André Michelin published the first edition of the guide in 1900 to help drivers maintain their cars, find decent lodging, and eat well while touring France. It included addresses of gasoline distributors, mechanics, and tire dealers, along with local prices for fuel, tires, and auto repairs.

The guide was distributed free from 1900 until 1920. The Michelin brothers began charging for the guides to establish more credibility after a pile of them were found propping up a garage workbench.[citation needed] The guide began recognizing outstanding restaurants in 1926 by marking their listings with a star; two and three stars were added in the early 1930s. The cover of the guide was originally blue, but since 1931 has been red.

Gradually, additional guides were introduced for other European countries. In 2010, eight Red Guides were published for the countries of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Italy, Spain & Portugal, Switzerland, and Great Britain & Ireland.

Red Guides have historically listed many more restaurants than rivals, relying on an extensive system of symbols to describe each establishment in as little as two lines. Reviews of starred restaurants also include two to three culinary specialities. Recently, however, short summaries (2-3 lines) have been added to enhance descriptions of many establishments. These summaries are written in the language of the country for which the guide is published, but the symbols are the same throughout all editions.

Red Guides are also published for selected major cities: Paris, London, Tokyo, Kyoto/Osaka, Hong Kong & Macau, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. There is also a Red Guide encompassing the "Main Cities of Europe."

The current (2010) Tokyo Red Guide contains 197 starred restaurants, the most of any single guide. Eleven restaurants received three stars, 42 have two stars, and 144 have one star. This is more than three times New York City's total (56), and more than twice as many as Paris (96). However, Tokyo is home to 160,000 restaurants, compared to New York City's 25,000 and Paris's 13,000.

In 2008, German restaurateur Juliane Caspar was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the French edition of the Red Guide. She is the first woman and first non-French national to edit the French edition.

Michelin operates on the principle that only anonymous, professionally-trained experts can be trusted to make accurate, impartial assessments of a restaurant's food and service (as opposed, for example, to the Zagat Survey, which relies on restaurant patrons for its reviews).

The Michelin inspectors write detailed reports which are collated at company headquarters in Paris. All favorable ratings are distilled, at annual "stars meetings", into rankings of 3 stars, 2 stars, 1 star, or no stars. Restaurants which Michelin deems unworthy of patronage are simply not included in the guide.

Restaurants are revisited regularly to keep reviews current; for example, Michelin claims that its inspectors revisit all 4,000 reviewed restaurants in France every 18 months, and all starred restaurants several times a year.