Lunar New Year celebrations begin this week as Tuesday marks the official start of the 15-day Spring Festival and the transition into the Year of the Horse. While the holiday originated in China to mark the new year according to the ancient lunisolar calendar, it is celebrated in countries across Asia, including Korea and Vietnam.
Andy Tan, founder of Hopstix Asian Brewpub in Chamblee, said Lunar New Year marks “a time for family reunions, reflection and sharing meals that symbolize good fortune, health and prosperity.”
Some traditions are shared across cultures, Tan said, like the importance of the color red and the emphasis on spending time with family.
Around metro Atlanta, restaurants, organizations and businesses are throwing their own festivities beginning Tuesday, the official start of Lunar New Year, and continuing throughout the following weekend.
Tan began hosting a Lunar New Year celebration at Hopstix soon after it opened in 2017, and over the years he’s seen them spread across the metro area.
“It’s cool to see that this important holiday is now being recognized throughout different cultures,” he said while perched at the bar in his brewpub.
This will be Hopstix’s eighth year celebrating, he added, since they skipped the party during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When he started hosting Lunar New Year, there weren’t many restaurants and organizations celebrating the occasion, he said. In those days, the lion dancers he hires every year had much more flexible schedules, but now they’re booked and busy, Tan said.
Credit: Courtesy of Andy Tan
Credit: Courtesy of Andy Tan
Saturday’s event at Hopstix will include calligraphy demonstrations, a lion dance performance at 5:30 p.m., a special menu with noodles, pork belly and a variety of dumplings and a musical performance featuring the guzheng, a stringed, plucked instrument from China.
Hopstix will also brew its special chrysanthemum tea beer, Tan said, which has a floral, honeylike taste.
Just down the street from Hopstix in Chamblee, Atlanta Chinatown will host its own celebration. Andrew Blooms, the art director of Chinatown, hopes the weekendlong celebration will serve as a launch for the next season of markets he began hosting last year.
It’s all part of his goal to “bring the new generation of people into Chinatown to essentially open up the awareness that we even have a Chinatown in Atlanta,” he said.
The event will take place Saturday and Sunday and will feature over 50 craft, food, art and beverage vendors, he said. The food court will also be open.
Both days will feature music and dance performances, including some performers who are also tenants, like Miss Linda who owns a gift shop in Chinatown and does “Taiwanese line dancing,” Blooms said.
“I really wanted to include a wide variety of something that represents the community, the people that are here every day,” he said.
There will also be a Lunar New Year celebration at the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office near Chinatown, Blooms added, with Taiwanese night-market food and lion dance performers.
For those looking to celebrate closer to Atlanta, JenChan’s in Cabbagetown is offering a special Lunar New Year menu from Tuesday through Sunday.
Owners Jen and Emily Chan have been offering a special Lunar New Year menu since they opened the restaurant in 2019, Emily Chan said. It started as a single day of celebrating, but as it grew more popular, they extended the celebration to a week.
The menu changes daily, but it could feature anything from dumplings to cabbage wraps. Many of the recipes are from Jen Chan’s childhood, Emily said, like Chinese ribs that Jen’s dad shared, which will be featured this year. But Emily Chan said she tries to incorporate some dishes from other cultures, such as thit heo kho trung (Vietnamese pork and eggs).
It’s a nostalgic menu for the couple, as it includes childhood dishes and food they’ve been making for years, like the Cantonese-style whole fish on the menu, which was the first thing Jen made for Emily when they started dating.
Credit: Courtesy of JenChan's
Credit: Courtesy of JenChan's
And one popular annual offering is Baijiu liquor, a Chinese spirit that dates back thousands of years and is still the world’s most widely consumed liquor by volume. Emily Chan said it tastes “delightfully medicinal,” though she recommends guests start with a small sip.
“The Lunar New Year has so many different cultures that celebrate it in little nuanced ways,” she said. “And ours is just our little hybrid version of it.”
This is Ruby Chow’s second time throwing a celebration. The pan-Asian restaurant in Old Fourth Ward wanted to bring more Lunar New Year festivities to intown Atlanta, general manager Brian Seo said. The restaurant hopes to highlight cultures across Asia through its menu and celebration.
Credit: Courtesy of Ruby Chow's
Credit: Courtesy of Ruby Chow's
Tickets will include heavy hors d’oeuvres and three cocktails. The drinks in particular will highlight ingredients found in Asian cooking, like Thai chili and galangal, Seo said.
“Food is the heart of our culture,” he said. “We express love and we express family through food, and we communicate our culture through our food.”
The event will also feature calligraphy, lion dance performers and an appearance by Blooms, who will create a painting live during the event.
Where to celebrate Lunar New Year 2026
Ruby Chow’s. 6-10 p.m. Tuesday. $115 per person. 620 Glen Iris Drive NE, Atlanta. 404-974-3675, rubychows.com/events/lunar-new-year-party.
JenChan’s. 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. 186 Carroll St. SE, Atlanta. 404-632-7064, jenchans.com.
Hopstix. 4 p.m. Saturday. 3404 Pierce Drive NE, Chamblee. 678-888-2306, instagram.com/hopstix.
Atlanta Chinatown. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 5383 New Peachtree Road, Chamblee. chinatownatl.com/cny2026.
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