THE WEEKLY BITE

Ten New Restaurants, From a NYC Fish Market Remake to Chicago Butter Chicken Empanadas

By Eric Barton | Sept. 10, 2025

Aubergine Kitchen

AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.

Eric Barton The Adventurist

Among this week’s biggest restaurant openings across the country, we’ve got steakhouse smoke in Miami, butter-chicken empanadas in Chicago, and a historic seafood market pop-up in New York.

Add in Korean hot pot outside Atlanta, a Filipino brunch indoors in Portland, and a seafood boil parked in Houston, and you’ve got a week of some pretty delicious-sounding new spots.

Here are 10 newcomers worth a reservation.

Aubergine Kitchen Meridian Idaho

Aubergine Kitchen — Meridian, ID

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The Utah-born fast-casual brand brought its bowls, smoothies, and wraps across state lines to Idaho. Like the other locations in the regional chain, the Meridian outpost delivers greens and proteins that actually taste like something you want.

Chef Jared and Company Manistee

Chef Jared & Company — Manistee, MI

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Chef Jared Funk, long a private-chef name, now has a 48-seat restaurant in his hometown. Expect scratch bread, seasonal produce, and a menu that feels more like a thoughtful dinner party than a night out.

Fulton Fish Market Experience New York City

Fulton Fish Market Experience — Manhattan, NY

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The old Fulton Fish Market has been reimagined as a pop-up on Front Street with events from yoga to cocktail parties. It’s part edible museum, part working fishmonger, and promises to make Seaport feel alive again.

Gong Café — New Braunfels Texas

Gong Café — New Braunfels, TX

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Sushi and hibachi just landed in a town better known for bratwurst and barbecue. The menu ranges from ramen bowls to bento boxes, and it’s proof that Japanese flavors work just fine along the Guadalupe.

Ila's Chicago

Íla’s — Chicago, IL

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Íla’s is now open in River North with butter-chicken-stuffed empanadas, birria pierogi, and lumpia that wrap confit pork cheek. It’s a global comfort menu that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Marlow East New York City

Marlow East — New York, NY

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This Upper East Side spot makes sou-vide trout and Carolina-spiced chicken feel like luxuries. It’s stylish enough to impress but comfortable enough to want to come back.

The Ocean Club Martha’s Vineyard

Ocean Club — Martha’s Vineyard

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A former bank on Martha’s Vineyard has been turned into a fine-dining seafood spot. Chef Marc Orfaly leads the kitchen with pastas and ocean-leaning plates that suit the island view.

Saint-Pierre — Raleigh, NC

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From the team behind Oakwood Pizza Box comes a wine bar backed by chef Vivian Howard and a serious sommelier. The food holds its own, but it’s the bottles that make this feel like Raleigh finally got the wine bar it deserved.

Spring 2nd Branch Restaurant Marietta

Spring 2nd Branch — Marietta, GA

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Chef Brian So followed his Michelin-praised Spring with a second location, aptly named Spring 2nd Branch, just down the road. The Korean comfort-food menu focuses on noodles, soups, stir-frys, and braises like savory oxtail. Wash it down with rice wine, soju, Korean beers, and wines picked by sommelier Daniel Crawford.

Yaba’s Bagels Dunwoody, GA

Yaba’s Bagels — Dunwoody, GA

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Yaba’s brought a za’atar and labneh-drizzled bagel shop to Dunwoody—think bagels with date-syrup walnut tops and spreadable nostalgia, tucked into the old 101 Bagel Cafe footprint. Owner Lena Abdallah incorporated the recipes of her father's bakeries that she grew up in but then added her own takes, with everything from Mediterranean spiced bagels to a Hotlanta sandwich with bacon, egg, and hot honey.

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