From an expansive Albanian newcomer with stuffed pies to an upcoming bar and restaurant based on the Seven Deadly Sins, here are the latest Boston restaurant openings, dining news, and food events to know right now.
4 minutes to read
Seven Cocktail Bar & Lounge
Prepare for some culinary gluttony (and perhaps some pride and wrath) when this new cocktail bar and restaurant opens in Downtown Crossing, themed around the seven deadly sins. The location is the current home of the restaurant French Quarter, and the new concept will take diners from New Orleans to hell. Literally—with the lower level named after the torturous final resting place of the damned, plus an elevator “concept” dubbed “Purgatory,” and another section of the restaurant that references the Garden of Eden. While details of the spot are scant, the cuisine will feature contemporary American dishes like steaks, scratch-made pastas, and seafood with bold flavors, and a focus on indulgence. Desserts, dubbed “Forbidden Fruits” will tempt diners, and the cocktail program takes pride in grand presentations. The restaurant will lean hard towards nightlife and obvious theatricality, and sees Boston-based Top Floor Entertainment collaborating with East Coast Saloons, a New-Jersey-based hospitality group with immersive restaurant concepts around the country.
Opening date: Fall 2026
545 Washington St., Downtown Boston
Shkodra Byrek
Albanian cuisine is perhaps one that not everyone knows a ton about. Culinary class is in session, then, at this sprawling new 120-seat restaurant in Dedham, which joins a petit counter-service spot in Braintree. Albanian native Elena Myshqeri, who owns the restaurant with her husband Besim, whips up traditional dishes based on recipes from her mother. Find stuffed eggplant in a vinegar reduction, slow-baked lamb with yogurt custard sauce, and minced beef stew served with rice pilaf. Cold appetizers, warm appetizers, grilled meats, and soups and salads round out the menu, too. The namesake byrek—stuffed pies made of layers of thin dough—are must-tries. Order up pies stuffed with feta, plus beef and onion. Be sure to check out the individual corn bread, baked in a scorching hot cast-iron skillet, that’s topped with sesame seeds, feta, and honey…