It’s not everyday that us New Yorkers get to experience barbecue straight from two of Texas’ brightest stars right in our backyard—just in time for summer. That’ll change when Kirbee’s opens in Greenpoint this August, a collaborative effort of smoked meats and puddings from Chuck Charnicart of Barbs B Q in Lockhart and Jonny White of Goldee’s in Fort Worth. But this list isn’t just about New York’s luck: This summer also holds the promise of funky pizzas with natural wine in Los Angeles, a home for Taiwanese cooking in Louisville, and a Haitian tasting menu in D.C.
We track restaurant openings year-round in preparation for our annual Best New Restaurants list. This summer, plan a trip around these six.
This list is organized by projected opening date, which are subject to change. Check restaurant websites and Instagram accounts for updates.
Pho Nam
Miami, FL
Opening: July
We are already huge fans of Miami’s Tâm Tâm (a Best New Restaurant of 2024), a spot that dishes out crave-worthy Vietnamese drinking food paired with natural wines in a funky dining room. In July, owners chef Tam Pham and sommelier Harrison Ramhofer will debut their second concept, Pho Nam, in Downtown Miami with a focus on more traditional Vietnamese cooking, with a spotlight on pho. Pham describes Tâm Tâm as the present and future of Vietnamese cuisine, while Pho Nam celebrates the food he grew up with, in particular channeling the vibe of an old school Saigon noodle shop. The menu will serve five different phos with add-ons like tendon, marrow, short ribs, and beef meatballs, plus more traditional dishes like banh trang nuong, banh khot (miniature filled pancakes), and banh beo. Specialty coffees and teas like Jasmine kalamansi green tea and roasted rice oolong milk tea with guava cheese foam will be available to drink. The opening date was determined by Pham’s family thây bói (psychic or fortune teller), and the duo plans to stick to it.
Sargent
Atlanta, GA
Opening: July
Sargent, an American brasserie with wood-fired fare from chef Jason Paolini in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward, is the latest from the team behind Lucian Books and Wine, one of our Best New Restaurants of 2022. The space, which is much larger than owners Katie Barriner, Jordan Smelt, and Mickey Mixson’s first restaurant, backs up to the Belt Line with a connected outdoor patio, making it a convenient stop for a roast chicken club sandwich for lunch or poached steelhead trout with truffled lentils for dinner. Wine will still be a major focus, like at Lucian, but also expect more cocktail offerings from the bar. The modern digs, located in the same development as the Forth Hotel, were designed by Atlanta-based firm Digs Architecture and Design. Don’t worry, there will still be plenty of books, found in the dedicated retail section.
TANA
Louisville, KY
Opening: July
After first announcing the opening in late 2024, chef Ming Pu is finally opening his much-anticipated Taiwanese American restaurant in Louisville’s Germantown neighborhood. TANA (an acronym for “Taiwanese New American”) celebrates the food of Pu’s native Taiwan while incorporating influence from his culinary career in the American South. Think riffs on regional Taiwanese and Cantonese classics with dishes like mapo tofu cavatelli with Sichuan pork ragu, three cup tuna tartare with scallion pancake, and the TFC, a whole semi-deboned, fried chicken. For dessert, the fun continues whether with brown butter egg tarts or a five-spice babka bread pudding, a reminder of the European bakeries Pu frequented growing up with his mom in Kaohsiung.
Itiyah
Washington, D.C.
Opening: August
When Itiyah from chef Sebastian Salomon opens right off Dupont Circle, it’ll join the ranks of other newly opened, high-flying Caribbean restaurants in D.C. like Isla and chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Dogon. But while both of those restaurants explore the cuisine of the Caribbean more broadly, Itiyah hones in on chef Salomon’s native Haiti and his grandmother’s cooking. (The name Itiyah is “Hayiti,” an antiquated spelling of the nation’s name, spelled backwards.) The 20-seat restaurant will serve a tasting menu inspired by the country’s ten regions, opening with warm coconut milk brioche and housemade focaccia with truffle epis butter, roasted pepper-caramelized plantain butter, and epis oil. From there, other dishes like grilled pigeon with leek, breadfruit puree, sour cherry, and a culantro-watercress lime gel highlight celebrated Haitian ingredients.
Kirbee’s
Brooklyn, NY
Opening: August
What happens when two of Texas’s biggest barbecue stars unite to open a barbecue spot in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood? Kirbee’s will hold the answer. Chuck Charnicart, the pitmaster behind Barbs B Q in Lockhart (a Best New Restaurant of 2024) and Jonny White, behind Goldee’s in Fort Worth, will bring their smoked meat prowess to the Big Apple. It’s a reunion of sorts: Charnicart worked at Goldee’s under White before launching Barbs as a pop-up (and then opening a brick-and-mortar). At Kirbee’s, expect a split menu. Charnicart will showcase South Texan and Mexican flavors with signature dishes like Barbs pork ribs and its famous green spaghetti. Meanwhile, White will dish out Central Texas barbecue and Goldee’s smoked turkey and banana pudding, among other things. Because it’s New York City, the kitchen will operate with smoker ovens instead of offset smokers, but in true Texas fashion, dollar beers might just be on offer. Kirbee’s will open with cafeteria-style lunch service, Friday through Sunday.
Mievè
Los Angeles, CA
Opening: August
Mievè started as order-ahead pizza drops that soon evolved into pop-ups and residencies all over Los Angeles. The mastermind behind Mievè is Amirali Ghasemipour, a former management consultant who left his corporate job to sling pizzas—and now, he’s opening his first brick-and-mortar in Fairfax. Ghasemipour is self-taught, which is why his pizza craft is so obsessive. He works on his secret dough recipe, a blend of flours from multiple mills and vendors, and regularly surveys the local farmers market for pizza toppings. At Mievè’s new permanent home, Ghasemipour and team will serve both thin-crust round pies and thicker square cut pies, plus a rotating array of small plates teased on Instagram (like an exploding chicken kiev) with natural wine and microbrews to drink. Artful pizzas go beyond margherita with varieties like a clam pie with funky lemons, confit shallots, and raclette mornay sauce, or a chilaquiles slice with chorizo.
Other happenings:
- Alteño will debut in Austin in the new 1 Hotel as the first out-of-state opening for chef Johnny Curiel (of Mezcaleria Alma, a Best New Restaurant of 2025), with another location of Alteño in Charleston planned for fall.
- Noko Hospitality, the newly formed group behind Noko and Kase x Noko in Nashville, is opening Noko Yaki, a new concept focused on tableside grilling.
- The Taqueria Ramirez team in New York is on a tear. They just opened Socceria, a Greenpoint sports bar, just in time for the World Cup, and will soon debut El Camaron Peludo, a seafood bar in West Village.
- Chicago barbecue standout Sanders BBQ Supply Co. is opening a full sit-down restaurant in Hyde Park called Sanders BBQ Prime.
- Reem’s, the beloved Arab bakery from baker Reem Assil, is returning to Oakland five years after closing.
