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Despite a season of wet weather and cold temperatures, sunny days are here again for Los Angeles’s restaurant scene. The city’s dynamic dining ecosystem is always ebbing and flowing with big openings and sometimes-surprising closures, but spring is usually among the area’s busiest moments for restaurant growth. LA has already seen a glut of new openings just since the start of the year, and there are lots more on the very near horizon. From a big-deal Enrique Olvera opening in Venice to the arrival of LA’s next true Portuguese restaurant hangout, here are eight of the most anticipated openings slated for this spring around greater Los Angeles.
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Atla
Location: 1025 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice
Major Players: Enrique Olvera, Casamata
The Situation: Venice denizens will be treated to an upscale neighborhood Mexican restaurant when Atla opens this spring. The Abbot Kinney restaurant from chef Enrique Olvera will take its culinary cues from the New York outpost, so expect classic fonda dishes like epazote-herbed quesadillas, Mexican-style chicken soup, and brunch items like huevos rancheros with hoja santa on the menu. Atla will span 7,200 square feet with 140 seats split between an indoor dining room and an outdoor patio — and will be world-famous chef Olvera’s third restaurant in Los Angeles.
Projected Opening: Late Spring 2023
Barra Santos
Location: 1215 Cypress Avenue, Cypress Park
Major Players: Mike Santos, Melissa López, Last Word Hospitality
The Situation: Los Angeles is closer than ever to Barra Santos, a specifically Portuguese hangout that is coming to Cypress Park in a matter of weeks. The restaurant, named for co-owner Mike Santos (who has partnered up with Last Word Hospitality, where he’s already the director of operations), will offer dishes like grilled chorizo with aioli, piri piri chicken, salt cod fritters, and more under chef and partner Melissa López, with Evelyn Goreshnik on to oversee the drinks. The arrival is a big deal for LA, giving the city a true Portuguese restaurant rather than the myriad pan-Iberian or outright Spanish spots that have been popping up everywhere instead.
Projected Opening: Mid-Spring 2023
Best Bet
Location: 12565 Washington Boulevard, Culver City
Major Players: Jason Neroni
The Situation: The former A-Frame space in Culver City has been fully facelifted by Jason Neroni of Venice’s Rose Cafe, with plans to open in weeks as a pizza-focused, family-friendly restaurant called Best Bet. Neroni plans to serve an all-day menu of California Italian fare, from rotisserie lamb shoulder to a few pasta plates, with pizza as the retro-cool restaurant’s primary focus. Expect a variety of styles, including wood-fired pies, New York Style thin-crust pizza, and Sicilian square slices. Brunch is sure to be a weekend hit, and of course will include pancakes.
Projected Opening: Mid-April 2023
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Smoke and Fire / Villains Brewery
Location: 549 S. Anaheim Boulevard, Anaheim
Major Players: Brad Kominek, Isaias Hernandez
The Situation: Orange County’s former sprawling Leisuretown development is primed for a comeback thanks to a seasoned brewer and the man behind a collection of meaty, fire-focused restaurants across Southern California. The highly anticipated rebuild will feature on-site brewing and drinking, an upscale steakhouse (complete with an on-site barbecue smoker), and outdoor lounge areas for all-day dining, wood-fired pizzas and other pop-ups — plus there’s a pool. This one is shaping up to be a very big deal for white-hot Orange County’s dining scene.
Projected Opening: Late Spring 2023
Jemma di Mare
Location: 11677 San Vicente Boulevard, Brentwood
Major Players: Jackson Kalb
The Situation: Jackson Kalb is best known for Venice’s Ospi and El Segundo’s Jame Enoteca, where he caters to eager crowds of pasta and wine-loving Westsiders. He’s soon to grow that audience with an upcoming summer opening in Hollywood, but first there is Brentwood, where East Coast-style seafood shop Jemma di Mare will offer dishes that range from fried and raw seafood preparations to lots of pasta and Boston-to-New Jersey Italian staples.
Projected Opening: Late April 2023
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Bar Monette
Location: 109 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica
Major Players: Sean MacDonald
The Situation: Star Toronto chef Sean MacDonald has hit the shores of Santa Monica with plans for pizza, share plates, caviar, and heavy pours of fun wine. Expect a jewel box of a hangout with hints of luxury from MacDonald, part of an influx of cool new Santa Monica dining options that are together reclaiming the usually-sleepy seaside city.
Projected Opening: Mid-Spring 2023
Baroo
Location: 905 E. 2nd Street, Arts District
Major Players: Chef Kwang Uh, Mina Park
The Situation: The celebrated Baroo had a solid three-year run before closing in 2018. Since then, chef Kwang Uh and wife/business partner Mina Park wondered what the shuttered Baroo would become if turned into a full-service restaurant pairing coursed dishes with Korean-inspired beverages. This June, Baroo 2.0 will actually come to life inside a 1,800-square-foot Arts District space that will move beyond the casual original. Uh has plans for a sub-$100 tasting menu with optional alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in the same Arts District corridor that’s home to Camphor, Manuela, and LA Cha Cha Chá.
Projected Opening: June 2023
Sushi Sonagi
Location: 1425 Artesia Boulevard, Gardena
Major Players: Daniel Son
The Situation: Former Kura sushi chef and current operator of Katsu Sando Daniel Son was secretly one of LA’s top omakase chefs, serving a Korean-inflected extravaganza at his family’s former West Hollywood restaurant. The dream was always for Son to open his own high-end omakase spot, and he’s finally found the perfect place for it. Located in the former Kanpachi space in Gardena, the South Bay native wants to bring a new kind of sushi experience to the neighborhood, offering just a small number of seats per night at around $200 a person. Construction is already well underway and it should open by mid-to-late April if all goes well. South Bay diners aching for an inventive, new-school take on omakase will have their destination once Sushi Sonagi debuts.
Projected Opening: Mid-April 2023