Letter from the Editor: New Restaurants to Dig Into

Get the Local Palate‘s New Restaurants issue, on newsstands March 28.

If you’ve been reading the Local Palate for a while, you know that we have an abundance of respect and appreciation for the restaurant industry. From what goes onto the plate and into the glass to what happens in the back of the house and to the people who run the ship, we are dedicated to exploring the stories shaping today’s restaurant scene. 

Like many people on our staff, I worked in restaurants from the time I was in my teens into my early 20s, and every day I lean on the skills I acquired during those years. (Nothing teaches the basics of efficiency, time management, and multitasking like working the floor or the line of a packed house on a Friday night.) It also built into me an inherent appreciation for hard work and crazy entrepreneurship, two elements that are essential to restaurant success these days. Yes, chasing flavors and providing seamless service are important—but if you don’t have a team willing to get into the flow, a restaurant cannot survive. 

It’s those two qualities that come up again and again in our second annual New Restaurants issue. As before, we tasked a team of writers and editors across the South to report on the restaurants that made a splash in their states during 2022. 

This list tells the story of a turning point for the South’s food scene, where ingenuity and resilience are rising up after a pandemic, and a foundational shift has put the health and well-being of those working in this industry at the center of the conversation. Restaurants opening around the South now better represent and serve the many international populations that call this region home, while also lifting up, celebrating, and offering space to minority communities.

What’s more? Things are delicious out there. As our contributors can attest, the quality and creativity coming out of Southern restaurant kitchens right now might be the best we’ve ever tasted. Now, it’s your turn. Eat your way through the list and let us know what you think.