🤩 Michelin stars are coming to Boston!!

🥪 It’s impossible to find a $10 lunch in Boston, right? WRONG. Southie’s Publico has a weekday lunchbox special, offering a sandwich, soft drink, and a cookie for $9.99 in-house only between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. This gorgina chicken Caesar wrap could be yours!

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

The rumors are TRUE: The Michelin Guide is coming to Boston! 

Here’s what to know:

⭐ Michelin Guide is *the* restaurant rating system. They’re responsible for doling out the elusive Michelin stars. The guide originated over a century ago by the French tire company (yes, the one with the marshmallow-y mascot), and has since expanded across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including the U.S. Today, you can find Michelin guides from NYC to Colorado and beyond, with Boston and Philly being the newest additions to the list.

🤔 Here’s how it works: Michelin’s reviewers go incognito to potential restaurants, judging its food on quality, flavor, technique, consistency, and how the chef’s voice and personality shines through the menu. If deemed worthy, they’ll dole out one, two, or three stars (here’s a guide to what each star means). Reviewers can also give “bib gourmands” (basically an honorable mention), which typically go to more casual spots. 

🏙️ It won’t just be Boston proper getting the star treatment. Restaurants in Cambridge, Somerville, and even elsewhere in “the broader I-95/128 loop,” will also be considered for review. We won’t know exactly who gets a star until a TBD official ceremony, but local foodies are already placing their bets.

💸 How does a city get a Michelin Guide? They buy it. It’s a pay-to-play system, meaning a city’s tourism board essentially buys the guide for its city. Boston and Michelin are keeping the exact numbers quiet, but a typical deal can run a city millions of dollars — which kept Boston from getting a guide in the past.

🤩 In some ways, it’s well worth the $$$. A 2020 study found that just one star can bump a restaurant’s business by 20%. For two stars, it rises to 40%, and for three, business doubles. But besides the money and fame, Globe food critic Devra First argues that the promise of a Michelin star will put new wind in local chefs’ sails, pushing them to keep things fresh — and to stay in Boston. 

🤨 But some industry folks are skeptical. There are worries (even from Boston itself) that the guide could deepen an already-large disparity between super fancy spots and their less-upscale counterparts. But First likened the logic to SAT prep: “Is it gross that the system has evolved to favor students who can afford to take a course that gives them an advantage? Yes. Are you going to shoot your own child in the foot by not enrolling them if you are able?”

🦞🌲 🌊 The point being: living your best life in coastal Maine. Spend your days exploring Acadia’s best trails and your nights sipping cocktails by the fire at the newly reimagined Asticou Hotel in Northeast Harbor. With cozy rooms, sunset garden strolls, and lobster rolls that will ruin you for all others, it’s the kind of picture-perfect New England getaway that reminds you why PTO exists. Book now to save 25% and give yourself a trip to look forward to this summer. 

✊🏽 Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk is back in Mass. After spending six weeks in a Louisiana federal detention center, Ozturk arrived in Mass. shortly after a Vermont judge ordered her release. ICYMI: Ozturk, a Turkish Tufts doctoral candidate, was pulled off the street in Somerville and detained based on an op-ed she co-authored about the Israel-Hamas war. Local politicians met Ozturk at Logan for a news conference, calling her release a victory for justice. "America is the greatest democracy in the world,” Ozturk said. “I have faith in the American system of justice.” 

🗳️ Add another Republican to the gubernatorial ballot. We’ve got a ways to go till 2026, but Brian Shortsleeve is already the second GOP hopeful to launch a campaign against Gov. Maura Healey. Shortsleeve is a venture capitalist who ran the MBTA under former Gov. Charlie Baker. He said Mass. “needs a Marine” (like him) to cut spending, create jobs, and tackle the migrant crisis. But given the MBTA’s … lackluster record under his leadership and his voting for President Trump, he might be a tough sell for Mass. voters.

🫵 Mass. wants YOU to redesign its state seal. The state is calling all artists, historians, and whoever else has ideas to revamp Mass.’ state flag, seal, and motto (which is currently giving strong colonizer energy). This is the state’s second recent swing at a redesign, and the new commission will ship their final recs to Healey this July. They’re specifically looking for winks to Mass.’ geography, flora and fauna, or maritime history, but you can submit whatever you want as long as you get it in by June 18.

🛒 Pour one out for The Daily Table. The non-profit local grocery chain that prioritized fresh, affordable food, is closing its doors at all four locations. According to an IG announcement, the store has been struggling since COVID with “historically high levels of food price increases,” and simply doesn’t have enough funding to stay afloat — as of today, all four stores have closed their doors. The closures will be a huge loss as local grocery prices are soaring, and some former customers are already feeling the heat.

B-Side members get 60+ discounts to some of Boston’s best experiences, including 15% off tickets at Keolis massAdventures, who lead stunning outdoor tours accessible by public transportation that showcase the best of Massachusetts.

Word of advice to the MBTA: Fire your PR team and hire Princess Pari. The “Love on the Spectrum” star (and the MBTA’s biggest fan) took to TikTok recently to perform an MBTA-centric spoof of Chappell Roan’s “Red Wine Supernova.” Why? Because she loves the T!

Here’s a taste: “I just wanna get to Boston / Guess I won’t be driving through (nuh-uh girl) / fell in love with public transit / now I’m choked up, face down, burnt out / Baby, why don’t you come over / Red Line Supernova / riding on the T.” You get the idea.

But she’s not stopping there. A day later, Pari bumped it up a notch, with an MBTA-ified version of “HOT TO GO!” (changed to “MBTA TO GO!” obv), in a Red Line station with backup dancers. Never stop!

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🚇 Thanks for reading! Pari, if you’re reading this: Drop the whole album!

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, The Asticou Hotel in Northeast Harbor, for supporting local journalism and offering New Englanders a slice of coastal Maine paradise. 

✈️ The results are in: B-Siders are split down the middle with their vacay plans. 36% of readers are doing regional overnights, and another 36% are heading out of New England. One reader said: “Noah Kahan said it best, I want to go to Maine!!!”

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].