New York’s Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings: Spring 2022

Spring is right around the corner, and so is a whole new wave of restaurant openings. This preview includes plenty of places worth wiping off the calendar for the next few months, including a queer tasting menu run by foodie vets, a BYOB restaurant inspired by Rochester-style cuisine, and the company’s first solo dessert project. a former Jungsik pastry chef, among many others.

As always, the opening dates listed below are moving targets. Delays or not, here are the most anticipated openings in the coming months.

Eyval

Opening: end of March

Nasim Alikhani and Ali Saboor, the duo behind Persian foodie hit Sofreh, are opening a bar next to their more laid-back cafe outpost recently launched in Bushwick. Saboor tells Eater that Eyval will focus on small plates over high heat to complement drinks with ingredients like rose and saffron. 252 Varet Street, Bogart Street, Bushwick

At Patti Ann’s

Opening: end of March

Greg Baxtrom is expanding his small restaurant empire along Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights. After opening Evi’s Bäckerei earlier this year, the chef and restaurateur behind Olmsted and Maison Yaki is embarking on a more personal project. Patti Ann’s, named after her mother, will fuse comfort foods popular in the Midwest — ice cream cakes, blooming onion — with the chef’s fine dining experience. 570 Vanderbilt Ave, Bergen St, Prospect Heights

Brooklyn Darlings

Opening: end of March

Brian Heiss’ first restaurant, Brooklyn Darlingsis inspired by the Rochester, New York, delicacy known as “garbage plate.” The new spot will be BYOB, encouraging customers to shop next door at Radicle Wine, a natural wine store Heiss co-owns. 291 Greene Avenue, near Classon Avenue, Clinton Hill

Party Square

Opening: end of March

Preserves, canned fish and seafood commonly snacked on in Spanish bars, are on the rise at the moment. They’re popping up in bars across Brooklyn and will soon have a new home on the menu at Party Square, rub shoulders with pastries, pasta and dishes cooked a la plancha. The restaurant comes from chefs Nico Russell, behind the Michelin-starred tasting menu spot Oxalis, and Jacob Harth, who made a name at Portland Erizo Seafood Spot. 212 Greene Avenue, between Grand Avenue and Cambridge Place, Clinton Hill

Kitchen Co Ut

Opening: March

After a successful year selling banh mi and takeout versions of Vietnamese classics like pho, the family behind Banh Mi Co Ut plans to open a two-level restaurant a few blocks away. The expanded menu explores other favorites from the Southeast Asian country, including spicy bun bo Hue and lesser-known desserts like banh bo nuong, a subtly sweet pandan honeycomb cake. 85 Chrystie Street, between Grand and Hester streets, Chinatown

Little Flower

Opening: April

Ali Zaman, whose father owns the Kabab de Sami house, is spearheading the launch of Little Flower in the former corner of Antojitos Ecuatorianos 2 on the same block as his family’s restaurant. Zaman’s first business is a fully halal specialty sandwich shop with a kombucha and coffee shop. 25-35 36 Avenue, at 28th Street, Astoria — Caroline Shin, Contributor Eater

oddly enough

Opening: early April

Longtime Eugene & Company employee Laura Poladsky and partner Caitlin Frame (formerly a bartender at Andrew Tarlow’s Marlow & Sons and Diner) are taking over the recently closed Eugene & Co space. The duo transforms the space into oddly enougha strange bar with wine, a long list of zero-proof drinks and small plates. 397 Tompkins Avenue, corner of Jefferson Avenue, Bed-Stuy

Makina Cafe

Opening: April

Eden Gebre Egziabher arrived in Manhattan in 2017 with the city’s first Ethiopian-Eritrean food truck. Now she is opening her first full-service operation, Makina Cafewhich will also highlight dinner and cocktails. 46-11 Skillman Avenue, near 46th Street, Sunnyside

Mexican Mermaid

Opening: April

Mermaid Inn co-owners – Danny Abrams and Cindy Smith – leave behind their well-received plan to run a successful oyster bar to focus on street tacos. From chef Victor Marin’s kitchen, expect a range of tortillas filled with birria, al pastor and vegetarian options, among others. 79 MacDougal Street, between Bleecker and West Houston Streets, Greenwich Village

Kebabwala

Opening: April

After conquering fried chicken in a quick version, chef Chintan Pandya is now tackling kebabs. Pandya and restaurateur Roni Mazumdar, known for their host of successful restaurants including Dhamaka in Essex Market and Semma in Greenwich Village, are preparing a casual Indian kebab shop Kebabwala for the East Village. 82 Second Avenue, near East Fifth Street, East Village

