The 15 Most Exciting Restaurant Openings in the U.S. in Spring 2026

At JouJou, you can expect what chef David Barzelay (of the Michelin-starred Lazy Bear, also in San Francisco) calls a “big tent” approach to French cuisine, meaning that an array of influences from across the world will make its way onto your place at the seafood-centric spot. That means you’ll get homages to styles from New Orleans, French Polynesia, and the French West Indies, in addition to the signature French dishes we know and love.

Chefs Noah Sandoval and Larry Feldmeier are celebrating the 10^th birthday of their Michelin two-star Oriole by bringing a new restaurant to the Windy City. Marking the duo’s first step outside Oriole together, All Well gives diners the best of both worlds: They can opt for a seat in the dining room, where they can enjoy a five-course prix fixe menu with dishes like Délice de Bourgogne Agnolotti, or they can choose a perch along the 30-seat bar, where an à la carte menu with oysters and short rib sandwiches are up for grabs.

Gabriel Kreuther is venturing out of Byrant Park and into Hudson Yards with the opening of his brasserie Saverne this spring. The Michelin two-star chef’s new spot, named for the famed town in Alsace’s Bas-Rhin region nestled near the mountains, is his ode to wood-fire cooking, complete with an open kitchen that lets you peek at all the action for yourself. Expect dishes like aged blue fin tuna with black garlic anchoiade, house-made boudin noir croquettes, horseradish pomme puree, and radishes, as well as a beer braised pork belly and a duck, foie gras, and squash tortellini.

San Francisco’s Le Fantastique (and its delicate caviar eclairs) shuttered back in 2023, and now chef Robbie Wilson is taking his culinary prowess to Music City. Lion’s Share’s custom hearth will anchor the restaurant devoted to live-fire cooking. Wilson’s menu will include dishes like Shima aji (which is glazed from its own bones); crepe brulee with high-plains cheddar, smoked fig caramel, and Tennessee black truffle; and a swordfish belly with za’tar spice and calamansi.

At Heretík, Theo Adley has three focuses: Rotisserie, shellfish, and wine. The trio will appear in and be pair with a range of dishes that combines culinary skills pulled from both Northeast Spain and Southern France. The namesake heretik sauce is shown off on that rotisserie chicken, the sole poultry dish on the menu, while other small plates will feature the bounty of seafood up for grabs. The new spot marks Adley’s first solo spot in Denver, too, paired alongside fellow Colorado restaurant Marigold.

Crew hospitality group (behind N.Y.C.’s lovely Grand Banks aboard a schooner on the Hudson) is taking its, well, crew, to New Orleans’s French Quarter this spring, with the opening of Holywater. The restaurant is housed in an 1800s maritime chandlery, a three-floor space that gets you in the mood to try out the bevy of oysters from all coasts, caviar, and lobster frites up for grabs. Also on the menu are gumbo (because, of course) and a bistro burger. The brothers behind the new spot, Alex and Miles Pincus, are natives of the city, which makes this debut a homecoming, and you’ll see some family recipes here that’ll show off those roots in the Big Easy.

Five years after Bellemore closed in the wake of Covid-19, Jimmy Papadopoulous is stepping back into the fray with Black Briar in Chicago. The new spot is a bold American tavern, one that looks back to the past but also adds a fun twist on the now. Dishes include a 45-day dry aged pork chop with habanada peppers, smoked potato salad, and grilled peaches, as well as sourdough cavatelli served with pecorino, butter and mustard greens.

JuanMa Calderón and Maria Rondeau want their newest spot to feel like an intimate dinner party, much like their previous eateries Celeste and Esmeralda. The duo’s first restaurant in Boston (the others have been situated in Cambridge, just outside the city) Rosa y Marigold is centered on Calderón’s Peruvian cuisine, with dishes like tiraditos, anticuchos, and causas on the menu.

Hasung Lee is stepping out on his own after spending years in the kitchens of the French Laundry, Gramercy Tavern, and Atomix, among other highly regarded restaurants. The chef is now showing off his own signature style with Oyatte’s modern tasting menu, which is rooted in ingredients from Brett Ellis’s Crown Daisy Farm in upstate New York. You’ll first get to experience some of those veggie courses on the restaurant’s first floor, before heading upstairs to see what else it has in store.

Maroon is opening its doors this spring in Sin City, and with it diners will get the chance to try a revamped take on a classic steakhouse. With Kwame Onwuachi at the helm—the culinary force behind New York’s Tatiana and Washington D.C.’s Dōgon—his vibrant Caribbean cuisine will be front and center in Sin City, where the new spot will be located within the Sahara hotel.

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Maria Isabel is the second destination from chef duo Laura and Sayat Ozylimaz, following behind hit restaurant Dalida in Presidio. The 56-seat spot will take over the location of Ella’s American Kitchen, bringing the Mexican Pacific Coast right to San Francisco in a nod to Laura’s heritage. Flavors inspired by both Guerrero and Sinaloa will make their way into the kitchen here, where season ingredients will be plucked from local farmers and purveyors.

Husband-and-wife duo Daniel Patterson and Sarah Lewitinn are opening Jacaranda this spring, a 30-seat spot with a focus on relaxation paired with a modern California tasting menu. The new restaurant is Patterson’s re-entry into the culinary scene after his former locale in San Francisco, Coi, shuttered in 2022 due to the pandemic.

Simon Kim’s empire is growing. The dining magnate is opening up a multi-level dining spot in Midtown called 550 Madison, with the folks at Rockwell Group helming the design. Here, a second N.Y.C. Cote location will make its debut, while Bar Chimera will offer up a trio of drinks spots each with their own distinct list of tipples. The star, though, is Sushi Yoshitake, an omakase concept that will place Michelin three-star chef Masahiro Yoshitake, of Japan’s Sushi Yoshitake and Hong Kong’s Sushi Shikon, front and center.

At this intimate 23-seat spot in a historic Dallas building, diners can expect to be served a modern take on Mexican cuisine from the minds of chef Olivia Lopez and Jonathan Percival. The à la carte menu and tasting experience will both include sustainably source seafood and tons of produce grown right at regional Texas farms. And those Mexican touches extend to the interiors, too, with the space inspired by the country and filled with artwork and handmade ceramics from Mexican artists.

Japan’s Neapolitan-style pizza has set the food world aflame, showing how the country is whipping up pizza that’s just as good (if not better) than its Italian competitors. One such chef leading the charge is Tsubasa Tamaki and his Pizza Studio Tamaki (PST); and this spring, the toque is bringing all that cheesy goodness stateside. PST’s menu is focused on its signature fermented dough, imparted with America and Japanese flavors before it’s baked in a high-heat oven.