The Most Anticipated Atlanta Restaurants Opening in 2022

Following months of frustrating delays due to pandemic-related construction and equipment shortages and permitting issues, several long-awaited restaurants are finally set to debut in neighborhoods throughout Atlanta in 2022.

Eater is tracking the progress of 12 hotly anticipated restaurants scheduled to open over the course of 2022. This includes the opening of an all-day cafe in Berkeley Park and a Filipino restaurant planting roots on Buford Highway this winter, with a restaurant celebrating Black barbecue traditions, an establishment serving vegan Latin food, the return of a Grove Park seafood institution, and restaurants opening along historic Hotel Row in downtown Atlanta yet to come in 2022.

The Daily

Location: Berkeley Park, 763 Trabert Avenue
Who: Michael and Melody Shemtov
Projected opening: Winter 2022

Charleston-based coffee shop and cafe the Daily opens this winter on Trabert Avenue in the Berkeley Park neighborhood (the same street as Floral Park Market and Monday Night Brewing.) Owned by Michael and Melody Shemtov, the Daily will feature seating inside and on a patio adjacent to the building. In addition to its coffee, seasonal lattes, and smoothies, chef Jacob Hunter also plans to expand the food menu in Atlanta, which includes a selection of toasts, breakfast sandwiches, bowls, wraps, and salads. Expect additional locations to open around the city, too. Read more here.

Kamayan ATL

Location: Doraville, 5150 Buford Highway
Who: Mia Orino and Carlo Gan
Projected opening: Winter 2022

The Filipino food pop-up, founded by Mia Orino and Carlo Gan, finally opens as a restaurant in winter 2022 at the iconic Asian Square complex on Buford Highway. Kamayan ATL will include seating for up to 40 people and serve a rotating menu of dishes and regional specialities from the more than 7,000 islands that comprise the Philippines. Filipino baked goods, like ube piaya and peach mango buko pie from Three Lolas Bake Shop, will also be served here, along with mid-afternoon snacks, halo-halo, and fresh-pressed juices from the bar and food from pop-ups on days the restaurant is closed. Read more here.

Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen

Red Rice at Virgil’s in College Park — Red rice.

Location: Marietta Street Artery, 822 Marietta Street
Who: Juan and Gee Smalls
Projected opening: Winter 2022

Popular College Park restaurant Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen is taking over the former 4 Rivers Smokehouse space on Marietta Street, a century-old, two-story firehouse on the edge of the Georgia Tech campus. Like the original College Park location, expect soul food takes on Gullah Geechee cuisine here, including crab rice, red rice, and shrimp and crab gravy. Gee Smalls was born and raised on James Island, north of Charleston, and many of the dishes listed on the menu are based on recipes handed down from family members still living on the island. Read more here.

Brash Kitchen

Location: Underwood Hills, 1295 Chattahoochee Avenue
Who: Chris McLeod and Julia Kesler Imerman
Projected opening: Spring 2022

An all-day cafe from Brash founder Chris McLeod and Stop Think Chew chef and owner Julia Kesler Imerman opens this year at the Works complex in Underwood Hills, home to food hall Chattahoochee Food Works and Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q. Serving dishes influenced by Kesler Imerman’s Jewish and South African background and McLeod’s Australian roots, look for vegan grain bowls and hearty salads, shakshuka, and a chicken schnitzel sandwich on the menu paired with Brash coffee, cocktails, and a selection of natural wines. Read more here.

La Semilla

The summer squash empanada from vegan pop-up Happy Seed, which is opening a restaurant next year in Atlanta. — Summer squash empanadas.

Location: Reynoldstown, 780 Memorial Drive
Who: Sophia Marchese and Reid Trapani
Projected opening: Spring 2022

La Semilla, opening at Modera Reynoldstown, will serve a menu centered around vegan Latin food dishes and drinks, including crunch wraps made with seitan beef and sopes with seitan asada as well as squash empanadas and king oyster mushroom carnitas enchiladas. Owned by Sophia Marchese and Reid Trapani, the team behind vegan Latin food pop-up Happy Seed, expect La Semilla to seat around 75 people and feature a covered patio. Read more here.

