Shake Shack L.A., Tekoá And More Hot Openings

14 restaurants to add to your must-try list this week

New York City

Tekoá: La Vara chef and owner Alex Raij recently took over the space just two doors down and opened this all-day café. Breakfast starts bright and early—with options like egg-in-a-hole, panini stacked with manouri cheese and broccoli rabe, and a handful of house-made sweets—and runs until 4:30 p.m. There's Wi-Fi, and a coffee refill is included, so settling in with a laptop is A-OK. Find Tekoá here, or in our DINE app.

Covina: Boston-based restaurant owners Tim and Nancy Cushman made quite a splash last year when they brought their critically acclaimed sushi restaurant, O Ya, to town. Now they've revealed their second New York project, a contemporary Mediterranean-meets-California restaurant. A section of the menu is dedicated to pizza, but there are also more playful options, like Hungarian fry bread with smoked salmon and ranch kefir and an asparagus cacio e pepe. Find Covina here, or in our DINE app.

Teisui: Yakitori is elevated to a 10-course tasting menu ($150) with dishes like tsukune, patties of minced chicken braised in yakitori sauce, served with an egg yolk and king crab- and red snapper-studded miso. The serene space is meant to mimic a ryokan, a Japanese country inn. Find Teisui here, or in our DINE app.

Green Fig: Restaurants serving North African food in New York are few and far between, but Green Fig is the newest member of the group. Inside the Yotel in Hell's Kitchen, the team is cooking dishes traditional, like lahmajoun, or ground lamb on flatbread, and modern, like smoked duck with pickled radish. Find Green Fig here, or in our DINE app.

Los Angeles

Shake Shack: At long last, Danny Meyer's cult burger shop is operating in L.A., aka prime In-N-Out territory. In addition to the classic ShackBurger, there are concretes, including the store special: the Rainbow Connection, a frozen custard made with Cofax doughnuts and jam from Sqirl. Keep in mind, this location in West Hollywood is just the first of three already in the works for the area. Find Shake Shack here, or in our DINE app.

San Francisco

As Quoted: Sisters Kara and Andie Yamagami opened this café space for diners with allergies or aversions to dairy, soy or gluten. Open-faced sandwiches, like a breakfast one with a poached egg, bacon and goat cheese, come on gluten-free bread. There's also bone broth, smoothies and lots of salads. Find As Quoted here, or in our DINE app.

Chicago

Cochinita Taco Co.: The owners of the refined steakhouse Community Tavern are going paper-napkin casual. There are nine taco options, plus bubbling queso, elotes and plenty of guac. Once it gets warm, take your chipotle michelada and horchata Rice Krispies treat out to the patio. Find Cochinita Taco Co. here, or in our DINE app.

D.C.

Takoda: Climb the stairs to get to this new U Street restaurant and bar. It's serving American pub fare, like rosemary-Parm tater tots, wings, sliders, the requisite kale salad, shrimp and grits, and fried Oreos with icing dipping sauce. Take another flight up to find the semienclosed, year-round rooftop bar, which has more than 24 beers on tap. Find Takoda here, or in our DINE app.

Houston

Ginger & Fork: Owner Mary Li is well seasoned in the Houston restaurant scene, but now she's out to fill what she feels is lacking in the area—authentic Chinese food. Escape the office for the $20 business lunch special or grab an exceptional craft cocktail after work. The name itself proves that they won't be miffed if you eschew the chopsticks for your Buddha's bowl stir-fry. Find Ginger & Fork here, or in our DINE app.

Current: Though located inside The Westin The Woodlands, the aptly named restaurant gives off a refreshing vibe rather than typical hotel stuffiness. Chef Nathan Friend is serving local, seasonal dishes, which right now means spring bean salad and seared scallops with pea purée and chanterelles. After dinner, walk up the sweeping spiral staircase to the hotel's swanky cocktail bar. Find Current here, or in our DINE app.

Detroit

The Peterboro: Chinese food comes to Midtown, and it's guaranteed to be a good time. Just take a gander at the late-night menu and its cheeseburger spring rolls. Share small plates like salt-and-pepper shrimp, crab Rangoon and crispy pork belly, or go all in on beer-battered almond chicken. Try the mapo tofu with its numbing Sichuan spices if you dare—which you should. Find The Peterboro here, or in our DINE app.

Pop's for Italian: Shipping the wood-fired oven from Italy cost three times the oven itself, but for a certified Neapolitan clam-, pancetta- and onion-topped Neapolitan pizza, you'll see that the cost was more than worth it. Peer into the open kitchen to watch your pizza cook while enjoying a first course of homemade handkerchief pasta and kegged Italian wine by the glass. Find Pop's for Italian here, or in our DINE app.

Miami

Able and Baker: This Japanese speakeasy is a reverse mullet—party in the front and business in the back. Enter through the bar space and take in the bohemian vibe and a few cocktails, then keep walking back to grab a table and tuck in for a six-course kaiseki menu. Find Able and Baker here, or in our DINE app.

Antica Mare: Marco Betti has been cooking authentic Tuscan cuisine at his highly praised Atlanta restaurant, and now he's spreading the Italian love to Florida. The menu touts the polpo alla griglia as "the best octopus recipe in the world," and it's hard to disagree once you sample the tender grilled tentacles. And with the floor-to-ceiling windows, you'll feel as though you're in a glass case of happily fed emotion. Find Antica Mare here, or in our DINE app.