Even though summer is slowing down, Los Angeles’s restaurant openings are not. This fall brings an exciting lineup of new restaurants to the Southland, including a breakfast sandwich pop-up going permanent, a Southeast Asian restaurant from Pearl River Deli’s Johnny Lee, and a Korean-inflected bakery and cafe headed to Highland Park. In addition to the places highlighted below, several restaurants previously scheduled for summer openings are still on their way, including Aitor Zabala’s Somni, Komal in Mercado La Paloma, and Korean barbecue favorite, Baekjong. Here are the most exciting restaurants opening in Los Angeles in the months ahead listed in chronological order.

Wildcrust — Eagle Rock

Projected Opening: September
Major Player: Miles Okabayashi

Miles Okabayashi’s Wildcrust, which started as a backyard pop-up, brings wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas to Eagle Rock this fall. The menu will revolve around Wildcrust’s slow-fermented 48-hour pizza crusts made using sourdough. Before Wildcrust, Okabayashi worked at restaurants in New York and Los Angeles including Torishin, Uncle Boons, and République. — Rebecca Roland, associate editor

Backbone — Montrose

Projected Opening: September
Major Players: Nathan McCall, Karen Yoo, L.A. Renigen

Nathan McCall and Karen Yoo weren’t sure what they’d do after selling their decade-old market and butcher shop, McCall’s Meat & Fish Co., in 2020. It only became clear to the couple after a few years of restful ideating that the timing was finally right to open the restaurant they’d long dreamed of. Backbone, which is a nod to their first business and the tenacity required to own a restaurant, spans 1,600 square feet and will serve a “new American” menu with influences from France, Spain, and Asia. While the Foothill community of Montrose is dotted with iconic institutions like Berolina Bakery and Schreiner’s Fine Sausages, dinner-only restaurants helmed by pedigreed chefs are less common but no less welcomed. — Cathy Chaplin, senior editor

Modu Cafe — Highland Park

Projected Opening: September
Major Player: Jiyoon Jang

Baker Jiyoon Jang is finally opening a cafe of her own after working at Clark Street Bakery and the now-closed Mil Bakery. In recent years, she’s devoted her energy to By Jiyoon, a pop-up serving pastries, cookies, and more from local cafes; her signature baking style incorporates traditional Korean ingredients like perilla leaf and barley tea. The new Highland Park shop will serve crowd favorites, including black sesame cookies, misugaru cookies, cream puffs, and a marbled pound cake, along with tea and Counter Culture coffee. — Rebecca Roland, associate editor

Orla — Santa Monica

Projected Opening: September
Major Players: Michael Mina, IHG Hotels & Resorts

Chef Michel Mina’s Orla is slated to open inside the $150 million Regent Santa Monica Beach project soon. He’ll take up a stunning space inside the oceanfront hotel, which offers a beach-facing pool deck, wellness spa, and 175 rooms, along with Ayesha Curry’s marketplace and cafe, Sweet July. Orla’s menu leans Mediterranean, with the Egyptian-born Mina preparing shareable dishes steeped in the country’s traditions. The next-door Orla bar serves up views overlooking the pool deck. Mina operates an outpost of Orla in Las Vegas inside Mandalay Bay. — Mona Holmes, reporter

Regent Santa Monica Beach

Layla — Beverly Hills

Projected Opening: September/October
Major Players: Sergio Espana, Sammi Tarantino

Popular Westside bagel shop Layla is eyeing an expansion to Beverly Hills this fall. The new location will be the second outpost for Layla, which debuted in Santa Monica in 2023. The Beverly Hills menu will be the same as the original location, featuring loose bagels, bagel sandwiches, coffee, and a handful of baked goods like banana bread and fist-sized sprinkle cookies. — Rebecca Roland, associate editor

