is cooking a steak. This tutorial, featuring three Michelin-starred chefs, shows how the pros tackle the subtle art, walking even the most kitchen-averse eaters through the best ways to cook a great cut.

Brothers André and Édouard Michelin inadvertently changed dining

When cars first debuted in France, only a few thousand were on the road. The founders of a tire company, André and Édouard Michelin, developed a free guide for travelers to know the best hotels, mechanics, and restaurants across France, to encourage more driving and, therefore, tire sales.

No, 90% of restaurants do not close in their first year

Although opening a restaurant has long been considered a financial gamble, industry publication Datassential found that less than 1% of restaurants opened in 2025 closed within their first year. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report from 2014 had the number slightly higher—at 17%—though it was still significantly lower than the 90% figure most people cite.

Fiction winners see the most financial gain

The Pulitzer Prize brings prestige, but inconsistent financial benefits. For nonfiction writers, receiving the award does increase sales, but only modestly. The big winners are the fiction writers, some of whom have seen sales double after a win.

Opera faces many economic problems today

Opera is a notably expensive art form, and therefore currently struggling to survive economically. Pandemic losses, reduced government funding, and dwindling ticket sales all pose a threat to its continuation. According to a recent survey, about half of the UK wouldn't feel impacted if all opera houses were shut down.

Americans spend an average of nearly $500 per year on tipping at restaurants and bars

The habit runs contrary to economic rationality: Why pay more for a good or service you have already received when it isn’t mandatory? Researchers found that people tip, in part, to avoid the psychological pain of not fitting in.

Chipotle was initially started to fund another restaurant

Founder Steve Ells was a chef at Stars, a tony restaurant in San Francisco. His original plan for Chipotle—which first opened in 1993 in Denver, Colorado—was to make enough money to open a separate, higher-end restaurant.

Red Lobster lost $11M on endless shrimp promotions—but its real estate holdings were what dragged it to bankruptcy

Golden Gate Capital, a PE firm, bought Red Lobster in 2014 for $2.1B. Golden Gate then sold Red Lobster's real estate, more than 500 storefronts, which generated $1.5B in revenue and helped finance the PE firm's acquisition of the company. Analysts say increased debt, high rent costs, and low equity put Red Lobster in an impossible position, leading to its 2024 bankruptcy filing—although the shrimp bill probably didn't help.

Fast-food prices have increased more over the past 10 years than both full-service restaurants and inflation

Apparently, according to experts on the subject, rising labor costs are to blame. Fast-food giants like McDonald's are now seeing the consequences in their underwhelming earnings reports.

NFL stadiums are designed to maximize profit, not number of seats

Most stadiums are actually getting smaller as the cost of land rises. Owners have sought to increase returns by designing prestige suits and clubs (rather than just more general admission) and laying out the stadium to maximize customer purchases.

Why beefsteak tomatoes are named after a meaty dish

No, they won't get vegetarians into trouble, but beefsteak tomatoes did earn their name because of their meaty texture. People also associate the hearty beefsteak with sandwiches and burgers because they make for a perfect topping on meat-centric dishes. This quick explainer breaks down the basic etymology of the beefsteak and provides a few helpful ideas for using the tomato in your next meal.

The numbers behind the 'Star Wars' franchise

The "Star Wars" movies include some of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood history, with the original film, 1977's "A New Hope," earning a 2,400% profit. Only one of the franchise's movies (2018's "Solo") has lost money at the box office.

Many economists see Black Friday as a litmus test for consumer confidence

Some investors and analysts look at Black Friday’s sales numbers as a way to gauge the overall health of the retail industry—and consumer confidence at large. However, others don’t believe Black Friday results have a particularly significant impact on markets, arguing that the figures only cause short-term gains or losses.

Steve Martin was a wildly successful stand-up—and abruptly quit doing it

In the ‘70s, few stand-up comics were bigger than Steve Martin, who released multiplatinum albums and regularly sold out arenas. As he detailed in his 2007 memoir, Martin had grown disillusioned with his success as a stand-up and pivoted into film.

How Google Street View generates profit

Google Maps, one of the most trusted navigation applications today, has a somewhat mysterious way of making a profit. YouTuber Phil Edwards uncovers the secret economic practices of Google Street View, while also offering a deeper understanding of how it works.

Why one highly anticipated Broadway musical flopped

“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” had all the makings of a Broadway blockbuster, with acclaimed director Julie Taymour and music from U2’s Bono and the Edge, but technical mishaps and bad reviews plagued the musical, which closed with $60M in losses.

Are probiotics a scam?

Probiotics are microbes meant to benefit the gut microbiome's health when consumed. This internal cityscape is packed with thousands of species of microbes whose roles and impacts have yet to be untangled. The odds are low that the probiotics have the effects they're marketed to have, and most of the gut helpers on grocery shelves have little to no evidence of impacting gut microbiome health.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Check out a list of 15 red flags that might result in an IRS audit

The Internal Revenue Service has audited less than 1% of all individual tax returns. If you're still worried about being audited, know that some people are more likely to be audited than others, such as people who make a lot of money and those who take large charitable deductions.

Private schools don’t inherently boost student performance

High test scores in private schools often reflect affluent, selective student bodies—not superior instruction. Studies show that private school advantages stem largely from socioeconomic factors and admission policies, not institutional quality.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.