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Purpose Legitimacy is the perceived appropriateness of an organisation to a social system in terms of values, norms and definitions. This research analyses how customer reviews, news media and experts’ opinions influence the legitimacy perception of high-end restaurants. The aim is to understand how collective evaluators’ opinions impact the individual legitimacy perception, linking the micro and macro levels of legitimacy. This study measures and analyses the relationships and impacts of individual (customers) and collective (experts and news media) judgments to rationalise these differences in legitimacy perceptions. Design/methodology/approach This research was conducted through a combined analysis of the reviews published in news media, online customer review platforms and experts’ publications. This study elaborates a theoretical model using partial least squares structural equation modelling analysing 246 Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain. Findings Our findings indicate that individual legitimacy judgments are impacted by news media but not by experts. On the contrary, experts’ evaluations positively impact news media’s evaluations. The individual legitimacy perception of the Haute Cuisine restaurant is influenced by the collective judgments of news media. Originality/value The novelty of this research states the application of the multi-level legitimacy theory to analyse the relationship between news media, online customer reviews and expert evaluations, thus the individual and collective legitimacy perceptions of Haute Cuisine restaurants. Additionally, this study adds to legitimacy theory by revealing the relationships of legitimacy judgments on micro and macro levels and analysing which and how audiences perceive organisational legitimacy.