The new year has already gotten off to a fast start on the Birmingham dining scene, with the openings of several new restaurants and many more coming over the weeks and months ahead. They include a popular Jewish delicatessen that began in Brooklyn, a barbecue joint from a James Beard Award-winning South Carolina pitmaster, a seafood restaurant from Alabama's next hot chef, as well as new locations for a few old Birmingham favorites. Please keep reading to find out about some of the new Birmingham restaurants you'll want to put on your 2019 bucket list. And be sure to bookmark this page so that you may come back throughout the year for updates on more openings.

Image courtesy of Abhi Eatery + Bar

Abhi Eatery + Bar

Birmingham sushi chef extraordinaire Abhi Sainju, who opened his first restaurant, Abhi Eatery + Bar, in the Summit in early 2017, is opening a second location of Abhi in the former Avo space in Mountain Brook Village. "There will be some old and new stuff," Sainju says. "The menu will be changing all the time, with no restrictions. We're going to have some fun."

Address: 2721 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook.

Projected opening: Late April.

Read more: Abhi Eatery + Bar coming to Mountain Brook.

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Photo by Emma Anzelone

Automatic Seafood and Oysters

Muscle Shoals native Adam Evans -- who earned his culinary stripes at such restaurants as Craft in New York City, La Petite Grocery in New Orleans and The Optimist in Atlanta -- is partnering with his wife, interior designer Suzanne Humphries Evans, to open their first restaurant, a seafood concept featuring dishes primarily sourced from the Gulf. The name of their restaurant is a tip of the hat to the former Automatic Sprinkler Corporation, which previously occupied the building.

Address: 2820 Fifth Ave. South, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Late February/early March.

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Photo courtesy of Big Spoon Creamery

Big Spoon Creamery

Less than two years after opening their Big Spoon Creamery artisanal ice cream shop in Avondale, Ryan and Geri-Martha O'Hara are branching out to start a new location in Homewood's bustling Edgewood neighborhood. Their small-batch ice cream includes such seasonal flavors as Valrhona dark chocolate, vanilla bean, banana pudding and Cara Cara orange cream, as well as sundaes, banana splits and ice-cream "sammies."

Address: 927 Oxmoor Road, Homewood.

Opening: Feb. 1.

Website: www.bigspooncreamery.com.

Read more: Big Spoon Creamery opens ice cream shop.

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Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com

Cayo Coco Rum Bar & Restaurante

Andrew Collins, who helped usher in the Magic City's craft cocktail craze when he opened The Collins Bar in 2013, is opening a rum bar and tapas restaurant that focuses on South American and Cuban cuisine in the Founders Station development on First Avenue North downtown.

Address: 2015 First Ave. North, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Late February/early March.

Read more: 2 restaurants, bar coming to new downtown Birmingham development.

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Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com

Cook Out

Great news for fans of this North Carolina-based fast-food chain famous for its inexpensive burgers, barbecue, hot dogs and shakes. After opening locations in Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Huntsville, Mobile and other cities around the state, Cook Out is finally coming to Birmingham, the company announced earlier in January.

Address: 281 Lakeshore Parkway, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Not available.

Website: cookout.com.

Read more: Hey, Birmingham: Here's how you eat at Cook Out.

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Photo courtesy of Style Advertising

Filter - Coffee Parlor

The husband-and-wife team of James Little and Jill Marlar opened their coffee shop in the former Starbuck's location in Five Points South in early January. In addition to coffee from Alabama roasters such as Montgomery's Prevail Union and Birmingham's Red Bike Coffee, Filter - Coffee Parlor also serves muffins, scones, biscotti and cake.

Address: 1927 11th Ave. South, Birmingham.

Opened: Jan. 7.

Website: www.filtercoffeeparlor.com.

Read more: Filter - Coffee Parlor opens in Five Points South.

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Image courtesy of Orchestra Partners

Five Points Lane

Birmingham's Orchestra Partners, which opened the hugely popular The Woolworth bar and restaurant last year, have their eyes on another Five Point South project, transforming the former Base Camp space into Five Points Lane, a shopping plaza with restaurants, a bar and a coffee shop.

Address: 1024 20th St. South, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Mid-year.

Read more: Birmingham's Five Points South is cool again; here's why.

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Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

Memphis-based Gus's World-Famous Fried Chicken, which began in the small town of Mason, Tenn., in 1953 and now includes more than 20 locations around the country, is opening its first Birmingham restaurant in The Battery, a new retail and office development in the former Birmingham Electric Battery Co. building at the corner of 22nd Street and Second Avenue South.

Address: 2201 Second Ave. South, Birmingham.

Opening: February.

Website: gusfriedchicken.com.

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Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com

Luna Latin Cuisine

Rom Mendez, owner of the Cantina on Wheels food trucks, recently opened this Venezuelan-inspired restaurant in an old firehouse in Avondale. The Luna Latin Cuisine menu includes fried plantains, Cuban sandwiches, sweet corn pancakes and grilled cornmeal patties available with a choice of black beans, roasted pork, shredded beef and shredded chicken.

Address: 4120 Second Ave. South, Birmingham.

Opened: Late December 2018.

Website: lunabham.com.

