Most Anticipated 2024 Boston Restaurant Openings

There’s a lot to look forward to this year: All-you-can-eat wagyu shabu-shabu; “listening bars”; love letters to Greece, Portugal, and Thailand; and more.

When we first published this guide, we were a month into 2024, and the Boston dining scene was already jam-packed with delicious new openings—Mexican in Somerville! Noodles times two in Cambridge! A café/plant shop on Mission Hill! A pepperoni Negroni-filled food hall downtown! Casual omakase in Charlestown!

Now, a few months later, even more spots have opened (Jody Adams’s La Padrona opens in Raffles Boston; Citrus & Salt 2.0 is here!) and even more chefs and restaurant groups have announced upcoming plans, so we’re adding some updates. As 2024 continues, we’re looking forward to plenty of openings, reopenings, and expansions—restaurants fancy and casual, bars, cafés—spanning a variety of cuisines and neighborhoods. Below, check out the details on 40-plus spots we’ve got an eye on, and stay tuned for more restaurant opening coverage throughout the year. Know of something that should be on our radar? Our inbox is open.

Coming Soon

Bluefin

Lobster rolls, clam chowder, raw bar items, and more: A seafood shop and takeout restaurant at Somerville’s Bow Market is expanding into bigger digs in Jamaica Plain. The second location will similarly operate as a fresh fish market and seafood-focused takeout joint, but with a bit more space for customers—and for executive chef Manya Lulek to have fun with seasonal plates to complement the core menu of New England classics. The expansion also allows the Bluefin team, founded by lifelong fisherman Jason Tucker, to improve its farmers market program, bringing fresh seafood to more communities, and the plan is to launch a fresh fish subscription service, too (think seafood CSA).

Anticipated opening: Early 2024. 660B Centre St., Jamaica Plain, Boston, bluefinrawbar.com.

Café Gloria

Local industry vet Will Isaza is best-known for his bartending skills, most recently as director of bar operations for cocktail gems Blossom Bar, Ivory Pearl, and Birds of Paradise. But the East Boston native will soon be bringing a different drink to his old neighborhood with his first solo project: coffee. Café Gloria, which he’s describing as a neighborhood coffee and espresso bar, will highlight Colombian coffee beans, as well as a co-branded roast with Cambridge-based Broadsheet Coffee Roasters. There’ll be a variety of coffee-shop beverages and canned cold brew, not to mention a nonalcoholic version of Isaza’s award-winning coffee-and-passionfruit “Gloria” cocktail. Also on the menu: the Colombian rice bowls of his childhood, plus other snack-y recipes from his mother (Gloria!).

Anticipated opening: Late spring 2024. 287 Maverick St., East Boston, cafegloriaeastie.com.

Crush Pizza

Downtown Boston lost an excellent source for casual, Neapolitan-style pizzas—cooked fast and hot in wood-fired ovens—at the end of 2020, when Crush’s State Street location shut down after seven years. A Quincy location, open since 2019, has been going strong since then, but at the time of the downtown closure, chef and owner Tony Naser expressed hope to open another location somewhere in Boston at some point. It’s finally coming to pass: Crush will debut soon in East Boston. “It will have that same vibrant, industrial feel that our Quincy location has,” per a spokesperson, “but still a touch of old-school vibe that we love.” The Italian-imported ovens are different this time, conveyor-style gas/electric hybrids meant for consistency and perfect for Crush’s current Italian-meets-New-York style. Also on the menu: sandwiches, salads, wings, and other fun stuff, like loaded fries in various styles.

Anticipated opening: Mid-May 2024. 975 Saratoga St., East Boston, crushpizza.com. 

Few & Far

Stan Hilbert, who owns Forage in Cambridge, is opening a farm-to-table restaurant in Dedham, Few & Far, next to his recently opened natural wine shop, Satellite Bottle Shop. Forage chef Eric Cooper will lead the culinary team here, too, “creat[ing] innovative dishes that showcase the flavors of the region while offering a contemporary twist.” The duo met 15 years ago working at Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain. (Forage is located in the former Ten Tables Cambridge space.) “We’re just super passionate about great produce and want to share our love with other people,” Hilbert told the Globe.

Anticipated opening: Late April 2024. 566 High St., Dedham, fewandfardedham.com.

Jacob Wirth

Steeped in history, German restaurant and beer hall Jacob Wirth (home to decades of piano singalongs!) operated from 1868 until its closure following a 2018 fire. It had actually been put up for sale earlier that year—and now, finally, new owners are working on reopening it. (Its interior is designated as a Landmark, which adds some challenges to renovations, but construction is ongoing, and the team’s been having a fun time stumbling on lots of old safes in the walls—disappointingly empty.) The revamp is a collaboration between City Realty and Royale Entertainment Group, and a lot will be the same, but with an accessible entrance, a roomier bathroom for women, televisions, and—the team and we say this lovingly—improved food.

“The guts, the history, the bones are still there,” says Jamison La Guardia, vice president of sales and operations for Royale Entertainment Group. “We’re just contemporizing it.” The piano, of course, will be back, and the team’s even considering adding a second piano for occasional dueling piano nights, but plans are still fluid. The menu, too, won’t be finalized for a while, but the team does plan to bring back some nostalgic dishes from the most recent incarnation as well as historical menus they’ve found from the 1950s-60s. “We’re definitely keeping the German elements,” says La Guardia.

