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5 best new restaurant openings and dining updates in Boston (Dec. 31, 2025)
Stay up to date on the best new restaurants, recent openings, and the biggest dining updates across Greater Boston's food scene.
It’s a good time to be a Greater Boston diner, with exciting and diverse restaurant openings occurring all over the metro area as we look forward to a new year in 2026.
Each week, Boston.com will highlight the restaurant openings worth knowing about across the Greater Boston region. Some spots will already be open, while others are set to debut in 2026. At least one featured restaurant will always be a bonus item — either a pop-up, a collaboration, or event at area restaurants.
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What’s new in Greater Boston restaurant openings this week
Gato Exotico
From the team behind Harvard Square tiki bar Wusong Road, a kitschy, mall culture-inspired Mexican restaurant is now open in the revamped CambridgeSide. Its playful menu features nine tacos ($5-$6 each) to choose from, small plates like guacamole topped with crispy chicharrones, and large plates like enchiladas or marinated carne asada. For drinks, the Tijuana Taxi mixes tequila, rum, mezcal with ingredients like guava and cinnamon, and a Cocada Negroni swaps out the gin for mezcal.
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Open now (December 2025)
100 Cambridgeside Place, Cambridge
Java House Pizza
The former Java House coffee shop in Southie is making a comeback after a pandemic closure, this time with a full kitchen big enough to accommodate more pizza orders for the neighborhood and the candlepin bowling alley next door. The owner told What Now Boston that their coffee menu would also return, though it wouldn’t be as extensive as it was at the former Java House because of rising costs.
Opening date: In the coming weeks
541 E. Broadway, South Boston
Sorella
Taking over the former Tuscan Kitchen in Burlington comes Sorella, also an Italian restaurant from the Tuscan Brands that promises a reimagined and elevated restaurant. Its menu will include scratch-made pasta dishes like their signature Bolognese, and new additions include an expanded bar and more private dining space.
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Opening date: January 2026
2400 District Ave., Burlington
Venchi
An Italian “chocogelateria” — selling both chocolates and gelato — that has more than 150 boutiques worldwide opened its first Boston storefront on Newbury Street (though Venchi chocolates are also sold at a counter inside Eataly Boston). There you’ll find best-selling chocolates, from dark to pistachio, and according to MassLive, 20 gelato flavors.
Open now (December 2025)
123 Newbury St., Back Bay
Bonus: Elephantine Bakery Aperitivo evenings
What started as a two-day-a-week special in December is now being extended in January every Thursday through Saturday evening. Elephantine’s Aperitivo celebrates the Italian tradition of sharing small plates and relaxing with a drink in hand during the early evening hours, after work and before dinner. Reservations can be made, and walk-ins will be accepted if there is space.
Event details: 5 to 8 p.m. every Thursday through Saturday in January
332 Congress St., Seaport
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