Ipanema

Ipanema

Opening: April

The Brazilian and Portuguese mainstay of restaurateur Alfredo Pedro Ipanema is picking up in Midtown after closing in 2020 and moving — for a brief period — to Norwalk, Connecticut. Pedro’s sons Carlos and Victor lead the revival, which includes a sunny all-day cafe out front and a refreshed dinner menu courtesy of Brazilian chef Giancarlo Junyent. 3 West 36th Street, near Fifth Avenue, Midtown

HAGS

Opening: Mid-May

HAGSan acronym for having a good summer, is a future Queer and trans-led dining destination with a tasting menu by partners in business and life, Chef Telly Justice and Sommelier Camille Lindsley. 163 First Avenue, near East 10th Street, East Village

Spaghetti Coffee

Opening: May

Chef and Brooklyn native Sal Lamboglia, a seven-year veteran of Andrew Carmellini’s Bar Primi, is deletion all alone. Spaghetti Coffee will have both a fun name and a full-service dinner menu that includes its namesake spaghetti, as well as espresso drinks and breakfast sandwiches during the day. 126 Union Street, between Hicks and Columbia streets, Carroll Gardens

Zaitin

Zaitin

Opening: May

José Andrés is about to bring his favorite DC Zaytinya at the new Ritz-Carlton at Nomad with crowd-favorite Mediterranean hits like mezze to share, grilled skewers and creative cocktails. A rooftop with panoramic views of the city skyline debuts shortly thereafter. 25 West 28th Street at Broadway, Nomad

S&P

Opening: May

Eisenberg’s, a decades-old Manhattan sandwich shop that closed during the pandemic, will get another shot at life this spring. Don’t call him by his old name. Eric Finkelstein and Matt Ross, owners of the Court Street Grocers chain, are relaunching the lunch counter following a legal dispute over the Eisenberg brand with its last owner. S&P, as it is now called, will serve tuna fondues, individual cans of sardines and other dishes not copyrighted by Eisenberg’s. 174 Fifth Avenue, near 22nd Street, Flatiron District

Masalawala

Opening: May

Shortly after Kebabwala opened, Pandya and Mazumdar set their sights on Brooklyn to open a revival of the former Lower East Side favorite. Masalawala. Pandya will expand the beloved menu of Kolkata dishes – including muri ghonto, or fish-head pulao – at the new location. There will also be a retail store on the premises. 365 Fifth Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, Park Slope

Louise Palmberg / Eater NY

Rock

Opening: Spring

The Frenchette team is adding more power to the revival of Rockefeller Center, which recently added Pebble Bar, backed by Pete Davidson, and Lodi, by restaurateur Ignacio Mattos, to its growing list of restaurants and bars. Details about Rock still meet, but owners Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson say the French-leaning restaurant will operate all day, with seating for around 200 people between indoor and outdoor spaces. 45 Rockefeller Plaza, between West 49th and West 50th streets, Midtown

laser wolf

Opening: Spring

Celebrity Philadelphia chef and restaurateur Michael Solomonov brings his successful Israeli kebab shop laser wolf on the roof of the Hoxton Hotel in Williamsburg. 97 Wythe Avenue, between North Ninth and 10th Streets, Williamsburg

Lysium

Opening: Spring

Star pastry chef Eunji Lee, a former Korean gourmet restaurant Jungsik, is branching out this spring with her own high-end dessert shop Lysium. 44 East 21st Street, near Park Avenue South, Iron

Nick Solares / Eater NY

Superiority Burger

Opening: Spring

One of the most sought-after veggie burgers in town is setting up shop. Chef and owner Brooks Headley has uprooted his favorite cult vegetarian restaurant Superiority Burger and is in the process of moving it to a much larger space in what was once the Ukrainian restaurant Odessa. 119 Avenue A, near St. Mark’s Square, East Village

Lolo’s Tacos

Opening: Spring

Lolo’s Tacos, from the team behind Lolo’s Seafood Shack in Harlem, has been working for more than a year (the downtown taqueria was previously on Eater’s lists of planned openings). Meanwhile, owners Leticia Skai Young and chef Raymond Mohan tested their menu of fish tacos, tamales, and cochinita pibil, and took plenty of trips — “research,” as Skai Young calls it — to Mexico and central America. 2799 Broadway, at West 108th Street, Upper West Side