9 New Restaurants to Keep on Your Radar This Summer

Boston restaurants have been opening at a steady clip lately and it doesn’t seem like anyone is slowing down this summer. We put together a list of new restaurants opening in June, July, and August that we’ve got our eye on, from a cool North End spot with a hidden martini room to a daytime bistro at the Boston Athenaeum.

To note, there are a few yet-to-open spots from Eater’s spring preview that will be opening up this summer, like Merai, the second spot from the team behind award-winning Thai restaurant Mahaniyom in Brookline. Below, find nine more restaurants making their debut during Boston’s sunny summer season.

Abuela’s Table

Now Open

It was a bittersweet moment when Jamaica Plain cornerstone El Oriental de Cuba decided to power down last October after nearly 30 years. The owners handed the keys over to Adolfo Alvarado, the chef and owner of Somerville’s highly regarded Mexican restaurant Tu Y Yo. Eight months later, the restaurant’s dining room is bustling once again, this time, as Mexican spot Abuela’s Table. Fans of Tu Y Yo will see similarities on this menu — the mini grasshopper tacos made the trip over, as well as other appetizers and mains — and it’s heartening to see the lights back on at this storied space. 414 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

MonteVerdi

Now Open

If you’re in the mood for sweeping waterfront views while slurping oysters and twirling pasta, head to MonteVerdi, an elegant new Italian restaurant inside the Royal Sonata hotel in East Cambridge, right next to the Charles River. Seth Greenberg, known for other upscale Boston restaurants like South End stalwart Mistral and swanky steakhouse Mooo, is leading the new endeavor. 40 Edwin H Land Boulevard, East Cambridge

The Red Fox

Opening: June

The North End isn’t exactly hurting for spots to eat pasta and sip martinis, but the Red Fox still managed to spark our interest. There’s a talented team behind it: The same North End restaurateurs behind cute corner spot Ciao Roma and the perpetually booked bar Farmacia, which features a cocktail tasting menu that dives deep into different themes throughout the year. Chef Jon Varela, who trained with famed pasta maker Evan Funke at Felix in Los Angeles, is designing a menu filled with classic Italian pasta and such. The interiors were overseen by Assembly Designs, a company with a reputation for creating scene-stealing restaurants like Prima in Charlestown and Citrus & Salt’s new location in Fort Point. Then there’s the hidden martini room (!) that will be “a similar idea” to Farmacia, according to a rep for the restaurant, meaning a tucked-away, more exclusive space for which reservations will likely get snapped up immediately. 326 Commercial Street, North End

Mr. H

Opening: June

Coje Management Group, the hospitality group that is one of the masters of Boston’s is-it-a-restaurant-or-is-it-a-nightclub genre, is debuting a new project this month. Mr. H is a new Seaport restaurant that will offer Chinese and Taiwanese food alongside “the vibrant, intimate energy of a Shanghainese cocktail lounge,” according to a rep for the company, and it’ll be taking over the old Legal Test Kitchen spot in the neighborhood. 225 Northern Avenue, Seaport

Alyssa Blumstein/Le Mari

Le Mari

Opening: June

Chef and owner Leigh Whittaker cheekily named her first restaurant Le Mari, or “the husband,” in French, because, as anyone in the industry can attest, if you choose to open a restaurant you might as well be married to it with the amount of time and effort that the business demands. In any case, it’s a very nice place to never leave: The newcomer boasts tapas-style plates with Mediterranean flair — sea bass with tzatziki and sumac; chicken milanese with harissa and whipped goat cheese — in a sunny little space that overlooks Boston’s most famous shopping strip. 259 Newbury Street, Back Bay

Matria, Bar Fellini, and the Loyall Counting Room

Opening: June 25

The InterContinental Boston, a waterfront hotel located in downtown Boston, is doing a big food-and-drink refresh this summer. At the end of June, the hotel will unveil three shiny new spaces: Matria, a Northern Italian steakhouse rooted in Piedmont culinary traditions; Bar Fellini, a cocktail bar and lounge with ‘60s Italian vibes; and the Loyall Counting Room, a 25-seat speakeasy that is themed around Boston’s own history of rabble-rousing rebels. And yes, there will be a secret password to get in. 510 Atlantic Avenue, Downtown Boston

Folio

Folio

Opening: June 25

You don’t need a membership to the Boston Athenaeum — a historic, 217-year-old private library located just off the Boston Common — in order to enjoy its chic new restaurant, Folio, which is opening at the end of the month. The bistro will be open for lunch and dinner, serving tartines, salads, sandwiches, and more. 14A Beacon Street, Beacon Hill

AMBA

Opening: July

Puritan & Co. chef and restaurateur Will Gilson is adding a new restaurant to his ever-expanding Cambridge portfolio: AMBA, a Mediterranean-rooted cafe with a menu that includes a kickin’ rotisserie chicken, sold with a variety of sides and condiments, according to a press release on the upcoming opening. The cafe will also be stocked with pastries by the restaurant group’s executive pastry chef Brian Mercury, and coffee from La Colombe. 55 First Street, by First Street Market, East Cambridge

AMBA

Kaia

Opening: August

The hit-making team behind local Greek stars including Krasi and subterranean cocktail bar Hecate in Back Bay, welcoming neighborhood spot Bar Vlaha in Brookline, and fast-casual chain Greco, aren’t done with their run. This summer, the team will be launching Kaia, a new restaurant that takes its inspiration from Greece’s Aegean coastline. The menu will honor the “timeless rituals of foraging, fishing and feasting” according to a rep for the team, and the wine program will source from Aegean vineyards. 380 Harrison Avenue, South End