Rough Draft Editor in Chief and Dining Editor Beth McKibben offers her picks for the top five spring restaurant openings of 2025. It’s the second batch of new restaurants she’s watching closely this year, and will continue to monitor each restaurant’s progress over the coming months. These restaurants join her previous picks for the top five winter restaurant openings of 2025, including Arepa Grill and Kitchen in Roswell, Yuji on the Eastside Beltline, Heaps in Decatur, Madeira Park in Poncey-Highland, and Fawn in Decatur.
Sammy’s ($$)
565 Northside Dr., Adair Park
Located at Abrams Fixtures on Northside Drive, Sammy’s opens early in the morning for breakfast sandwiches and coffee, before shifting to lunchtime sandwich options in the afternoon. And while the sandwich shop is only open until 3 p.m. on weekdays, Furst and Pinner plan to expand those hours into the evening this summer and add weekend brunch. Cocktails are also in the works, as is providing space for chefs to pop up during off days at the sandwich shop.
Side Saddle Wine Saloon ($$-$$$)
680 Hamilton Ave., Boulevard Heights
Backed by Finca to Filter coffee shop’s Kayla Bellman, Side Saddle brings the Southeast Beltline trail a natural wine bar with food from veteran Atlanta chef Carla Fears. Fears isn’t afraid to push boundaries when it comes to flavors and techniques, so the menu features everything from antipasti of olives and vegetables brined and pickled in-house, local charcuterie, and hearty seasonal salads to confit chicken wings, a cheeseburger, and a Monte Cristo PB&J. Side Saddle heavily features wine and spirits produced by women, people of color, and small estates and distilleries, focusing on sustainable and low-intervention production. Most wines by the glass average around $16.
Communidad Taqueria and Market ($$)
655 Highland Ave., Old Fourth Ward
Chef Nick Melvin opened Communidad Taqueria and Market in June in the old Highland Bakery space. The Tex-Mex restaurant and market serves an all-day menu of tacos, burritos, and margaritas, along with Mexican pastries and breads, such as conchas, and generous slices of cake from Teresa Finney of At Heart Panaderia. There’s plenty of seating here, including at tables, the bar, and outside on the sidewalk and small front patio, which includes a garden where Melvin and his team grow fresh herbs to use at the restaurant. While tacos and burritos are always the move at Communidad, Beth also highly recommends the chilaquiles.
Laghman Express ($$-$$$)
3070 Windward Plaza, Alpharetta
New York City-based Uzbek-Uyghur restaurant Laghman Express opened off of Windward Parkway in Alpharetta earlier this spring and is already drawing crowds. The halal restaurant features dishes from the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan, including hand-pulled noodles, wontons, lamb-stuffed manti (dumplings), savory naan, and grilled meat and rice entrees. Try the Moroccan tea service. Check out the story on Laghman Express published in 285 South, a news publication dedicated to Metro Atlanta’s immigrant and refugee communities.
Phew’s Pies ($$)
The Municipal Market, 209 Edgewood Ave., Sweet Auburn
The wildly popular pizza delivery service owned by Matthew “Phew” Foster opened as a food stall at Sweet Auburn Curb Market in May. Here, Foster leans into Atlanta with the flavors for his pizzas, like a lemon pepper wet pie topped with lemon pepper wet wings and an oxtail and ricotta cheese pizza topped with stewed carrots, butter beans, green and yellow onions, and Scotch Bonnet. Foster finally landed a more permanent spot for his roving pizza operation, which he tirelessly ran as a pop-up delivery service on Atlanta’s west side for years.