Hotel Openings

🌮 Tacodeli, established in Austin, Texas, in November 1999, marks 25 years with daily specials reintroduced, previously offered from 2003 until 2020. Chef Roberto Espinosa and Eric Wilkerson’s taqueria features five weekly taco specials and weekend ceviche. Special tacos include carne asado (Monday), chicken tinga (Tuesday), new brisket (Wednesday), scallops (Thursday), and steak chimichurri (Friday). $5 Margaritas and Ranch Waters are available until November 8, the brand’s 25th anniversary. Tacodeli has 14 locations and plans expansion in 2025, eyeing a Fort Worth opening. Salsas are sold in Whole Foods and H-E-B stores in Texas, with Salsa Doña being a popular choice since 2000.

🌮 Bella Italia, part of The Big Table Group, is expanding with a new outpost in Bristol's Aspects Leisure Park, a former Frankie & Benny's site. This marks the chain's fourth location in Bristol, joining others on Baldwin Street, Cribbs Causeway, and Filton. Bella Italia operates around 70 sites in the UK and has been experiencing high demand and sales surpassing peers, as reported by MCA. Despite lower sales volume, Bella Italia boasts higher profit margins than Frankie & Benny’s.

🍣 Hieu Bui, founder of Kêu, is set to open a new restaurant on Borough High Street, joining the brand's existing locations in The City, Shoreditch, and Soho. Inspired by ancient Saigon, the venue will offer a menu with hand-pulled egg noodles, hủ tiếu rice vermicelli from Saigon, rice bowls, bahn mi sandwiches, and daily specials. The two-level space features traditional designs and a long table for up to 12 diners. Bui aims to spread the love for Vietnamese cuisine in London's food scene.

🍔 It’s Bagels, co-created by Dan Martensen and Jack Ponting, has opened its third location, this time in London's West End. After starting at the Caravan Roastery in Camden, the brand expanded to Primrose Hill in September last year and added a second site in Notting Hill during the summer. The new Soho cafe features 15 seats and a menu of fresh bagels and cream cheese 'schmears,' along with smoked fish and deli salads. GRT Architects designed the Soho location to blend New York City style with London's local aesthetic.

🍕 Piccolino, owned by Individual Restaurant Group, is set to open an Italian restaurant in Chichester on South Street, located at a 6,000 sq ft site previously hosting Three Joes. The restaurant will feature 110 indoor seats, 16 outdoor, and chic interiors such as a marble-topped bar and brass ceiling inlays. The menu includes Roman carbonara and 25-layer lasagne. CEO Andrew Garton aims to introduce Piccolino's finest Italian cuisine to Sussex with a launch date of 5 November.

🎲 Spiegelworld debuted its multi-concept project at 3535 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, on Sept. 7, featuring DiscoShow, Diner Ross, 99 Prince, and Glitterloft. The venue offers a dinner-and-show experience with a 500-person-capacity disco, a 161-seat restaurant, and bars, drawing inspiration from New York's 1970s disco scene. Drinks and dishes receive modern updates with fresh ingredients, reinventing nostalgic classics like Appletinis and French onion soup mac & cheese.

🍴 Chef Mary Nguyen, after overcoming career change and health challenges, opened her first restaurant, Parallel 17, offering Vietnamese-French cuisine in 2005. She founded The Olive & Finch in Denver in 2013, providing healthy soups, salads, and sandwiches. Despite culinary success, she faced personal struggles, including fertility issues and her twin daughters' NICU stay after birth. In 2017, a second Olive & Finch location opened. Nguyen later launched Finch on the Fly in 2019, a wholesale brand. She continues to expand her food and beverage brand with plans to open more Olive & Finch and Little Finch locations.

🍴 Cunningham Restaurant Group operates 44 restaurants in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. Founded in 1997 in Brownsburg, Indiana, with Boulder Creek Dining Company, it expanded to include Charbonos, Stonecreek Dining Company (5 locations), Bru Burger Bar, and various other brands. The company embraces local sourcing and scratch cooking. Vida's chef Thomas Melvin was a James Beard Foundation semifinalist in 2022 and 2024. The group is launching Shin Dig in Indianapolis and a Bru Burger in Fort Wayne, as well as a new catering service, in the fall. They have a centralized downtown Indianapolis headquarters with facilities including a test kitchen and a USDA-certified greenhouse.

🍷 The White Horse pub in Mayfair, opened in 2021 by The Hedonism Group, transforms into a wine bar with a selection available from Hedonism's wine shop. Sommelier Matthew Mawtus created a 100-wine list, complemented by a menu including cheese from La Fromagerie and seasonal dishes. Hide, another Hedonism Group venue, launched in 2018. The two-story venue features an open fireplace and is designed for both intimate and group experiences.

🍝 Med Salleh Viet, a 35-cover restaurant in Earl's Court, serves Vietnamese dishes such as summer rolls and wagyu beef pho. Headed by Syphong Lam, this eatery was co-founded by her husband Koi Lee and Med Pang in 2022. The interior boasts dark wood furnishings and a painted Hanoian market scene.