9 Atlanta Restaurant Openings to Get Excited About This Spring

Spring begins Sunday, March 20, and its arrival ushers in a new season of restaurant openings throughout Atlanta. As restaurants adapt to the constantly evolving dining landscape and changes to service brought on by the pandemic, owners preparing to debut new establishments around town are battling frustrating constructions delays, equipment shortages, and permitting issues that continue to push planned opening dates further out. But a few long-awaited restaurants are finally nearing the finish line and should open within a matter of weeks this spring.

Eater is actively tracking the progress of the following nine restaurants with anticipated spring debuts serving everything from cochinita pibil and king oyster mushroom carnitas enchiladas to wood-fired pizzas and seafood salads and sandwiches.

D Boca N Boca

Nathaly Tabares Photography & Off The Record Media

Location: Summerhill, 39 Georgia Avenue
Who: Helio Bernal
Projected opening: Late March/early April

D Boca N Boca, a Mexican gastropub from the Real Mexican Vittles mobile kitchen owner Helio Bernal, just received the certificate of occupancy from the city and is awaiting its liquor license before swinging the doors open on Georgia Avenue. Bernal wants people to walk into his restaurant and “feel and taste all of Mexico,” from Sinaloa and Veracruz to Mexico City and the Yucatan. Like his pop-up, the menu for D Boca N Boca includes street corn, street tacos, and tamales, but dishes here also lean into Bernal’s family roots, like relleno negro (black turkey stew) and cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork). Expect plenty of fresh margaritas and other tequila cocktails from the bar, too.

Oreatha’s

Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours

Location: Cascade Heights, 2287 Cascade Road
Who: Chef Deborah VanTrece and Shea Embry
Projected opening: April

Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours owner Deborah VanTrece and real estate investor Shea Embry are now in the process of hiring for the first of two restaurants opening at the Point. Located where Cascade Road meets Benjamin E. Mays Drive in southwest Atlanta, Oreatha’s serves what VanTrece describes as a menu of “global cuisine”. Look for Serenidad to open later this year centering its menu on Latin soul food.

Spiller Park Coffee

Spiller Park Coffee

Location: Moores Mill Shopping Center, 2275 Marietta Boulevard
Who: Dale Donchey
Projected opening: April

Construction on his third coffee shop has taken longer than expected, but owner Dale Donchey is undeterred and hopes to finally open the Moores Mill Shopping Center location in the next few weeks. Look for a similar layout inside to that of Spiller Park in Toco Hills, but with the addition of walk-up window outside dubbed the “Coach’s Express”. Donchey plans to add a few new coffee drinks to the menu, and with a larger kitchen more food, including a variety of toasts, grain bowls, local pastries, and bagels and bagel sandwiches from his pop-up Dear Friend, Bagels.

Leave of Absence

ASD Sky

Location: The Interlock, Howell Mill Road
Who: Slater Hospitality
Projected opening: April

Mediterranean resort-style pool, bar, and restaurant combination L.O.A (Leave of Absence) is preparing for its hotly anticipated debut atop the Interlock complex on Howell Mill Road this spring. Owned by Slater Hospitality, the group behind Ponce City Market rooftop amusement park Skyline Park and restaurant Nine Mile Station, the sprawling 300-seat restaurant serves “coastal European” dishes and features a garden-like outdoor bar and lounge called the Grove and a pool with views of the Atlanta skyline and an indoor bar.

Fogons and Lions

Fogons and Lions

Fogons and Lions

Location: Alpharetta, 10 Roswell Street
Who: Chef Julio Delgado
Projected opening: Late April/May

Chef Julio Delgado brings Spanish-Latin restaurant Fogón and Lions to Alpharetta this spring, a restaurant specializing in open-hearth cooking and dishes rooted in the culinary traditions of Spain, Mexico, South America, and his native Puerto Rico. The menu should include a variety of pintxos, tapas, and ceviches as well as paella, chicken croquetas, charcuterie, and shrimp tacos. Delgado also plans to prominently feature churrascos on the menu here (marinated, grilled meats often found in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.) Rum and tequila drinks dominate the bar menu, with wines leaning into Spanish and South American producers.

Fishmonger

SRS Real Estate

Location: Poncey-Highland, Ponce de Leon/North Highland Avenues
Who: Skip Englebrecht and chef Nhan Le
Projected opening: Late April/May

Signage is now up at Fishmonger. Skip Englebrecht and chef Nhan Le, the owners behind 8ARM and Octopus Bar, finally open their next venture together this spring, a seafood market and restaurant called Fishmonger. Located at the Plaza on Ponce complex, expect regional seafood sold retail and wholesale as well as a menu of whitefish salads, bottarga, oysters, soups, and sandwiches.

La Semilla

Happy Seed

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

Opening at Modera Reynoldstown, expect the menu from La Semilla to focus on 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, La Semilla seats around 75 people and features a covered patio.

La Chiquiada

La Chiquiada

Location: Decatur, 118 West Trinity Place
Who: Catherine Zuber
Projected opening: May

Owned by Catherine Zuber, La Chiquiada is opening this spring in the same building as co-working space WeWork for breakfast tacos, conchas, and coffee in the morning and street tacos, chile relleno, citrus-marinated flank steak, and roast chicken dinners in the evening. Happy Hour here features snacks paired with wines from northern California as well as cocktails, including a margarita, a cucumber gimlet, and a take on the gin fizz. Look for a Mexican-inspired weekend brunch, too.

Humble Pie

Praxis3

Location: The Interlock, Howell Mill Road
Who: Chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips
Projected opening: Late May/early June

Chefs Ron Hsu and Aaron Phillips, the owners behind Lazy Betty and Juniper Cafe, open Humble Pie later this spring, a restaurant serving whole wheat and sourdough wood-fired pizzas, pot pies, and a variety of dessert pies. Expect wood-fired pizzas like broccoli and cheddar and loaded baked potato on the menu here paired with cocktails, beer, and mostly natural and biodynamic wines from the bar. Design plans call for a variety of seating arrangements at Humble Pie, including a counter overlooking the wood-burning pizza oven in the kitchen, a bar and mezzanine, and a patio with an indoor/outdoor bar.

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