Three New Restaurants We Can't Wait To Try Next Week

By Anthony Todd in Food on Mar 4, 2016 5:19PM

A variety of dishes at Imperial Lamian. Photo via Instagram.

Next week is a big week for openings and pop-ups! Here are three new spots that you should get in line for now.

First, Oriole, the highly-anticipated west loop spot from Chef Noah Sandoval, opens on March 10. Bucking the casual dining trend, Oriole will be a fine dining, multi course, $175-per-person spot with just 28 seats. Sandoval's last gig, at Michelin-starred Senza, earned him raves, and we have high hopes for his latest outing. Eater has the whole menu, which includes dishes like Sea urchin with toasted rice and smoked soy and rye cappelini with yeast butter, black truffle, and tangerine lace.

Imperial Lamian, a new upscale Chinese spot in River North, opens Friday night—but wait until next week to go to beat the lines. It's the first time the chain, which has 24 locations, has opened in the United States, and along with soup dumplings and dim sum, they're serving Lamian. Hence the name. What's Lamian? A Chinese noodle dish often compared to ramen, and there are five varieties on the menu. The restaurant is already trying to push the hashtag #lamianisthenewramen—go see for yourself.

Finally, Eataly is continuing its awesome pop-up series. In the space that formally housed La Carne, they've been running month-long menus. We showed you the truffle menu last year—now, they're going Tuscan. Ristorante Toscano runs through the end of March, and highlights tuscan oils, wines and dishes like hunter style spare ribs and pork and ricotta stuffed cabbage baked with tomato sauce and pecorino. The full menu is online.