It's easy to get used to your routine even when it comes to our eating habits.
Fine dining has been limited to special occasions and fast food usually creeps into the cycle when we're a little too tired to cook. However, with a surge of new establishments popping up, from fast food chains and pizzerias to upscale eateries, it may be time to add a few new joints to your usual rotation.
Take this list of new restaurant openings as a sign. To help you get out of your comfort zone, here is a list of eateries that have opened so far this year that may have flown under your radar:
7 Brew
March 2024
2901 N. Monroe St.; 7brew.com
Located just off the interstate, the national chain opened its first Tallahassee location in March. The site of the popular and long-defunct Julie's Place bar and restaurant was torn down for the new store. The Arkansas-based coffee shop offers seven specialty coffee brews (thus the name), as well as other "classics," with options to order drinks iced, hot or chilled. 7 Brew also offers energy and fizz drinks, teas, lemonades, smoothies and shakes in a generous number of flavors.
Birdie's at Betton
April 2024
1950 Thomasville Road; birdiesatbetton.com
The chicken shack made its comeback this April. Formerly Hot Birdie's, Birdie's at Betton brings back the wildly popular buffalo chicken sandwich to the upstairs dining area of the landmark Betton Place restaurant Food Glorious Food owned by Kevin Stout. By day the upstairs dining area is called "Birdie's at Betton," after 4 p.m., it goes back to being "Bar at Betton." Birdie's at Betton offers six specialty chicken sandwiches with a side of fries, sliders and chicken fingers to pair with its "Legendary Sauces."
Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings
January 2024
2020 W Pensacola St.; charleys.com
Located in the Westend Square Shopping Plaza, the fast casual restaurant prized for an array of cheesesteak offerings, loaded fries and fresh fruit lemonades opened its second location in the capital at the beginning of the year. The expanded menu adds boneless and classic wings in 10 different flavors. The Ohio-based franchise offers specialty cheesesteaks to choose from, and this location is also one of the few to carry the chain's traditional and boneless wings, unlike the capital's first location inside the Governor's Square Mall.
Chill Roadside Bar and Stuff
July 2024
626-9 Railroad Square; Facebook
Signing their lease days before the tornados hit on May 10, the retro-decorated establishment, Chill Roadside Bar and Stuff, located inside Railroad Square, was able to operate at a limited capacity and had a 'soft open' at July's First Friday event. The bar, which currently offers prepackaged drinks and other items, is also a vintage hub with clothes and knick-knacks for sale. The store looks forward to its grand opening but will currently offer those items, as well as a cozy space to "hang out, play games, watch TV and meet the owners," as posted on the company's Facebook page.
Chow Won Korean Steakhouse
February 2024
1107 Apalachee Parkway; chowwon.com
Opened in February, the locally owned Chow Won Korean Steakhouse has already made a name for itself by offering its “marinated meats (often served by friendly robots) and communal grilling experience," as posted on the company's website. The Korean-style steakhouse is in the Parkway Center, distinguishing itself with its all-you-can-eat offerings, a good variety of appetizers, and meats and sides to choose from. The restaurant has become a new dining destination for special events and casual lunches with friends.
Del Taco
May 2024
2410 Apalachee Parkway; deltaco.com
This long-awaited franchise was discussed in online chats for months before finally opening in May. It transformed the former Hardee's location on Apalachee Parkway into the latest store for its American-style Mexican cuisine.Del Taco offers tacos, burritos, salads, burgers, crinkle cut fries, sweet treats and more, for prices starting at $1.79 for its value-menu deals.
DéjàVu
April 2024
3537 Thomasville Rd.; dejavuvenezuelanfood.com
Opening its second location in the Railroad Square Art District, the Venezuelan-themed fast casual eatery expanded its footprint and operates inside the district's food hall. First operating as a food truck on Thomasville Road, the family operation offers authentic Venezuelan cuisine: beef, chicken and cheese empanadas (corn meal patties), arepas (cornmeal flatbread fillings) and beef, chicken and pork arepones (ham, boiled egg, lettuce, tomatoes, DéjàVu sauce).
El Rey Tacos and Beer
July 2024
1122-8 Thomasville Rd.; Facebook
Taking over the former Taco Republik, a fast casual restaurant in Midtown, this new taco joint has been well received, especially at its soft opening last month. With cuisine "fit for a king," hinting at the name (which means 'the king'), the storefront offers tacos El Rey, American or Baja style. Tortas El Rey, these huge sandwiches, also are on the menu with your choice of protein. Rice bowls and burritos are on the menu as well.
H-Tea-O
May 2024
2320 Capital Circle NE; hteao.com
The Texas-based chain, H-Tea-O, offers Southern-style freshly brewed teas on Capital Circle Northeast. With over 25 specialty sweet and unsweet iced teas, made from fresh fruit flavors and herbs, this tea joint has become a fast favorite of those who have tried it. Outside of their popular strawberry passion brew, they also offer flavors like sweet coconut, Georgia peach, watermelon and wild raspberry. Plus, H-Tea-O offers lattes, macchiatos, mochas, hot tea, energizers and prepackaged snacks.
