With the whole of 2026 still ahead of us, it’s simply too difficult to gauge the number of new restaurants that will eventually open around Atlanta this year. But these eight upcoming restaurants opening over the coming months have already captured our attention in 2026.
Babygirl
East Lake
Anticipated early 2026
In early 2026, Whoopsie’s and Pure Quill Superette chef Hudson Rouse will bring East Lake an all-day bistro serving breakfast and lunch. Taking over the former Mix’d Up Burger space at Hosea & 2nd, Babygirl is meant to fill the gap in service hours before restaurants like Gene’s and Poor Hendrix open for dinner. Rouse wants to provide East Lake residents with a place to grab breakfast and lunch – or a glass of wine and a cocktail before 5 p.m. – without having to leave the neighborhood. He thinks of Babygirl as a cafe with diner-like menu options that might include a burger and fries, club sandwich, pasta, and daily specials taking inspiration from Rouse’s world travels.
Sugar Loaf
Reynoldstown
Anticipated early 2026
Owners Nebi and Lindsay Berhane describe their farmers market food stall and upcoming restaurant, Sugar Loaf, as “Southern-inspired” and “globally influenced,” with flavors that tap into their Ethiopian and Albanian heritages. Located across from Atlanta Dairies, breakfast will feature Sugar Loaf’s popular dabo, buttermilk, and pimento cheese-studded biscuits, housemade granola and yogurt bowls, and ricotta and fresh jam toasts. Look for Liege waffles and caramel-topped “sticky buna” infused with Ethiopian coffee on the weekends. Lunch will include an Oklahoma-style fried onion smashburger, sandwiches like the “World Tour” made with Cajun-spiced mushrooms, Ethiopian lentil salads, and a zesty Albanian chicken sandwich. Expect coffee leaning into the flavors and cultures of Ethiopia and Albania, along with a robust tea program and seasonal drinks, such as hot chocolate and variations on the Arnold Palmer.
Some Luck
Poncey-Highland
Anticipated spring 2026
Delays kept Some Luck from opening in 2025, but it’s still on track to open, and that’s all that matters. Chefs Parnass Savang and Rod Lassiter, owners of Summerhill Thai restaurant Talat Market, plan to open their Thai bar by spring. Taking over the Highland Ballroom Lounge adjacent Madeira Park, Some Luck will serve a decidedly Thai-focused menu of bar snacks, noodle soups, wings, and late-night bites inspired by dishes found at street stalls throughout Thailand. Expect quick-fired, stirred cocktails mixed with Thai ingredients and base spirits like rum, as well as pitchers of Singha beer and local beers on draft at the basement-level bar.
Mule Train
South Downtown
Anticipated spring 2026
Nearly a decade after launching one of Atlanta’s first pop-ups, The Plate Sale, husband-and-wife duo Mike and Shyretha Sheats will open their first restaurant, Mule Train, this spring in South Downtown. The restaurant’s name references the place where Mike’s family gathers back home in Oglethorpe, as well as the Civil Rights-era campaign Martin Luther King, Jr. worked on days before his assassination. Identical in all but name, Mule Train will continue The Plate Sale’s culinary ethos, combining Southern fare, local, seasonal ingredients, and hospitality. While the couple hasn’t settled on a final menu, expect Mule Train to include popular dishes from The Plate Sale, like the smoked bologna sandwich and fried quail.
Heritage
Summerhill
Anticipated spring 2026
After operating Heritage Supper Club as a dinner series for the past five years, founder and chef Demetrius Brown will evolve it into a restaurant in Summerhill. Brown, along with his Bread & Butterfly partner, Brandon Blanchard, will open Heritage on Georgia Avenue this spring. From the music to the food, Brown wants to tell a story here, and one that centers on the global roots of the African diaspora. An evening at Heritage will start with drinks in the cocktail lounge, before moving to the dining room for a 10-course tasting menu exploring the cuisines of Black cultures from around the world. The night concludes with dessert in an intimate area of the restaurant. You’re meant to enjoy more than just a meal at Heritage, according to Brown, who calls his new Summerhill restaurant a “full-body experience.”
Broad Street BBQ
South Downtown
Anticipated spring 2026
South Downtown will become the center of World Cup activities in Atlanta this summer, with the spotlight shining on the new restaurants soon to become part of the redevelopment plans for the neighborhood. This includes Broad Street BBQ, owned by Jason Furst and Chef Sam Pinner of Sammy’s in Adair Park. Expect brisket and smoked pork sandwiches and plates at Broad Street, along with other smoked meats paired with sides of mac and cheese, hoecakes, and baked beans. Pinner is playing with the idea of a collard green lasagna, while Furst is working with Sammy’s bar manager, Connor Hammond, to create Broad Street’s cocktail menu. Want a sneak peek of the menu? Order the Uncle’s Sam’s barbecue sandwich at Sammy’s. It features the smoked pork butt Pinner became known for when he and Furst worked together on Bainbridge Island in Washington.
Rough Draft’s Best New Restaurants of 2025
Sargent
Old Fourth Ward
Anticipated spring 2026
Five years after opening Lucian Books & Wine in Buckhead, Jordan Smelt and Katie Barringer will debut their next restaurant together this spring. Located beside 3 Parks Wine Shop on the Eastside Beltline, Sargent takes its name from American portrait artist John Singer Sargent. Smelt and Barringer see Sargent as a more casual, everyday kind of restaurant serving wood-fired dishes, small plates, and cocktails. Unlike the European-leaning wine list at Lucian, Smelt’s wine list at Sargent will favor domestic producers, along with New World vintages from countries like New Zealand and Australia. Sargent will also include an expanded retail section, where Barringer will continue to sell books and magazines on art, music, architecture, food, and fashion.
Kinship
Grant Park
Anticipated fall 2026
A second location of Virginia-Highland’s Kinship Butcher & Sundry will open at the Beacon in Grant Park this fall. Kinship will take over an unoccupied retail space next door to the former Elsewhere Brewing, which closed in 2024 at the Grant Park complex. The expansion into Grant Park will triple Kinship’s current operations, allowing owners Chef Myles Moody and Rachael Pack to build upon the whole-animal butchery production, add a seafood butchery program, and provide more room to stock market shelves with seasonal produce, wine, and local pantry goods. Most significantly, however, the Grant Park location will include a cafe and coffee shop serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with a full bar offering beer, wine, and cocktails.
