The 17 Most Anticipated Spring Restaurant Openings in LA

This spring is shaping up to be one of the biggest restaurant opening bonanzas in recent Los Angeles memory. Not only are longtime local chefs like Ori Menashe and Mei Lin offering new experiences, but cities like San Francisco (with Daniel Patterson’s Alta) and New York City have begun sending their best stuff to LA as well. The result is a wide-spanning spring restaurant explosion, from the Spanish-leaning Otoño in buzzy Highland Park to Adam Perry Lang’s dry-aged steakhouse in the thick of Hollywood. Here’s what to get excited about this spring and early summer in LA.

Bavel

Location: 500 S. Mateo St., Arts District

Bestia

Major Players: Ori Menashe, Genevieve Gergis

Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis are at it again with Bavel, a pan-Middle Eastern restaurant that plays to Ori’s Israeli strengths without being bound to one country. Expect fired-to-order pitas, hummus, and a whole lot more from the team behind Bestia, with an expected opening that could happen as soon as this month.

Projected Opening: April 2018

APL Steakhouse

Location: 1680 N. Vine St., Hollywood

Farley Elliott

Major Player: Adam Perry Lang

Adam Perry Lang is almost ready to debut his first Los Angeles restaurant, a Hollywood steakhouse with a semi-secret downstairs dry-aging room, hand-forged knives, and an upscale ambiance that’s sure to turn heads. Inside, Lang is working a menu that focuses on red meat while also offering french classics, some pastas and seafoods, and wine galore — in other words, the perfect restaurant for Hollywood’s new media set.

Projected opening: May 2018

Simone

Location: 447 S. Hewitt St., Arts District

Aliza J. Sokolow

Major Players: Jessica Largey, Bruno Bagbeni

Former Manresa lead Jessica Largey is putting the finishing touches on her expansive Arts District space after much delay, and hopes to open up by the end of spring or early summer. When the expansive property does come online, expect a lively atmosphere in the main dining room, a coursed-out six-seat chef’s bar, and Duello, a fine cocktail bar tucked inside the whole thing.

Projected Opening: Late spring 2018

Tel

Location: 2231 S. Barrington, Sawtelle Japantown

Dylan + Jeni

Major Players: Jessica Koslow

There may be no more anticipated restaurant in all of Los Angeles than Tel, a pan-Jewish restaurant that dwarfs chef/owner Jessica Koslow’s tiny Sqirl in Silver Lake. This Westside-ish arrival will offer everything from wood-oven bagels to Israeli food to Eastern European comfort food, with the backing of California’s prodigious produce purveyors and with help from some of the more in-tune designers around. As for timing, Koslow is keen to get things right rather than rush, so stay tuned for more.

Projected Opening: Summer 2018

Guerrilla Tacos

Location: 2016 E. 7th St., Arts District

Google Maps

Major Player: Wes Avila

From cart to truck to cookbook to brick and mortar, it seems that Wes Avila can do it all. His latest magic trick is a set to arrive in late spring or early summer 2018, a fully-realized restaurant that expands on the modern Los Angeles Mexican food themes he and his team already do so well. Expect tacos of course, as well as drinks and an expanded menu of favorites. Build-out of the former La Reyna space is moving fast, so look for something this spring.

Projected Opening: Late spring 2018

Badmaash Fairfax

Location: 418 N. Fairfax, Los Angeles

Badmaash

Major Players: Pawan Mahendro, Nakul Mahendro, Arjun Mahendro

The family affair that is Badmaash keeps rolling along over on Fairfax, with an in-progress build-out that is just weeks away from completion. The Mahendro brothers and their chef father Pawan are hard at work opening up their new storefront on what is perhaps the hippest drag in all of Los Angeles, bringing modern Indian food to the same drag as Jon & Vinny’s, Canter’s and Supreme. Staff is being hired now, so expect an opening practically any day now.

Projected Opening: May 2018

Tesse

Location: 8500 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

Tesse [official photo]

Major Players: Raphael Francois, Bill Chait

Tesse is one of the first big new standalone Bill Chait restaurant projects following his departure from Sprout, and it comes with a few big names. Acclaimed French chef Raphael Francois comes from Restaurant Le DeSales in Washington D.C., while pastry chef Sally Camacho is a star in her own right. Expect classic French and European dishes done with California flair, and an opulent dining room along the Sunset Strip.

