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The final quarter of 2019 definitely saw a slow down in restaurant openings — and even with new restaurants being announced. However, a few hotly anticipated establishments swung open for business this fall, including chef Hugh Acheson’s By George, Forza Storico, Supremo Taco, Buena Vida Tapas, Southern Belle, Lyla Lila, and Field Day.
As Atlanta enters a brand new decade, here are the six most anticipated restaurants planning to open this winter around town.
Keep updated on all of the restaurants planning to open around Atlanta with this continually updated list.
Ruby Chow’s
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Location: Old Fourth Ward, 620 Glen Iris Drive NE
Who: Chef Guy Wong
Projected opening: January/early February
After closing the beloved Miso Izakaya last summer and recently parting ways with Vietnamese restaurant Le Fat, chef Guy Wong (Ton Ton, Miso Ko) opens his next full-service restaurant, Ruby Chow’s, in early 2020. The restaurant takes over the former Repast space at the Ponce Springs Lofts on Glen Iris Drive, across from Ponce City Market and City Winery. Wong is keeping mum on what he has planned for the menu at Ruby Chow’s, making this opening even that much more enticing.
Girl Diver
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Location: Reynoldstown, 905 Memorial Drive
Who: Chef Richard Tang
Projected opening: February
Char Korean Bar & Grill owner chef Richard Tang and chef Mike Yang (Ba Bellies) hope to open their seafood boil and by-the-pound restaurant, Girl Diver, by February at the Madison Yards development. In addition to platters and boils filled with Alaskan king crab, jumbo tiger shrimp, and piles of crawfish, Girl Diver also plans to offer grilled octopus served with confit baby potatoes and a Wagyu skirt steak topped with Thai-style chimichurri served with a side of roasted potatoes.
Grana
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Location: Piedmont Heights, 1835 Piedmont Avenue NE
Who: Chef Pasquale “Pat” Pascarella
Projected opening: February
Chef Pasquale “Pat” Pascarella, co-owner of The White Bull in Decatur, plans to open Neapolitan pizza and Italian restaurant Grana on Piedmont Avenue in February. Grana’s menu features wood-fired pizzas, Pascarella’s handmade pastas, a mozzarella bar, build-your-own cannolis, and a variety of meatball flights. Grana’s main dining room offers communal seating around the bar, along with smaller two- and four-top tables scattered about the space. There’s also dining on the restaurant’s mezzanine and a rooftop bar equipped with fire pits.
Little Bear
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Location: Summerhill, 71 Georgia Avenue
Who: Chef Jarrett Stieber
Projected opening: February/March
Former Eat Me Speak Me pop-up chef Jarrett Stieber’s upcoming Summerhill neighborhood restaurant, Little Bear, features a menu of approximately 13 shareable dishes, ranging from $7 to $13 per plate, broken out into hot, cold, and sweet sections. Like Eat Me Speak Me, Stieber says to expect the menu to change weekly, as most ingredients are locally sourced and seasonal. The 30-seat Little Bear (an homage to Stieber’s Pyrenees mountain dog) includes a long banquette with a row of ten two-top tables, a ten-seat bar, and a front window rail that connects to the bar where people can lounge with drinks and snacks.
Talat Market
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Location: Summerhill, 112 Ormond Street
Who: Chefs Parnass Lim Savang and Rod Lassiter
Projected opening: late February/March
Former Thai food pop-up Talat Market turns permanent restaurant in Summerhill early next year. Owned by chefs Parnass Lim Savang and Rod Lassiter, the restaurant is located inside an old Asian market on Ormond Street and seats 40 people inside and ten people on the covered patio. Savang says the dining room is a mixture of Thai and American aesthetics with a mural by Atlanta artist Christina Kwan, and includes an open kitchen and a large boat-shaped bar. The chefs are developing a menu of 12 to 15 dishes featuring soups, salads, relishes, curries, stir-fries, and desserts, along with a couple of larger entrees.
D Boca N Boca
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Location: Summerhill, 39 Georgia Avenue
Who: Chef Helio Bernal
Projected opening: March/early spring
What began as the Real Mexican Vittles mobile kitchen in 2017, serving tacos and tamales at festivals and breweries, is propelling owner Helio Bernal into his first restaurant venture — Mexican gastropub D Boca N Boca. The 1,800-square-foot restaurant should seat around 40 to 50 people inside, with an additional 50 on the patio. Like the Real Mexican Vittles, the menu at D Boca N Boca includes street corn, tacos, and tamales, but dishes will also lean into Bernal’s family roots on the Gulf Coast of Mexico.