Viewed collectively, a season’s openings offer a snapshot of the local dining scene. Here are 10 more enticing new restaurants that also tell us something about where we are as a city that loves to eat out — and where we might be heading.
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Chef George Mendes is opening Agosto in November. The South End restaurant is a reflection of his personal story, encompassing his Portuguese roots and time spent at top restaurants in New York, France, and Spain.Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
Agosto
Chef George Mendes celebrated his Portuguese culinary heritage at New York’s Michelin-starred Aldea, which closed in 2020. When he came to Boston three years later, he picked up the thread at Amar at the Raffles hotel. His new project, Agosto in the South End, offers a more holistic vision, reflecting all of his life’s influences. “My Portuguese heritage is still fundamental to who I am and how I cook, but it’s so deeply embedded, I don’t need any dish to announce it,” he says. For Agosto, slated to open in November, he will draw as much from his time working with mentor David Bouley, and at restaurants such as Arpège in France and El Bulli in Spain. But his main inspiration may be where he is right now: New England. Tasting menus (starting at five courses for $150) are at the heart of the experience, driven by seasonal ingredients and Mendes’s relationships with local fishermen, farmers, and producers. There will also be a la carte options. Agosto is so personal, it is named after both the month he and wife/business partner Suzanne met and their son; an adjacent bakery-cafe, to follow early next year, will be called Little Sister, a family nickname for their daughter.
1673 Washington St., South End, Boston, www.agostoboston.com
Jamal and Manal Abu-Rubieh have been running the OG Brookline Lunch in Cambridge since 1988. Now the family is behind a new branch in South Boston.Brookline Lunch
Brookline Lunch Southie
Beloved for its baklava pancakes and welcoming spirit, Brookline Lunch has been open for forever in Cambridge, run since 1988 by Jamal and Manal Abu-Rubieh with their seven children. Now the restaurant spreads its wings to South Boston, newly opened at the former L Street Diner space. The Cambridge menu folds diner favorites and the family’s Palestinian heritage together in a warm embrace. The still-evolving South Boston menu looks similar (yes, baklava pancakes are here). But there are some new dishes, too, including banana Biscoff pancakes, “Southie’s biggest” breakfast burrito, and labneh toast with Palestinian salad. The same family is bringing Brookline’s Busy Bee back to life. Affordable dining spots with delicious, singular, personal food and a friendly touch: Every neighborhood is hungry for this.
108 L St., South Boston, 617-315-7273, Instagram @blinesouthie
The Coda Restaurant Group, behind Italian restaurant SRV (shown here: ricotta gnudi) and others, will explore French-Canadian fare at Celine.Joanne Rathe
Celine
Portland, Maine, who? Montreal is Boston’s best dining suburb. Alas, we can’t always get there to explore the city’s restaurants. But a taste of Montreal is coming to us, in the form of Celine, a French Canadian-inspired restaurant opening Sept. 28 in Fort Point. It’s from the Coda Restaurant Group, behind Gufo, The Salty Pig, SRV, and the aforementioned Baleia. It’s been a while since the Boston area had a restaurant that paid explicit homage to cuisine from north of the border: Café du Pays, run by the Mamaleh’s team in Cambridge and closed by the pandemic, might have been the last. And it’s been a while since a restaurant occupied the space that was Ming Tsai’s Blue Dragon. It’s time: Come for salmon rillettes; chicken with chanterelles, gravy, and fries; cassoulet; and, of course, poutine, from one of the area’s most reliable restaurant groups.
324 A St., Fort Point, Boston, 617-936-4397, www.celineboston.com
Hawksmoor isn’t just a clone of the steakhouse’s UK properties. It has its own local flavor, showcased in dishes like the lobster crumpet.JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE/Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
Hawksmoor
Boston loves a steakhouse, and now Boston has a new one to love. Hawksmoor opened this month. The buzzy British export serves up luxe cuts of beef, but also fish and chips, sticky toffee pudding, and Sunday roasts. The local twist: a crumpet, that quintessential teatime griddle cake, piled high with lobster, drawn butter poured over it tableside. (Stay tuned, too, for the Lyons Group’s English alehouse-inspired Harry Hare’s, in the former Beacon Hill Pub space.) Support local, independent restaurants always. But Boston has become an attractive market for outside operators looking to expand, and expand they will continue to do. So when one arrives with something of substance to offer in return — say, a well-run, well-conceived restaurant that’s more than just a clone, with enjoyable food and drink, that puts workers’ well-being toward the top of its manifesto — it’s worth recognizing.
15 Necco St., Fort Point, Boston, 781-208-8300, www.thehawksmoor.com/us
In Quincy, Jūni has figured out a way to serve reasonably priced omakase to eat in or take out in a specially designed box.FWA Creative
Jūni
In recent years, omakase restaurants have opened apace, serving chefs’ tasting menus of sushi, sashimi, and other Japanese-inspired fare. These meals are refined, pristine, and often attached to staggering price tags. As I sit at the latest counter, I wonder at the diners around me: How can so many afford to spend this much on a meal, regularly enough to keep these restaurants open? Now, in Quincy, there is a new omakase arrival: Jūni, a partnership between chef Chris Chung of Momi Nonmi and Kenny Leung of Tori Jiro. It makes omakase make sense. The tasting menu features 12 different seafood bites for $69 per person. Eat at the casual restaurant (which doesn’t take reservations, but does offer add-ons like uni and wagyu for an extra charge), or get it to go in a beautiful box with separate compartments for each preparation. Anyone who has followed Chung from Uni to AKA Bistro to Momi Nonmi is familiar with his skill and knowledge. Jūni puts that forward in a package that recognizes the constrained budgets and desire to eat on the couch in PJs that are also very 2026, in tandem with our go-out-and-spend, eating-is-entertainment culture.
