Hotel Openings

🏨 BWH Hotels welcomes seven new independent hotels, including Best Western Sheffield City Hotel and The Kings Arms Hotel in Dorset, into its UK portfolio of over 230 properties. The group aims to add 100 hotels and reach 20,000 rooms by 2029. The new additions range from midscale to luxury, enhancing BWH's offerings. Each hotel benefits from global networking, marketing, and loyalty programs while maintaining independence. BWH operates in 100+ countries with 4,200 hotels.

May 13 2025 – Helsinki, Finland – Bob W, the tech-powered hospitality operator redefining hotels and short-term rentals, is strengthening its presence in Spain, Italy and Portugal with the appointments of…

🍳 Chicken N Pickle, an indoor/outdoor eatertainment complex, is set to open its new location in Allen, Texas, on May 13. This North Kansas City, Mo.-based company's Allen venue marks its fifth in Texas and 12th overall, featuring more than 55,000 square feet, dining areas, a sports bar, six indoor and two covered outdoor pickleball courts, beer gardens, and various yard games. The location, part of The Farm mixed-use development, also champions inclusive "pickleball for all" through sports wheelchairs and dedicated programming. With NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce's backing, Chicken N Pickle is expanding rapidly, planning four more locations in Indiana, Nebraska, and Colorado by early 2026.

🍽 Restaurateurs Francis Miranda and "Top Chef" winner Mei Lin opened 88 Club in Beverly Hills, Calif. Designed by Preen, the restaurant features 44 dining seats, 5 bar seats, and a private area. The decor includes dark woods, plush seating, marble accents, and jade details. The family-style menu offers dishes like mung bean jelly noodles, prawn wontons, kung pao scallops, mapo tofu, and desserts like jasmine milk tea buns. Sommelier Diana Lee oversees the beverage program, with cocktails like a pickled mustard greens Martini. Miranda and Lin also partnered on Daybird and formerly on Nightshade, the latter closed due to the pandemic.

🍴 Brooklyn-born Chef Eric LeVine debuted two restaurants at the 42 Hotel in Williamsburg last month. Blackbird is an 85-seat gastropub, offering breakfast, dinner, and weekend brunch with dishes like burgers, fried chicken, and braised short rib ravioli. Evolution, a 35-seat tasting menu restaurant, presents a $175-per-person menu inspired by LeVine's Brooklyn childhood. LeVine operates five other concepts including 317 Main Street in Farmingdale, N.Y., and studied at The Culinary Institute of America.

🍫 City Roots Hospitality and Guy Vaknin are set to open Reverie, a vegan dessert and cocktail bar, on May 14 in Williamsburg, New York City. Beyond Sushi, Willow, Coletta, Anixi, Sentir, and Le Basque are also owned by City Roots. The menu by executive pastry chef Makenna Hale will feature signature desserts like “The Rainbow” with fruit, florals, rosewater meringue, and ube streusel, alongside savory appetizers. The venue is designed by Studio RB, offering an artful and immersive dessert experience with private dining and space rentals.

🍕 Chef Sean Brock is opening Sho Pizza Bar in East Nashville’s Riverside Village on April 14, offering lunch and dinner. A collaboration with Nashville natives Mary Carlisle and Ben Gambill, Sho reflects their shared passion for Tokyo-style pizza. The restaurant features a 30-seat dining room, an outdoor patio, full bar, and a 12-seat chef’s counter overlooking a wood-fired pizza oven. The pizza dough undergoes a three-day fermentation for a lighter, more digestible crust. Chefs Trey Tench and John Woodward lead the kitchen, serving classics and signature pies like the Sho-Stopper, sourcing mozzarella from Italy and local ingredients for toppings. Other offerings include salads, appetizers, matcha soft serve, tiramisu, beer, Italian wine, sake, and cocktails. Brock and the Gambills plan to expand Sho Pizza Bar throughout the Southeast.

🍴 Michael and Courtney Zentner launched The Drifter in Charleston, S.C., in April 2020. They’ve now expanded with Merci, a European-inspired bistro, which opened on March 22, alongside its sister market, Petit Merci. Set in a historic 1820s building, Merci features a 20-seat dining room, a six-seat bar, and plans for outdoor dining. Open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner, the menu includes seasonal dishes like focaccia stracciatella and beef Wellington. Petit Merci offers soups, breads, meals, and pastries from 11 a.m. daily.

🎭 Haii Keii, a restaurant in Houston's River Oaks/Upper Kirby neighborhood, opened on February 18 offering a 3,000 square foot indoor space with an additional 1,000 square feet of outdoor patio seating. The design by Gin Braverman and Gin Design Group channels "Blade Runner" and "Kill Bill". Executive chef Jeffrey Taylor and sushi chef Jose Espinoza crafted a menu with cold plates, hot plates, vegetables, fried rice, nigiri, maki, and steaks. Managing partner Jarred Tosto emphasizes Haii Keii as an immersive, vibrant dining experience.

🍴 Chef Tiffany Derry and partner Tom Foley of T2D Concepts are set to open a new Radici Wood-Fired Grill location in Grand Prairie, Texas, on April 15. Radici, meaning "Roots" in Italian, will launch its second venue at EpicCentral, after the original establishment debuted in Farmers Branch, Texas, last May. Foley enriches the dining experience with his artwork, reflecting his mother's Italian origins from Balvano. T2D Concepts also operates Roots Chicken Shak, Roots Southern Table, and the 'Shef Tiffany spice and apparel line.