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Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com

Michael's Steaks & Seafood in the Negro Southern League Museum

From the 1950s to the 1990s, the old Michael's Sirloin Room was a fixture on 20th Street South in Birmingham. Now, more than a quarter-century since the restaurant closed, it appears Michael's is coming back to the Magic City, after the owners of Michael's Steaks & Seafood in Homewood were given incentives to open a restaurant in the Negro Southern League Museum near Regions Field.

Address: 120 16th St. South, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Not available.

Read more: Restaurant gets incentives to open in Negro Southern League Museum.

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Photo by Angie Mosier

Mile End Deli

Adam Grusin, who previously served as sous chef at his mentor Frank Stitt's Bottega restaurant and as the chef de cuisine at Stitt's Chez Fonfon, is the executive chef and operating partner at this New York-style Jewish delicatessen that opened in early January in the LIV Parkside development across from Railroad Park. The original Mile End Delicatessen, which is named for Montreal's Mile End neighborhood opened in Brooklyn in 2010, and Birmingham restauranteur Nick Pihakis of the Pihakis Restaurant Group is responsible for expanding it first into Nashville and now into Birmingham. The menu features brisket, latkes, schnitzel, Reubens and matzo ball soup.

Address: 1701 First Ave. South, Birmingham.

Opened: Jan. 10.

Website: www.mileenddeli.com.

Read more: New York-style delicatessen opening in Birmingham.

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Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com

Pho Pho Vietnamese & Sushi Bar

Four years after opening in Five Points South, the owners of Pho Pho Vietnamese & Sushi Bar are planning a pho and bibimpap concept that will move into the former Ichicoro Imoto ramen noodle food stall in the Pizitz Food Hall.

Address: 1821 Second Ave. North, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Spring.

Read more: Here's your dining guide to Birmingham's Pizitz Food Hall.

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AL.com file/Erin Edgemon

The Preservery

Chef Andrea Foster, who brought her elevated soul food to REV Birmingham's REVeal Kitchen incubator space in the Pizitz Food Hall last year, is branching out and opening a place of her own in the former Fuego Cantina & Saloon space in the heart of Five Points South.

Address: 2005 11th Ave. South, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Early to mid-2019.

Read more: Pizitz Food Hall's REVeal Kitchen announces next chef.

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Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com

Rodney Scott's BBQ

Birmingham's Nick Pihakis of Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q has teamed with South Carolina's Rodney Scott to bring Rodney Scott's BBQ to the Magic City, where they will open shop in the former Saigon Noodle House location in Avondale. Scott, a James Beard Award winner for best chef in the Southeast in 2018, has been refining his skills as a master of the pits since he started working in his parents' barbecue joint in Hemingway, S.C., when he was 11 years old. The menu at Rodney Scott's BBQ will feature whole-hog barbecue, spare ribs, smoked chicken and smoked turkey, along with such sides as hush puppies, mac and cheese, baked beans and collard greens, as well as banana pudding made from Scott's mother's recipe.

Address: 3719 Third Ave. South, Birmingham.

Projected opening: Late February.

Website: rodneyscottsbbq.com.

Read more: James Beard-winning chef coming to Alabama to open barbecue restaurant.

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Photo courtesy of Taco Mama

Stadium Trace Village

This $44 million retail development in Hoover will include new locations for several Birmingham favorites, including Taco Mama (pictured above), Melt and O'Henry's Coffees, as well as another Mooyah Burgers, Fries and Shakes location and a couple of concepts new to the Birmingham area -- a Cajun-themed restaurant called Cajun Roux and a rolled ice cream shop named Sweet Charlie's

Address: Interstate 459 and Alabama 150, Hoover.

Projected opening: Summer.

Read more: More shops announced for Hoover's Stadium Chase Village.

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Photo courtesy of Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar

Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar

This Baton Rouge, La.-based sports bar and grill was founded in 2003 by Brandon Landry, a former walk-on for the LSU basketball team. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is a partner in the business. The Louisiana-inspired menu features gumbo, red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee, po' boys, boudin balls and fried alligator, as well as a wide selection of burgers, sandwiches, wraps and salads. Walk-On's, which opened its first Alabama location in Mobile last year, plans to break ground on a Birmingham-area restaurant on Feb. 22 in the new Tattersall retail development near U.S. 280 and Alabama Highway 110. The local franchisee is Matt Roth, who is part of an ownership group that includes PGA golfer Smylie Kaufman of Vestavia Hills and former Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson from Hoover. Walk-On's Bistreaux & Bar is expected to open in August.

Address: 6401 Tattersall Park Drive, Hoover.

Projected opening: August.

Website: walk-ons.com.

Read more: Louisiana sports bar and restaurant plans to expand into Alabama.

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Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com

Wasabi Juan's

Wasabi Juan's -- popular for its "sushi burritos," a mash-up of Japanese and Mexican cuisines -- has outgrown its original location in Avondale and moved into a new space in The Battery development in downtown Birmingham.

Address: 2201 Second Ave. South, Suite 105, Birmingham.

Opened: Jan. 15.

Website: wasabijuan.com.

Read more: New to the menu in Birmingham: Sushi burritos at Wasabi Juan's.

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Bob Carlton/bcarlton@al.com

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