Jahunger

Providence’s acclaimed Uyghur restaurant—fresh off a James Beard semifinalist nod for chef and co-owner Subat Dilmurat—is on the verge of opening in Cambridgeport. The full-service restaurant will have mostly the same menu as the original in Providence, plus some specialty regional dishes from Jahunger’s early days (back in 2017) and whole roast lamb. Look for spicy hand-pulled noodles, marinated lamb kebabs, and more, with beer and wine available. “We’re excited to introduce more people to Uyghur food and culture, and Boston felt like the perfect place to share our passion with a diverse and vibrant community,” says co-owner Nadira Parhat. “Brace yourselves, because we are about to take the world by storm!”

Anticipated opening: Early May 2024. Brookline Street, Cambridgeport, jahunger.com.

Kyuramen and more

Ramen, sushi, rice rolls, and more! Right down the block from H Mart, half a dozen new restaurants highlighting various Asian cuisines will open later this year on Beacon Street, jointly taking over a trio of spaces that used to house O’Leary’s, Sichuan Gourmet, and a Dunkin’. The new spots will reportedly share a heated pergola, complete with retractable roof, on the front sidewalk, with space for a few hundred seats. The roster includes ramen chain Kyuramen, which also serves omurice and burgers with buns made of rice; Sushi Jiro, serving sushi; Rice Roll HK Cafe, featuring cheung fun, or steamed rice noodle rolls; Mini Punjab, an Indian restaurant; and Baby Cafe, a “Hong Kong bistro” chain that also has an Allston location in the works. There’s also Kyo Matcha, a café and bakery chain that showcases matcha, which already made its debut in mid-April (look inside.)

Anticipated opening: Baby Cafe has announced a spring opening; the rest are also likely opening early this year. 1004 Beacon St., Brookline.

Matria and Bar Fellini

It’s the end of an era at the InterContinental: The hotel has closed the French restaurant Miel and cocktail lounge RumBa, both open since the hotel’s 2006 debut. They’ll soon be replaced by an Italian steakhouse, Matria, and a new bar, Bar Fellini. Matria looks toward northern Italy with a meaty menu and pasta dishes like agnolotti. Those who remember Miel’s spacious waterfront patio will be pleased to see it reborn (and renovated) as part of Matria.

Now Open

Althea

With lovable Italian restaurant Vialé going strong for nearly a decade now in Central Square, the husband-and-wife duo behind it, Greg Reeves and Shauna Reyburn, have opened a new restaurant right down the street. Althea, taking over the recently closed Dial space on Main Street, is aimed at “healing the soul with food, wine, and humans,” says Reyburn. She and Reeves describe the food as creative American with “thoughtfully sourced ingredients,” including local veggies that’ll get cooked up on an outdoor grill. “We know what the community wants and needs—and deserves,” says Reyburn. “Althea lets us do more of that with a new twist—but still growing from strong local roots.” Watch for live music and a raw bar on the spacious patio come warmer weather and take a look inside here.

Seamark Seafood & Cocktails and Old Wives’ Tale

While there’s no shortage of food and drinks at Encore Boston Harbor, we’re always up for a shiny new option. (Can’t have a fancy steak every day, we suppose.) A new seafood restaurant—complete with a speakeasy-style cocktail bar—is now open (look inside), from Vegas-based Carver Road Hospitality, which is owned by Boston native Sean Christie, and chef-partner Michael Schlow (Radius, Via Matta). You’ll find elevated New England seafood dishes (and some meat, including Schlow’s beloved burger) and nautical-inspired design, spanning a large main dining room and several other seating areas, including a seasonal terrace.

Old Wives’ Tale, an intimate cocktail bar, is hidden behind a wall of the restaurant, allowing spirits enthusiasts to “explore ports of call around the globe.” The team promises craft cocktails that “pay homage to the essence of the ocean”—and they’re certainly photogenic, if that’s your priority, thanks to “oceanic glassware” and sea creature-like garnishes.

Opened: Mid-April 2024. 1 Broadway (Encore Boston Harbor), Everett, seamarkencore.com.

Somaek, Temple Records, and Sushi @ Temple Records

Restaurateur Jamie Bissonnette’s 2023 departure from the restaurant group he built with Ken Oringer (Toro, Coppa, etc.) came as a surprise to longtime fans citywide. Now, he’s onto the next adventure—or, rather, three. With Andy Cartin and Babak Bina (JM Curley, Bogie’s Place, the Wig Shop), he has opened a Korean restaurant called Somaek (with homestyle cooking inspired by his Korean mother-in-law, Soon Han, who is the restaurant’s consulting chef); a listening bar (is 2024 the year of the listening bar?) called Temple Records (with Bissonnette’s “super-eclectic” collection of music); and a 20-seat sushi counter, Sushi @ Temple Records. These are all in Downtown Crossing, near Cartin and Bina’s existing spots. The trio is apparently planning more restaurants for 2024, too. Big year!