If you find yourself in Phoenix this month, make your way to Chilte, a recently opened Mexican street food spot that’s housed in a retro motel. And if you’re in Chicago, a new Filipino American restaurant has embraced a menu and design that’s meant to evoke the feeling of a cozy home—with family photos on the walls and dishes from the chef’s grandmother on the menu. Plus, New York’s got a new maximalist Italian restaurant where you can (and probably should) eat Osetra caviar gnocchi in the presence of stone greyhounds and a massive wild boar statue. There are a lot of new restaurants that opened in the past month, but these eight stand out.
We publish this roundup of buzzy restaurant openings as a way to pull back the curtain and share our excitement for the sorts of places catching our eye as we build our yearly Best New Restaurants list. It’s still months until our list is published, but in the meantime, these new places are an exciting glimpse of restaurant culture in 2023. It can be tough to make a reservation these days, but many of these places still have space available to walk in as soon as…tomorrow! Read through to see what’s opening near you.
This list, organized alphabetically by state, includes both restaurants we’ve tried and ones we’ve added to our bucket lists.
New digs for a Mexican street food pop-up in Phoenix
Chilte
765 Grand Ave., Phoenix
Opened February 3
In 2020, chef and former NFL player Lawrence “L.T.” Smith and his fiancée, Aseret Arroyo, started Chilte as a Mexican street food stand at farmers markets across Phoenix. Fast-forward three years and their beloved pop-up—which gained a following for its carnitas tacos—has moved from its small tent to a brick-and-mortar space. Chilte is now housed in the recently reopened Egyptian Motor Hotel, a mid-century space reimagined as a hub for live entertainment and nightlife. Smith and Arroyo make use of thrift shop finds and colorful wall art from Mexican makers to bring a quirkiness to their new ’50s-era home. In the daytime, Chilte serves pastries and coffee from local providers like Sugarloaf Lane Bakery and Provision Coffee Roasters. On the weekends, there are “big papa” tacos and a mollete mariposa (an open-faced chorizo sandwich on local telera bread). The dinner menu is a short but impressive roster of dishes from Chilte’s pop-up days, plus newcomers like a mole flight with a charred rack of lamb and fresh corn tortillas, and an elote cheesecake with salsa macha.
Standout dishes: Seasonal Quesadilla; Huitlacoche Pasta; Birria de Lengua Tacos; Mole Flight; Pan de Elote Cheesecake
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The duo behind a cult-favorite LA sandwich shop expands
Lingua Franca
2984 Allesandro St., Los Angeles
Opened February 17