Jeremiah's Italian Ice
March 2024
1919 W Tennessee St.; jeremiahsice.com
This decadent water ice and ice cream shop opened its third Tallahassee location on West Pensacola Street in March. (The Winter Park, Florida-based chain also operates on Village Square Boulevard and Bannerman Road.) The large, iced treats are layered with soft serve ice cream, authentic Italian ice and another sweet of your liking. The shop has released its newest flavor, a chocolatey "Brownie Batter Ice," to create three new layered options of treats. One of the new items, the "Hey Batter Batter Flavorite" features both brownie batter- and cake batter-flavored Italian ice, soft vanilla ice cream and Oreo cookie crumbles.
Lucky Goat
July 2024
1395 E Lafayette St.; luckygoatcoffee.com
The locally-based coffee shop, going on 14 years of business, opened its sixth location in the Indianhead neighborhood in July. The outfit took over the location of the former Vertigo Burgersand Fries on East Lafayette St., which closed in March after 13 years of operation. Lucky Goat offers cold and hot brews, espressos, teas, lattes, sweet treats and other retail items. Lucky Goat operates five other locations: Bannerman Road, Capital Circle Northeast, Market District, Midtown and South Adams, according to its website.
Piesanos
January 2024
101 N Blair Stone Road.; piesanostogo.com
Taking over the previous Panera Bread location in theGovernors Crossing II shopping center, Piesanos Stone Fired Pizza opened its doors in January. The high-end pizzeria, known for its savory and fluffy garlic rolls, also offers 27 specialty pizzas, as well as a generous menu of entrees, specialty calzones, pastas, salads, desserts and liqueurs to pair from its full-service bar. The Gainesville-based chain is the perfect venue for a night out with family and friends or an intimate date night.
Red Owl
June 2024
1322 Mahan Drive; redowlcoffee.com
This Georgia-based coffee chain opened its first capital location this June with a second location proposed for theformer Farm Stores location on Bannerman Road. Red Owl offers custom coffee drinks as well as espressos, frappes, teas, brews, smoothies, shakes and "Hoot" (get it?) energy drinks. Food offerings include traditional breakfast specialties, sandwiches and bowls.
Smorgasbord Catering Co.
June 2024
1123 Thomasville Road; smorgasbordcatering.com
Starting off as a pop-up food business, Smorgasbord Catering Co. recently expanded to its first brick-and-mortar location in the old Jeri's Midtown Cafe location on Thomasville Road this March. The expansion into an intimate cafe setting allows the team to offer breakfast and lunch seven days a week, along with family or healthy meal preps, in addition to its catering services. Hearty and healthy "quintessential American" cuisine with geographic influences is offered. Plans to add more local attractions to make it a true dining destination are underway, including thematic movie nights with food to pair.
SOS Pizza and Grill
June 2024
1600 West Call St.; Facebook
Located on West Call Street, the pizzeria and bar opened its doors in June. The menu is broken into a few sections with "Crew Food," which features shareables and appetizers including pork egg rolls, wings, coconut shrimp and cheesy fried buoys. There are a couple of salads to choose from as well, but pizzas and burgers are the restaurant's main draw. Funky named pizzas are on the menu including the "Send Help, I'm a Vegetarian" (mushrooms, onion, bell peppers) and "Man Overboard" (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms).
Southern Smoke
March 2024
1500 Apalachee Parkway (Governor’s Square mall food court); Facebook
The barbecue joint located inside the mall’s food court offers smoked and grilled delights with family recipes that originate from southern states, including Louisiana and Tennessee. The family-owned storefront, previously housed by Sugar Cane and Spices Island Fusion, offers its specialty smoked meat platters and a variety of sides, including pit-smoked baked beans, greens, mac and cheese, potato salad and smokehouse chips.
Surcheros
February 2024
800 Ocala Road, Suite 100
The fresh-Mex restaurant opened its second Tallahassee location in the bustling Ocala Corners shopping center, home to a Publix Super Market, Tropical Smoothies Cafe, Panera Bread and more. (Its other Tallahassee location is at 1817 Thomasville Road.) The restaurant offers Mexican-inspired custom style dishes including tacos, grilled burritos, nachos, quesadillas, salads and burrito bowls, each of which can be paired with over 15 different toppings, sides, homemade sauces and dressings.The restaurant also offers weekly specials for entrees.
Sweetfirmations
April 2024
1318 South Adam St.; Facebook
You've maybe heard of candied grapes, but have you ever heard of candied cakes? Sweetfirmations, a cake shop located on Adams Street, keeps it extra sweet with rainbow-colored cakes of different flavors or even cake layered with cheesecakes. The family-owned operation opened in April and offers family recipes to fulfill all those sweet teeth. Cakes are offered by the slice. If you follow their Facebook, you can see other sweet treats they offer depending on the day.
The Monroe
July 2024
1327 S Monroe St.; themonroetlh.com
The Monroe upscale eatery is one of SoMo Walls' anchor tenants. The menu is full of modern American cuisine with hints of globally inspired flavors. The menu is broken down into "small and shareable" appetizers, seafood plates, full size entrees, large format platters and a generous dessert menu. The drink menu also offers a nice range of pairings from crafted co*cktails and wines. The eatery hosted a soft opening last month and is now fully operating.
This article contains previously reported information.
Did I miss any? Let me know: ksanford@tallahassee.com.
Kyla A Sanford covers dining and entertainment for the Tallahassee Democrat. New restaurants opening up, special deals, or events coming up? Let me knowatthe email address above. You can also email me your suggestions for a futureTLH Eatsrestaurant profile.
