Truthfully, this North Austin restaurant, which opened in February, is one of the most exciting restaurants of the year. Chef Christopher Krinsky’s food court stall inside of Hana World Market in the Scofield Farms neighborhood offers ramen and tacos in Mexican and Japanese ways. Of the former, the mole tsukemen is a wonder; of the latter, he places grilled meat skewers on corn tortillas. It’s a counter-service restaurant, be patient with ordering and be aware they may run out of food. There are indoor dine-in areas.

As has become typical in Austin, the former location of Violet Crown Clubhouse became a natural wine bar and coffee shop in May. The morning menu includes pastries and espresso drinks, come evening there are 20 wines by the glass and snacks like tinned fish and almonds. There are indoor and outdoor dining services.

The newcomer Highland hot pot restaurant offers all-you-can-eat ingredients for its boiling soups, including vegetables, noodles, and dumplings available buffet-style, since April. And for those who want a little something more, there are a la carte meat and seafood options. There are indoor dine-in services.

The new Mediterranean restaurant opened in Rosedale in March, offering a seafood-focused menu with items like gnocchi in a calamari bolognese, swordfish skewers, and more. Owner Cameron Lockley operates neighboring Italian restaurant Gusto and executive chef Jason Tallent worked at Austin Italian restaurant Cipollina. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

The highly anticipated pizza spot opened its first location this March in Tarrytown, slinging all sorts of New York-style pies and slices topped with creamy cheese blobs, pepperoni, and more. Pair the pies with glasses of wine from host site Flo’s. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in areas.

Best Austin taco truck Veracruz expanded with a new Mexican restaurant in Mueller in April, offering, yes, those brilliant breakfast tacos alongside newer dishes like picadas, chilaquiles, wonderfully decadent whole-fried fish, and delightful tres leches cakes. It’s also the first time the restaurant is offering a full cocktail bar with lovely drinks. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

The team behind Sazan Ramen opened Daiboku in May as an omakase restaurant that also has casual counter service. On the omakase menu, there are two kinds of ramen and other dishes with beverage pairings (which begins June 16), whereas the counter service menu has ramen as well as other Japanese dishes. The restaurant is in West Campus with indoor dining services.

The teams behind Mexican restaurants Suerte and Este opened a third little restaurant. Found on the same grounds as Este in Cherrywood, Bar Toti is an intimate indoor and outdoor space serving dishes with Spanish/French/Mexican tinges, take the Mexican hamburguesa with seared ham, the croquetas, and the burnt Basque cheesecake with strawberries. Keep in mind it’s only open on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Old-school-vibes restaurant and bar Bill’s Oysters moved into downtown in May with seafood towers, martinis, and of course, oysters. There are indoor and outdoor dining available.

It’s another Aaron Franklin-James Moody collaboration (see: Hot Luck Festival) in restaurant form, which opened in March. The casual East Austin spot focuses on New Orleans fare with the help of chef de cuisine Rene Garza. There are po’ boys made with bread from NOLA bakery Leidenheimer, chicken and sausage gumbo, and a raw bar with shrimp cocktails and fancy caviar paired with Zapp’s chips. Obviously, there are good drinks. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

Mexico City restaurant La Popular opened its second-ever American location in Austin’s West Oak Hill neighborhood in April. The menu is a classic taqueria one with lots of tacos, enchiladas, quesos, ceviches, and more, alongside cocktails. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

The new Govalle bar’s food menu is meant to feel like a dinner party, per the all-star team behind Holiday (co-owners bar genius Erin Ashford and Kinda Tropical’s John DiCicco with executive chef Peter Klein) in March. Find New American dishes like the soothing steamed mussels with giant beans, a savory-sweet chicken liver mousse with a white port gelee and strawberry-green garlic mostarda, plus a lovely olive oil cake with dense whipped cream. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

The Emmer & Rye team opened its latest restaurant in late April: Ezov, with a whole Tel Aviv vibe and menu, in the Holly neighborhood. Leading the kitchen is Berty Richter, who had operated the now-closed restaurant TLV. On deck’s falafel paired with tahini, halloumi with date molasses and dukkah, chicken shawarma, and baklava. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

A wine bar, wine shop, and Korean-American restaurant, the hotly anticipated Underdog opened in May. The wine list highlights low-intervention and sustainable wineries, and especially winemakers who are Asian women. To go along with the wines are dishes like galbi, an ebi (shrimp) burger, and fried chicken with nori seasoning.

Another all-you-can-eat restaurant, but this Sweetbriar spot offers Korean barbecue since it opened in April. There are the usual meats available for grill-it-yourself purposes, plus banchan and a la carte dishes like tteokbokki and stews, plus cocktails and Korean alcoholic beverages. There are indoor dine-in services.