Matthew Kang

Cento Raw Bar — West Adams

Projected Opening: October
Major Player: Avner Lavi

After almost a decade of operating Cento Pasta Bar in West Adams, chef Avner Lavi is gearing up to open his next restaurant in the same neighborhood. The menu takes cues from European and Mediterranean dishes with a Los Angeles spin. Expect dishes like raw seafood towers, sea urchin spaghetti, and Avner’s nostalgic take on the Filet-O-Fish. In contrast to the 700-square-foot interior of Cento Pasta Bar, Cento Raw Bar will feature a 2,500-square-foot dining room that includes a patio. For the design, Lavi wants to make the space feel like “you’re eating seafood in an oyster shell.” — Rebecca Roland, associate editor

Jade Rabbit — Santa Monica

Projected Opening: October
Major Players: Bryant Ng, Kim Luu-Ng

Chef Bryant Ng’s incoming Jade Rabbit is taking Chinese fast food to the next level inside a 3,400-square-foot space on Santa Monica Boulevard. “We want to offer delicious and higher quality food in a way that is not only accessible in terms of price point, but also approachability, convenience, and speed,” Ng previously told Eater. Standard orders are centered around regular or large “combo” meals that come with two side dishes, two vegetables, and a main course (or two mains for the large combo). Main dishes include genre standards like beef and broccoli and honey walnut shrimp, along with creative mashups like orange mango chicken. — Cathy Chaplin, senior editor

Alba Los Angeles — West Hollywood

Projected Opening: October
Major Players: Adam Leonti, Julian Black, Cobi Levi, Will Makris, Truman Flanders

The team behind New York City restaurant Cucina Alba, which opened in Chelsea in 2022, is expanding to West Hollywood in a sleek standalone building resembling a Tuscan villa along Melrose Avenue. Expect a sizable patio where diners can pore over agnolotti with truffle fonduta, focaccia with whipped ricotta, baked ravioli fornografia, and chicken alla diavola. The restaurant will also boast one of Los Angeles’s largest wine lists, with over 5,000 bottles curated by beverage director Truman Flanders (formerly of Eleven Madison Park). New York City-based GRT Architects is designing the space. — Matthew Kang, lead editor

GRT Architects

Calabama — West Hollywood

Projected Opening: November
Major Player: Cara Haltiwanger

Cara Haltiwanger made a name for herself and her brand, Calabama, during the COVID-19 lockdowns by delivering breakfast sandwiches and hot sauces to customers using a rope and bucket from her four-story East Hollywood apartment’s fire escape. Now, Haltiwanger is ready to bring her Alabama-influenced menu to a larger audience from a permanent indoor-outdoor space in West Hollywood. She is expanding the slate of offerings beyond Calabama’s signature breakfast grilled cheeses layered with bacon, griddled onions, and avocado to include classic Southern staples like biscuits and pimento cheese. — Cathy Chaplin, senior editor

Rasa Rumah — Filipinotown

Projected Opening: Late fall
Major Players: Johnny Lee, Holly Fox, Adam Weisblatt

Cantonese food specialist Johnny Lee, who was previously chef-owner of Pearl River Deli in Chinatown, has partnered with Last Word Hospitality’s Holly Fox and Adam Weisblatt to open a Malaysian and Southeast Asian restaurant in Historic Filipinotown. The restaurant group is also behind hotspots Found Oyster, Barra Santos, and Queen St. Rasa Rumah will serve satay skewers, fried chicken, noodles, and a savory fruit salad called rojak in a 38-seat space that was once a brassiere factory. Drink options will include soju, sake, beer, and wine, while the interior will resemble Penang architecture with checkered floors and ironwork. — Matthew Kang, lead editor

Seline — Santa Monica

Projected Opening: Late fall/early winter
Major Player: Dave Beran

Dave Beran is returning to the fine dining tasting menu game with Seline, located a few blocks south of Pasjoli on Main Street Santa Monica. Seline will feature a lush indoor-outdoor garden vibe similar to its predecessors Caché, Hidden, and Schatzi. Expect a 12- to 14-course dinner that can be extended up to 24 using California produce with a refined lens but no overt avant-garde or molecular techniques. Beran hopes to serve six “pillar” courses with smaller dishes to connect them, with cooks finishing each dish with sauces and flourishes at the table. The price per person will begin at under $300 before drinks, tax, and gratuity. — Matthew Kang, lead editor

Wonho Frank Lee