Colorado Springs has its first official Michelin Awards winners. Michelin Guide Colorado announced its statewide honors today with two Springs restaurants receiving recognition. The Penrose Room at The Broadmoor and Four by Brother Luck both made the prestigious Michelin Recommended list.
Both restaurants also received Michelin Special Awards, two of only four Special Awards the Guide announced for the state of Colorado this year. Joseph Freyre of The Penrose Room was awarded the Michelin Outstanding Service Award, and Kyle McNerney from Four by Brother Luck was awarded the Michelin Exceptional Cocktails Award.
“I’m floored right now. It’s pretty surreal,” Chef Brother Luck, the owner of Four by Brother Luck, told us. “I think it speaks volumes to the fact that if you dream something, you can make that dream become your reality.”
“Michelin is respected around the world, and to have The Penrose Room included in the Guide in our first year since we reopened, it’s a wonderful recognition for the team,” says David Patterson, Vice President of Food and Beverage at The Broadmoor.
Patterson credits the “very robust” food and beverage across the entire Broadmoor, which includes 20 restaurants, cafes, lounges and event space, as well as more than 1,000 food and beverage professionals.
“We’re all in it together, so the layers of support run deep at The Broadmoor,” Patterson says. “I know this award will be something that everybody at the property is proud of.”
Michelin Recognized Restaurants
In the hierarchy of Michelin Guide honors, the system of one to three Michelin Stars is the more coveted recognition. Michelin Recognized restaurants are “establishments serving good food,” Michelin says, noting chefs are using quality ingredients and serving good meals. It is not uncommon for restaurants to be first awarded a Recognized designation before being given a Michelin Star. The only new One Michelin Star in Colorado is Denver’s Milpero, bringing the state’s total to 10. The Wolf’s Tailor in Denver is the only Two Michelin Star restaurant in Colorado.
“It’s great to have our restaurant and team among the first in the region to be recognized by the Michelin Guide, especially as an independent restaurant,” Luck said in an official statement. “For us, this was never about chasing an accolade. It’s about what it means for the future of our city and our dining scene. Recognition like this pushes more investment into culinary education and shows our next generation of talent they can build something real right here in the Pikes Peak Region.”
Michelin Special Awards
While Michelin Stars and other accolades focus on entire restaurants, Michelin Special Awards recognize individuals for their professionalism and exceptional work. Winners can work in the kitchen or the front of house, and the honors awarded each year vary. Michelin only gave out four Special Awards in Colorado this year, and two were in Colorado Springs.
Joseph Freyre, general manager at The Penrose Room, was given the Michelin Outstanding Service Award. Freyre has built a 40-plus year career in the restaurant industry that includes 15 years at The Penrose Room, as well a owning his own local restaurant, Joseph’s, for many years.
“What I really like about that award is it identifies that service is personal and service is paying attention; it’s reading the table; it’s understanding what kind of experience the guest wants,” The Broadmoor’s Patterson says. “Joseph is a master when it comes to that sort of understanding and knowledge, and he’s been able to get the team to understand that as well. It’s such very well deserved recognition for both Joseph and for the entire service team. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
You can read Michelin’s interview with Joseph Freyre here.
Kyle McNerney, the bar manager at Four by Brother Luck, received the Michelin Guide Colorado Cocktail Award for 2026. Michelin made special note of the vintage spirits program that McNerney launched at Four.
McNerney has worked with Brother Luck since 2018, starting with Lucky Dumpling. Luck says McNerney became an eager student of the cocktail craft when they partnered to create Tipperary with Sean and Inez Fitzgerald, owners of the Wobbly Olive and Allusions Speakeasy.
“Kyle became so inspired,” Luck says. “I saw that inspiration happening every day with him, and I told him, ‘You need your own stage. I’d love to give you Four and let you have that be your stage. You deserve to be front and center. He fought against that idea. He didn’t want to leave Tipperary. He loved the training he was getting under them. Then one day he came to me and said, ‘I’m ready.’ Here we are a year and a half , two years later. It’s crazy for him.”
You can read McNerney’s interview with Michelin here.
What Do Michelin Awards Mean for Colorado Springs?
Luck was an outspoken advocate for bringing Michelin to Colorado Springs since the city originally chose not to pay to participate in its Colorado debut in 2023. In February 2026, however, the Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) and Visit Colorado Springs released the news that the prestigious culinary awards would expand its evaluations statewide. You can read more about that decision and potential impact in our Michelin Guide Is Coming to Colorado Springs.
What exactly will Michelin Guide honors mean for the Springs’ dining scene?
On a daily basis for these winning restaurants, both Patterson and Luck say not much. Instead they emphasize their commitments to the missions that earned them recognition.
“Hopefully this is going to introduce The Penrose Room to people who haven’t experienced it yet,” Patterson says. “We’re going to take that recognition and enjoy it and keep working. We want to keep doing what we’ve been doing every single day in The Penrose Room, and that’s creating exceptional guest experiences.”
At the same time, the Michelin Guide is 126 years and recognized around the world as one of the most prestigious culinary honors. Having the program in the Springs, or any market for that matter, can set or raise the standard of excellence for the dining scene. Michelin Guide-recognized restaurants often help attract and retain top culinary talent in their destinations, says Visit COS. And the tourism organization cites food and cuisine as the highest travel passion category for recent or likely visitors to Colorado Springs, ranking 60.5% in a 2025 study by Miles Partnership’s State of the American Traveler. In other words, it’s a huge motivator and deciding factor for visitors choosing one destination over another.
“I’m so happy to see others on my team win and elevate them because what this recommendation does for our GM Dylan [Jolly], our chef Ashley [Brown], people like Kyle running our bar program, all of the cooks and servers. They get to attach themselves to a very high luxury brand that is known internationally,” Luck says. “[Michelin] is known worldwide. As I travel around the world, Michelin is a big brand. And regardless of how you feel about it in this country, in the world, on the global stage, it matters.”
That impact can reverberate locally and much farther.
“Colorado Springs is now on the Michelin Guide map, which will undoubtedly raise the bar for our food and beverage scene,” says Doug Price, president and CEO of Visit Colorado Springs. “There are countless examples of how the Michelin Guide has elevated the scene for destinations, and now it’s our turn.”
You can find all of Colorado’s Michelin recognized restaurants across the state, including this year’s new honorees, in our All the Michelin Star Restaurants in Colorado. And to discover more top spots locally, find your new favorites in our 30 Best Restaurants in Colorado Springs. Yes, The Penrose Room and Four by Brother Luck are both on the list.
And for a deeper dive into the background and impact of the Michelin Guide, watch Michelin in the Springs. The insightful conversation was hosted by Andrea Chalfin of KRCC and Matthew Schniper of Side Dish With Schniper in August, featuring interviews with Chef Brother Luck and Melvin Davila of Hyato Ramen.
