New opening

Updated 12.01pm - yes this was our 2026 April Fool's (although we maintain it's only a matter of time before it happens...) Click here to see all our April Fool's stories in one place.

You can hardly move right now in East London for hip vinyl bars, but one new Shoreditch spot is hoping to switch things up a level. Seedy in Shoreditch sees two well-connected bar alumni opening their first standalone venture.

What will set them apart from their fellow music bars in the city is

We reported on this one way back in June 2025, but now it's being confirmed, Mazi is coming to Mayfair - although this outpost will be called Maza. 

It's been over a decade since Mazi opened its doors in Notting Hill. The refined Greek food restaurant by Adrien Carre and Christina Mouratoglou has since spawned sibling establishment Suzi Tros, also in Notting Hill, and this central London opening will launch in the old Pizza Express building opposite The Guinea on Bruton Place. The space, you may remember, was briefly taken over by the Guinea during Covid and used as the Guinea

They already have two other Belgravia pubs, but gastropub group Cubitt House clearly love the area as they're already making plans for a third. Next up to get the group's attention is the old post office on Eccleston Street.

Plans are already afoot to turn the former post office into The Duke of Connaught pub and hotel. The name is a reference to the building's use during the early part of the 20th century, when it was The Duke of Connaught’s Soldiers & Sailors Home with bedrooms, a bar and a billiard room.

If permission is granted, the new pub will feature a bar on

April is VERY busy for new openings, with around 30 new restaurants coming your way over the month. We've zeroed in on the ones to watch, from the next by Four Legs to a Spiteri family pub and a tenth anniversary opening from Padella. 

Last month, Papi moved on from their London Fields restaurant, quickly replaced by the soon-to-open Auguste. And now we know what Papi themselves have planned - they're opening a pub on Green Lanes, just north of Newington Green. They're taking over The Leconfield and renaming it The Golden Tooth. 

Chef Matthew Scott and wine merchant Charlie Carr are apparently taking a more "grown-up" approach to this neighbourhood pub. They'll be splitting up the space with half

The railway arches on Forest Gate's Winchelsea Road are about to get a boost from Roost, a new rotisserie chicken restaurant that's been set up by a local trio. 

It comes from the team of chef Amil Ourabah (previously sous chef at The Coach & Horses), Jake Salter and Andrew Neilson, the latter touting his local credentials as being the great-nephew of Terrance Messenger, the last Mayor of Leyton.

The rotisserie chicken on offer at Roost will feature their own bespoke Algerian spice blend and every chicken will also be corn-fed, responsibly

Almost a year after she opened her first matcha cafe Frothee, in King's Cross, Hanife Hursit and her dad Ram are gearing up for expansion. Hanife's TikTok chronicling of the opening of their first business turned Frothee into a viral hit. There were queues around the block when it first opened, and there were high profile collaborations with Palestinian-Jordanian singer Zeyne to keep it in the spotlight.

With all that in mind, it's probably no surprise that the father/daughter duo are readying to open their second cafe. This time they're moving into central London, to Covent

We've already written about the new Maki & Ramen that has recently opened in Soho, but it turns out that they have another trick up their sleeve. The space that they took over was pretty large (it used to be La Bodega Negra), so they've decided to open something new in the upstairs section called Maki Nori. 

Maki Nori is a Japanese handroll bar, something that's a bit of an emerging trend in London (we'll soon get another bar, ...

The latest pop-up to go permanent, on their tenth birthday no less, is British Afghan BBQ restaurant Cue Point. They're teaming up with The Garden Bar pub in White City to create their new restaurant, The Garden Bar Grill and Smokehouse by Cue Point London.

Run by Mursal Saiq and Joshua Moroney, Josh originally started his BBQ life at Smokestak, where he was pitmaster and head chef. He then left to create Cue Point with Mursal and they've had a number of very popular residencies all over town. 

The new restaurant will bring their signature Afghan flavours and Texas BBQ

After successfully making Julie's in Holland Park a big deal again, the same team are hoping to do the same with a Notting Hill pub.

The Prince Edward has been closed since February, and the Julie's team is planning to revamp it and relaunch it before the end of the year. The food will be again led by the Chef Patron of Julie's, Owen Kenworthy, but the menu will be quite different from the Holland Park restaurant. We're told to expect some elevated pub classics, seasonal pies, fish and chips, rotisserie chicken and more besides. They will, of course, have a Sunday

Having just had a very successful launch of The Grand Divan at Simpson's (with an early five-star review no less), Jeremy King is getting ready to put the cap on one of London's biggest openings in years. 

Romano's is the second main restaurant inside Simpson's, and you'll find it up on the first floor. Known as The West Room under the previous owners, it's been given its own identity by King as a new British

24/3/26 - opening date revealed.

Italian sandwiches have become a big thing in London of late - we even have a guide to the best. And the sandwich shop that has been leading the charge, Dal Fiorentino, is going west for the first time.

Best known for their enormous Tuscan schiacciata sandwiches, there are lots of options to choose from. There's the Fiorentina (fennel salami, pecorino cheese, truffle honey, extra virgin olive oil), the Machiavelli (Tuscan

It's been a while in the making, but the big revamp of Olympia is closer to getting its grand reveal. First to open is the new Pillar Hall, from ex-D&D's Des Gunewardena and his D3 Collective and there's quite a lot to it. 

The main space is Idalia, the restaurant, and it's pretty massive, seating 300 people. It's going to be a grand all-day dining room with a "garden-inspired" design that's based on a classic country house style. The kitchen here is led by Executive Chef Samantha Williams (who previously worked with Angela Hartnett) and it's being pitched as

Given the success of places like Maset and The Hart, leaving any space empty for a while on Chiltern Street seems crazy. But now, after being empty for a while, the corner space on the intersection of Chiltern and Paddington streets is gearing up to open. It's going to be Clio, and it'll be a modern Greek restaurant.

What's particularly interesting about this place is the people involved. The executive chef is Glen Ballis, who's spent a lot of time in Russia but most recently opened INA in Dubai. For this London opening, he's brought in Louis Korovilas who was previously head chef

Japanese handrolls have become a big deal in London of late. We've seen the recent arrival of Temaki in Mayfair, and next up is Kumori in Soho, an opening that has a particularly strong team behind it. You may have seen them popping up around town before (particularly in their recent Marylebone residency), and they were also at the Monaco Grand Prix. But this will be their first permanent restaurant. 

Kumori founder Marc Flekei has brought in John Randy De