1211 Hancock St., Quincy, 617-516-3801, Instagram @juni.restaurant
Lamb meatballs at Kri Kri Grill, in (soon to be) dining hot spot Chelmsford.Virginia Nash for The Boston Globe
Kri Kri Grill
Welcome to Chelmsford, a magnet for Boston’s top chefs, said no one yet. But Merrimack Valley, with its (very) relative affordability, is increasingly attractive to new real estate buyers and business owners. See: Kri Kri Grill, from chef (and Chelmsford native) Brendan Pelley, who opened the casual Greek restaurant after winning accolades at Xenia Hospitality Group properties including Bar Vlaha and Kaia. Add it to the likes of Big Al’s Pizza in Billerica, from chef Tim Maslow (Ribelle, Strip-T’s); Damgeuda, the Haverhill Korean restaurant from former Tasting Counter chefs; and Joanie’s Pizza, also in Chelmsford, from Craigie on Main alums — with more to come, I’ll wager. At Kri Kri Grill, the menu includes avgolemono, spiced lamb meatballs, gyros, and “Papou’s world famous spinach pie,” along with other classics. For dessert: Greek coffee ice cream, sour cherry-thyme sorbet, and Chelmsford ginger ale floats.
18 Boston Road, Suite 200, Chelmsford, 978-941-4884, www.krikrigrill.com
The team behind Somerville’s Spoke Wine Bar (above) has spawned a second restaurant: Liars, where there is something interesting about each dish on the menu.Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
Liars
It’s good to see Somervillains keep on Somervillaining, and here is Liars, from the people behind Davis Square’s longtime Spoke Wine Bar. In Teele Square, where True Bistro formerly operated, Liars is bigger than Spoke but preserves a similar spirit of extra-cleverness with influences from around the world. There is something interesting about each dish on the menu: fiddlehead fern chips and pecans, Coca Cola-braised chicken wing terrine, cold sesame-cashew broth somen, beef tongue with peppers and cheese (a tribute to the steak bomb), and more. The drink list follows suit. It’s always a sincere delight to see a new, independent, risk-taking restaurant open its doors. These days, I take it for granted exactly never.
1153 Broadway, Teele Square, Somerville, 617-718-0231, www.restaurantliars.com
Marzae Cellar + Provisions owners Eliot Martin and Katie Luczai started their winery in Acton in 2023, using sustainable methods and Northeast grapes. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Marzae Cellar + Provisions
Inside Boston Public Market, this wine bar and retail shop proves Massachusetts can be a viable force in the world of natural wine. Owners Eliot Martin and Katie Luczai started their winery, Marzae, in Acton in 2023, using sustainable methods and Northeast grapes. Now we have a place to sample their handiwork, along with local, seasonal dishes from chef Jonathon Kirk. As I’ve said before and will probably say again: A strong local wine scene can inspire a strong local food scene, and vice versa. It’s good to see this symbiosis in action on the East Coast.
100 Hanover St., Downtown, Boston, www.marzaewine.com
Dishes at a Phaeng & Phiu pop-up last year at Merai in Brookline. Find chef Veo Robert’s Lao cuisine at Shore Leave for the next few months. Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Phaeng & Phiu
Chef Veo Robert, who has worked at restaurants such as Radius, Menton, Myers + Chang, Bar Mezzana, and Foxglove Terrace, launched the pop-up Phaeng & Phiu last year. Named for his parents, it showcases the food of his native Laos. To eat it, one had to be in the right place at the right time: Phaeng & Phiu has popped up at restaurants such as Merai, Rubato, and Vee Vee. Now it is much easier to catch, in residence at Shore Leave in the South End until the end of the year, when the tiki bar will close. Come for a menu of goi pa (kingfish crudo), krapow gai dumplings, green papaya salad, grilled prawns, and more — and hope this is a prelude to a permanent space for Phaeng & Phiu. Boston’s Asian food scene grows ever richer, often through pop-ups like this one that give diners access to chef-driven food from Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, and beyond.
11 William E. Mullins Way, South End, Boston, www.phaengandphiu.com
After making his way to finalist on “Top Chef,” Rubato owner Laurence Louie is expanding the hours and menu at his Hong Kong-style cafe in Quincy.
Rubato
This modern take on a traditional Hong Kong cafe has gained a serious following since opening four years ago in Quincy — and chef-owner Laurence Louie’s recent success as a “Top Chef” finalist only turned up the volume. It’s always a pleasure to come here for fried chicken bolo baos, rice rolls, and specials re-creating Louie’s TV meals. But it’s not always easy to slip in a visit before the spot closes at 4 p.m. Occasional Rubato @ Night events have been a hit, and they are about to become a way of life. Starting Oct. 9, Rubato will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The menu is growing, too (and with greater attention to dietary restrictions). It will offer several variations on clay pot rice (“on a selfish level, I just want to be able to eat it all the time,” Louie says), buttery and with a crispy bottom, with toppings like cha siu, egg yolk, and Chinese greens. There will also be mapo tofu, a fried fish sandwich on a steamed chile crisp bao (McRubato, we’re here for it), black sesame custard HK French toast, and more.
412 Hancock St., Quincy, 617-481-2049, www.rubato-food.com
Devra First can be reached at devra.first@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram @devra_first.
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