As the holidays pass and the days get shorter, it takes a little more convincing to head out to a new restaurant. With a slate of hotly anticipated restaurants gearing to open their doors in the coming months, we’ve rounded up eight worth extending the celebration for well into the new year.
Many of these are second acts from our favorite restaurants. They include a Laotian noodle bar in Oklahoma City, a vivid celebration of South Asian street food in DC, and a surf-and-turf extravaganza in a restored church in Charlotte. All three are from the minds behind Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants of 2022.
The season has already kicked off with a series of promising openings. Chef Joe Flamm debuted Il Carciofo, his ode to Roman-style cooking, in Chicago’s Fulton Market. Detroit now has Vesper, a wine bar and bookshop. The team behind Denver’s Alma Fonda Fina is spotlighting Mexican spirits and seafood at Mezcaleria Alma. And the luxe wood-fire-focused Crane Club opened its doors in New York.
We track openings year-round in the lead-up to our annual Best New Restaurants list. These are the ones we are most excited about this winter.
This list is organized alphabetically by city. The opening dates below are subject to change, so check restaurant websites and Instagram accounts for updates.
Madeira Park
Atlanta, GA
Opening: January
It’s been 15 years since Atlanta restaurant industry veterans Steven Satterfield and Neal McCarthy opened the contemporary Southern spot Miller Union. Since then, it’s become an iconic institution in the city’s dining landscape. They’ve earned accolades, including a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast for Satterfield in 2017 and a Michelin service award in 2023. Now, they’re finally opening another restaurant—a wine bar in partnership with local sommelier Tim Willard of Dive Wine. The menu features seasonal Southern cooking from Satterfield, designed to pair with hard-to-find bottles and by-the-glass options. For nibbling, there will be cheeses from local favorite Capella Cheese and snacks like panisse fritters and daily fish crudo. To make a meal out of it, more robust options will include simply grilled or roasted meat and fish with rotating seasonal vegetable sides.
Leluia Hall
Charlotte, NC
Opening: February
This Charlotte newcomer from the same team as Supperland (one of Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurant of 2022) is also located in a former church. Leluia Hall is a steakhouse emphasizing seafood, and comes from Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown, the husband-wife duo behind beloved Charlotte mainstays like Haberdish and Reigning Doughnuts. Executive chef Chris Rogienski from Supperland is developing a menu with raw bar features like seafood towers and ceviches, takes on classic sides like a Caesar composed of briny sea beans, and steaks sliced tableside. The road to opening Leluia Hall, as seen on the restaurant’s Instagram, reads a bit like an HGTV project. In the midst of Tonidandel and Brown’s multiyear quest to renovate this historic 1915 space, they also saved a nearby landmark, the Leeper-Wyatt building, from demolition by moving it next door to the restaurant.
