Metro Atlanta restaurants we’re excited to see open in 2026

Metro Atlanta delivered some stellar restaurants in 2025, and the new year promises to bring more grand openings, rising chefs and highly anticipated restaurants.

Here are nearly 20 spots The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s dining team is looking forward to trying next year.

Credit: Courtesy of Atlantic Station

Credit: Courtesy of Atlantic Station

Busy Bee Cafe — Atlantic Station

In April, restaurateur Tracy Gates announced she would be opening a second location of her famous soul food restaurant Busy Bee Cafe in Atlantic Station, decades after the first one opened in Vine City.

Since the pandemic, the legacy restaurant has only been open for takeout and delivery. Its new location in the former Falcons and Atlanta United team store adjacent to Atlantic Green will offer 4,000 square feet of Busy Bee Cafe dine-in space, including a full bar serving cocktails.

Gates shared in an AJC interview from July that she’s adding menu items to this location for the new diners she expects to attract. That means more vegan options and salads that are still “in that framework of Southern and delicious,” she said.

230 18th St. NW, Atlanta. thebusybeecafe.com

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Credit: Courtesy of StarChefs

Heritage

Chef Demetrius Brown, a co-owner of Inman Park’s Bread & Butterfly, will open his long-running Heritage Supper Club as a brick-and-mortar called Heritage in early 2026 in the Summerhill neighborhood.

Brown’s Afro-Caribbean supper club has been operating since 2021. It specializes in the cuisine of the African diaspora with dishes rooted in Brown’s memories of cooking with his Trinidadian great-grandmother. Heritage will use seasonal tasting menus to explore the flavors and culinary traditions of African, Caribbean and Afro-American cuisine.

There will be several different experiences within the restaurant, including a lounge area with a full bar and an a la carte menu, a main dining room and a dessert room, Brown said in a previous AJC interview.

Koshu Club

Castellucci Hospitality Group and chef J. Trent Harris, the team behind Mujo, will open their second restaurant, Koshu Club, in early 2026 in Buckhead. Koshu Club will be an “elegant dining experience” inspired by the Showa-era supper clubs of Japan, according to a news release.

The menu will focus on contemporary Japanese food as well as washoku dishes, or traditional Japanese cuisine, and yoshoku dishes, a style of cuisine that adapts Western dishes to Japanese methods and ingredients, like tonkatsu and curry. It also includes seafood and cuts of meat prepared in the art of sumibiyaki, or slow-grilled over binchotan charcoal.

The beverage program, led by beverage director Nicholas Quinones, will include an extensive, curated sake selection, Japanese-style cocktails and a wine cellar that highlights classic and emerging producers from around the world.

La Cueva

A hidden cave-themed speakeasy behind a barbershop at Ponce City Market? Say no more.

La Cueva is set to open in the spring at Ponce City Market from Robert Hopper, owner of barbershop the Commodore, and Peter Terrones, one of the Commodore’s barbers at the Chamblee location. Chef Luis Damian of Casa Balam, El Valle and Oaxaca will develop the food menu.

Guests can expect an emphasis on spirits like mezcal and tequila with a food menu with influences from across Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. The bar will be tucked behind the barbershop with a separate entrance that leads into a hallway designed to look like a slot canyon.

675 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Atlanta. lacuevaatl.com

Credit: Courtesy of Nic Lehoux

Sargent

The team behind Lucian Books & Wine is opening sister restaurant Sargent in Old Fourth Ward. It will join the New City Properties development that also houses 3 Parks Wine and Forth Hotel Atlanta. Similar to Lucian, Sargent will feature an expansive wine and bar program from co-owner Jordan Smelt, a sommelier, and a selection of books and magazines curated by co-owner Katie Barringer.

Diners can expect a modern American menu with local, seasonal produce from chef Jason Paolini. And where Lucian’s wine program is heavily European, Smelt said that Sargent’s will include more wine from the U.S. in addition to global varieties.

South Downtown

The South Downtown development has been busy announcing new restaurants in preparation for the 2026 World Cup games that will be held in Atlanta next summer. With everyone aiming for that summer deadline, expect a new bounty of food in the first half of the year. Here are the restaurants that have been announced so far for 2026:

Brewhouse Cafe, Atlanta’s popular soccer bar, will open a second location about a 10-minute walk from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The 3,200-square-foot space will introduce a new look that has the feel of a “timeless European pub, while staying true to the energy and spirit fans have always loved,” according to a news release.

89 Broad St. SW, Atlanta. brewhousecafe.com

Bottle Rocket, a sushi restaurant that’s operated in the nearby Castleberry Hill neighborhood since 2011, will relocate to historic Hotel Row with its menu of sushi, grilled food and cocktails, according to a social media post.

231 Mitchell St. SW, Atlanta. bottlerocketatl.com

Broad Street BBQ, a barbecue restaurant from Jason Furst and Sam Pinner of the sandwich shop Sammy’s, will offer plates and sandwiches featuring brisket, pork butt, chicken and some sausages, along with house-made sauces, sides and a full bar.