Chefs Market or Chefs Market at Building 7

A line of people some in masks waiting for food from a restaurant stall set up at the first chef’s market last fall 2020 at Pratt Pullman District

Location: Kirkwood, Rogers Street
Who: Atomic Entertainment
Projected opening: Spring 2022

A restaurant incubator inspired by the outdoor pop-up chefs market at the Pratt Pullman District in Kirkwood takes over the Rogers Street space previously slated for Bellsmouth Cafe. Named Chefs Market or Chefs Market at Building 7, the restaurant will host a rotating list of chefs and pop-ups, many of whom regularly take part in the outdoor market at Pratt Pullman District. Read more here.

Bankhead Seafood

Location:Grove Park, 1651 Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway
Who: Michael “Killer Mike” Render, Clifford “T.I.” Harris, and Noel Khalil
Projected opening: Summer 2022

The much anticipated return of west side restaurant institution Bankhead Seafood, backed by Atlanta rappers Killer Mike and T.I. and partner Noel Khalil, reopens this year as a two-story restaurant in the Grove Park neighborhood. Render and Harris, both Douglass High School alum, and Khalil purchased Bankhead Seafood from longtime owner Helen Harden in 2018 following its closure after 50 years serving the neighborhood. The trio plan to keep Harden’s most popular dishes and add a few new items to the menu, including vegan options, a po’boy, and “trap biscuits”. Read more here.

Yet-named Summerhill restaurant from chef Duane Nutter

Location: Summerhill, Georgia Avenue
Who: Chef Duane Nutter and Reginald “Reggie” Washington
Projected opening: Summer 2022

Former One Flew South chef Duane Nutter returns to Atlanta with a new restaurant opening this summer in the Summerhill neighborhood. The yet-named Southern restaurant from Nutter and partner Reginald “Reggie” Washington will reside across the street from Little Bear on Georgia Avenue. Nutter and Washington also own critically acclaimed restaurant Southern National in Mobile, Alabama. Washington says he plans to become a resident of Summerhill.

Sushi Hayakawa

Location: Star Metals, 1050 Howell Mill Road
Who: Chef Atsushi “Art” Hayakawa
Projected opening: Summer/early fall 2022

After 13 years on Buford Highway, chef Atsushi “Art” Hayakawa will relocate his eponymous restaurant Sushi Hayakawa this year to the ground floor of Star Metals on Howell Mill Road. Until construction is completed, the iconic sushi restaurant will remain open on Buford Highway, only closing intermittently prior to its eventual relocation. Unlike the space on Buford Highway, Sushi Hayakawa at Star Metals will feature just eight seats at a sushi counter and focus on a more intimate omakase experience. Read more here.

Bryan Furman BBQ

Pitmaster Bryan Furman leans against a column on the front porch of an old shotgun style house on Bolton Road in Atlanta looking pensive — Pitmaster Bryan Furman on the front porch of his future barbecue restaurant in Riverside.

Location: Riverside, 2102 Bolton Road
Who: Bryan Furman
Projected opening: Fall 2022

A new restaurant owned by pitmaster Bryan Furman is opening this year in Riverside celebrating Black barbecue traditions. The existing house on the Bolton Road property will be torn down to make way for a new building and smokehouse. In addition to indoor and outdoor seating, a takeout window is being added to the restaurant. The menu should feature the same recipes as found at Furman’s former Riverside restaurant B’s Cracklin’, along with new vegan dishes prepared on a smoker and then chargrilled. Read more here.

Hotel Row

Location: South Downtown, Mitchell Street
Who: Multiple local restaurateurs
Projected opening: Fall 2022

Pizza Clementine and Thirteenth Floor cocktail bar and a location of future Summerhill restaurant How Crispy open later this year at the historic Hotel Row redevelopment on Mitchell Street. Newport Holding, the private real estate investment firm redeveloping Hotel Row, intends to fill the old commercial storefronts with local and independent restaurants and retail shops, artist studios, and creative office spaces. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the facades of these buildings remain relatively unchanged since being built over a century ago. Plans are to preserve original details and architecturally significant features of the Hotel Row buildings and adjacent structures on Mitchell Street. Read more here and here.

Oreatha’s and Serenidad

Location: Cascade Heights, 2287 Cascade Road
Who: Chef Deborah Van Trece and Shea Embry
Projected opening: 2022

Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours owner Deborah Van Trece and real estate investor Shea Embry will open two restaurants at the Point in 2022, a series of buildings currently under redevelopment where Cascade Road meets Benjamin E. Mays Drive in southwest Atlanta. Oreatha’s will serve what’s described as a menu of “global cuisine”, while Serenidad will feature Latin soul food on its menu.

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