Projected Opening: April 2018

Petit Trois Valley

Location: 13705 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks

Elizabeth Daniels

Major Player: Ludo Lefebvre

Chef Ludo Lefebvre has truly found a home for his French cooking personality with Petit Trois, the small strip mall space off Highland that garnered national attention when it opened. Now he’s expanding into the Valley with plans to add seating, evolve the menu into a more robust bistro, offer both a kids menu and a full bar (plus private dining space), and more. Look for an opening in a matter of weeks from this large-scale Ludo project.

Projected Opening: April 2018

Cedd Moses Union Station Project

Location: 800 N. Alameda St., Downtown

Matthew Kang

Major Players: Cedd Moses/Eric Needleman, David Lentz, Eric Alperin

The 213 Hospitality team is known for some of Downtown’s most dynamic nightlife spaces, but now they’re moving even more firmly into the bright, all-day restaurant space with a gorgeous Art Deco and Streamline Moderne property tucked right inside Union Station. The Hungry Cat’s David Lentz and cocktail maestro Eric Alperin are along for the ride, making this one seriously star-studded opening.

Projected Opening: June 2018

Milk Bar Melrose

Location: 7150 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles

Milk Bar

Major Player: Christina Tosi

America’s most beloved sweets shop expands to Los Angeles with a big new location right along Melrose, and Christina Tosi couldn’t be happier about it all. The smiling pastry queen has been doing one-off events and promo for the place for months, and now all those cookies, drinks, and pies are closer than ever.

Projected Opening: Late spring 2018

Slab BBQ

Location: 8136 W. 3rd St., Mid-City West

Clay Larsen

Major Players: Burt Bakman, H.Wood Group

Trudy’s Underground Barbecue founder Burt Bakman is moving into a space of his own thanks to the newly restaurant-focused H.Wood Group team. This West Third Street property will be a home for all things brisket and ribs, with a variety of Texas-leaning sides to boot. Expect drinks, both indoor and patio seating, and long lines when it’s all finally revealed.

Projected Opening: May 2018

Barbette

Location: 7511 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

Google Maps

Major Players: Jared Meisler, Sean MacPherson, Robert Flaherty

Barbette has been a long time coming for West Hollywood, but owners Jared Meisler and Sean MacPherson are always keen to do things the right way, the first time. It’s why they’ve got nearby hits like Jones and The Pikey on their hands, and why they’ve brought in New York city chef Robert Flaherty to oversee the casual French-leaning menu.

Projected Opening: May 2018

Alta

Location: 5365 West Adams Blvd., West Adams

Alta [official photo]

Major Players: Daniel Patterson

Daniel Patterson has become familiar with Los Angeles through his work as part of Locol in Watts, but now he’s moving in with a new outpost of his San Francisco restaurant Alta. The upscale casual California-focused project will also feature an attached coffee bar, and will hire extensively from the surrounding community.

Projected Opening: May 2018

Nightshade

Location: 923 E. 3rd St., Arts District

Dylan + Jeni

Major Players: Mei Lin

Top Chef winner Mei Lin is eyeing a late spring or early summer debut for her first standalone project Nightshade in the Arts District. The expansive space will feature a pan-Asian menu infused with modern touches and California sensibilities, with Lin herself calling the experience “fine food in a casual setting.”

Projected Opening: June 2018

Otoño

Location: 5715 N. Figueroa, Highland Park

Otoño [official photo]

Major Players: Teresa Montaño, Vince Nguyen

Partners Vince Nguyen and Teresa Montaño have a likely future hit on their hands with Otoño, the incoming Highland Park Spanish restaurant that’s still in build-out mode along the hottest dining corridor in Los Angeles. Expect a late-spring arrival for all things tapas, conservas, and wine.

Projected Opening: Late spring 2018

Five Leaves

Location: 4845 Fountain, East Hollywood

Loopnet

Major Players: Jud Mongell, partners Zeb Stewart and Mark Hendrix

One of Brooklyn’s most enduringly popular cafes, Five Leaves, is coming for East Hollywood later this spring. Tucking into a corner spot around the corner from the Scientology Center, this Art Deco space will become a bright, airy Australian-influenced all-day restaurant soon, which plays perfectly to LA’s existing strengths.

Projected Opening: June 2018

Ippudo Ramen

Location: 1403 2nd St., Santa Monica

Ippudo Ramen [Official Photo]

Major Players: Ippudo, Panda Express Restaurant Group

One of the most famous ramen names in America lands just off the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica later this spring, as Ippudo Ramen lock into a space along 2nd Street. The casual Japanese shop also offers starters like pork buns and the like, and should fit in nicely with the rest of the fast casual food crew in that part of the neighborhood.

Projected Opening: May 2018

• An Eater’s Guide to Los Angeles [ELA]