The 12 Best New Restaurant Openings

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Chile lovers have longed for Sirichai Sreparplarn's cooking since his Red Hook restaurant, Khao Soy, closed in 2015. Thankfully, he's found a new home in Carroll Gardens. The menu wanders from the south of Thailand with dishes like kua kling, a southern dry beef curry that according to the menu is "brutally spicy," up to the north with khao soi nuer, a version of his signature dish, made this time around with beef instead of chicken.  

If you can't snag a seat at Ariel Arce's bubbly destination, Air's Champagne Parlor in Greenwich Village, you now have another option from the same talented team, right downstairs. There are two seatings a night, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. For $50, diners are served a seven-course izakaya menu and contribute their musical choices to a vinyl jukebox. The menu of pork katsu skewers and caviar-topped sushi is also available à la carte nightly starting at 10:30 p.m.

Fresh on the heels of the opening of Taqueria El Atoradero, Gowanus is getting a second new Mexican restaurant. This one is from two members of the Freek's Mill team including chef Chad Shaner, who's serving Oaxacan memelas, or corn pancakes, and tostadas with zucchini blossoms.  

Alinea and Next alumnus Dave Beran's 22-course tasting menu spot is finally open—in a food hall in Santa Monica. The location may be casual, but dinner is not. Debut dishes included pork belly topped with trout roe, nasturtium and strawberry sambal, and king crab with orchids and Earl Grey.

The Arts District's Spring is now two restaurants in one. There's still Spring in the Atrium, but the team has sectioned off a space for Springside, which serves two tasting menus and an à la carte menu that leans toward France and Italy with dishes like wild Burgundy snails and corn risotto with chanterelles and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms.

The beloved restaurant is back in a new home in Oakland. There are Burmese classics on the menu including mohinga and a tea leaf salad that's accompanied by tomatoes, peanuts, sesame seeds, fried shallots and a mountain of cabbage

The team behind Lers Ros now has a restaurant dedicated to the dishes of the northeastern region of Thailand called Isan. Expect pao pad koh moo yang, a fried rice made with egg, pork shoulder and chile, and pla muk haeng, or sun-dried calamari that's fried. The menu is lengthy, so go with a crowd and try several plates. 

The Boka Group's newest project in the Gold Coast is roomy with 180 seats. Lee Wolen, who also oversees the kitchen at Boka, is serving an elaborate vegetable platter, along with cod fritters, pasta with duck ragù and a whole roasted chicken for two. The team is also planning to open a rooftop bar at the Viceroy hotel next door.

The deli renaissance arrives in Chicago with this spot, which serves a mix of classics like the Grandpa Joe (pastrami on rye with mustard) and more modern spins like the Sister-in-Law (pastrami with dill kimchi and anchovy mustard on a baguette) and the Uncle Leo (a lox, egg and onion scramble on a matzo flour tortilla).

Bayou Bakery's David Guas is getting up bright and early to bake everything spice and baklava croissants at his new Darcy hotel all-day café. It opens at 6:30 a.m. daily. As the day rolls along, there are muffalettas and a charred vegetable sandwich dubbed the District Hippie Melt.

The team behind the massive new District Winery in the Navy Yard likely knew from the get-go that a restaurant was a must. Enter: Ana, named for the Anacostia River and helmed by Michael Gordon, an alum of New York's revered Bouley. Here, things aren't quite as formal, but they're still inventive, with dishes like pastrami spiced monkfish and charred broccoli steak.

Breakfast is the thing at this new retro-inspired diner that serves decadent versions of the morning meal daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. There's a blueberry buckle with vanilla ice cream (yes, you can eat ice cream for breakfast), smoked brisket and eggs, and fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese. Just make sure you have time for a nap afterward.