96 Broad St., Atlanta. southdowntownatl.com/directory/broad-st-bbq

Delilah’s Everyday Soul, a soul food eatery from owners Delana and Jason Reeves, will open on historic Hotel Row with all the Southern classics the couple serves at their three other locations in Colony Square, Chattahoochee Food Works and Politan Row in Dunwoody.

Mitchell Street SW, Atlanta. delilahseverydaysoul.com

El Tesoro, a Mexican restaurant with locations in Edgewood and the West End, will open its third and largest outpost in South Downtown. Expect an airy interior that opens onto a large patio and a menu similar to its other locations.

171 Mitchell St. SW, Atlanta. eltesoroatl.com

Glide Pizza, the popular pizza restaurant with locations in Old Fourth Ward and Decatur, will open its third outpost along Mitchell Street in the spring.

Mitchell Street SW, Atlanta. glidepizza.com

Mule Train, a restaurant from chefs Michael and Shyretha Sheats of the Plate Sale pop-up, will open on Broad Street with a menu of Southern cuisine with a modern twist, according to a social media post. Shyretha Sheats described Mule Train in a video as a mix of their “past experiences, also focused on ancestral recipes.”

87 Broad St., Atlanta. instagram.com/muletrainatlanta

Expect to find a not-yet-named breakfast and lunch counter from chef Todd Ginsberg and restaurateur Josh Kim, both of whom run Bloom Roadside in Milton together. The 900-square-foot counter will offer a menu of sandwiches, salads and sourdough doughnuts, according to a social media post.

185 Mitchell St. SW, Atlanta. southdowntownatl.com/directory/breakfast-and-lunch-counter

Credit: Courtesy of Robles Partners

Summerland Cafe

Anne Quatrano’s forthcoming breakfast and lunch restaurant is set to open in the Upper West Market, a farmers market from Ben Hautt that will include several food and beverage tenants. Summerland Cafe will be a 3,800-square-foot upscale breakfast and lunch restaurant adjacent to the vendor stalls. In a recent AJC interview, Quatrano said to expect all-day breakfast served in an upscale setting.

Possible menu offerings include grain bowl combinations; a seedy rye toast with labneh and smoked Georgia trout; chicken schnitzel with boiled peanuts, pickles, coriander seed, arugula and lemon; and a savory Dutch baby with roast New York strip and roasted root vegetables and beef jus on the side.

It will also have a counter-service element where diners can order pastries and coffee, and there may even be a slushy machine, Quatrano said.

1385 Collier Rd NW, Atlanta. upperwestmarket.com

Credit: Courtesy of Terminal 26

Terminal 26 and Khao Thai Isan

Niki Pattharakositkul and her sister, Tanya, have been taking the Atlanta restaurant scene by storm with multiple restaurant openings in 2025. Next year, expect at least two more (technically three, with a second Pink Lotus location coming to Alpharetta).

Terminal 26 is taking over the W.H. Stiles Fish Camp space after it closed in September. It will be modeled after Thailand’s floating markets with the theme of “street food on water,” according to a news release. Patrons can expect dishes like Thai boat noodles; crispy turmeric fried chicken; raw oysters with nam jim mignonette; and grilled jumbo river prawns with chili-lime vinaigrette.

The restaurant will also have beer, wine and floating-market-inspired cocktails with tropical fruit, chiles and fresh herbs.

675 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE, Atlanta.

Khao Thai Isan, a Thai tapas restaurant, will open next year at The Mitchell in downtown Atlanta’s Centennial Yards development, according to a news release. It is inspired by the cuisine found in Thailand’s Isan region.

250 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta.

A few extra spots we’re looking forward to

Ruki’s Kitchen. Chef Ali Lemma’s Ethiopian pop-up will open a stall in Switchman Hall in Peoplestown early next year, Lemma said. Lemma has gone without a permanent home since the Qommunity food hall closed suddenly in 2024, so having a stall at the forthcoming food hall, which was supposed to open in 2024, will offer diners a consistent location to find his tibs, injera and veggie platters.

rukiskitchen.com

Jolene Jolene. After a four-month residency at Pullman Yards, look out for a brick-and-mortar location of this sports bar showcasing women’s sports next year in Atlanta, owner Chelsea Fishman confirmed in a text to the AJC.

jolenejoleneatl.com

Bertolozi’s Pizzeria. This Chicago-style tavern pizza pop-up from Chicago native Danny Huber previously operated a stall in the Roswell Junction food hall, but it recently announced it will open a standalone brick-and-mortar in Buckhead at 4279 Roswell Road in Chastain Square. The menu will feature Chicago-style, cracker-thin pizza as well as Italian beefs, Chicago dogs and salads, according to a social media post.

bertolozipizzeria.com

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