If 2025 was a year of confident openings across Northern Ireland’s food scene, 2026 looks set to be one of consolidation, where restaurants sharpen their identities, deepen their followings and, in some cases, begin to influence the wider direction of dining here.
From city-centre kitchens to neighbourhood restaurants and food trucks doing restaurant-level work, these are some of the places helping to define what that next phase looks like.
Beau2 Warehouse Lane, Belfast, BT1 2DX
EATING OUT. Beau Restaurant on Warehouse Ln, Waring St, Belfast.
PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
Tucked beside Michelin-starred Muddlers Club on Warehouse Lane, Beau opened in May 2025 and has quickly established itself as one of the city centre’s most assured new restaurants.
Owned and run by chef Lottie Noren, formerly head chef at Iberian-influenced Edo and a 2024 finalist on BBC Two’s Great British Menu, the restaurant takes a classical, French-leaning approach to modern pan-European cooking, delivered through a concise menu of sharing plates.
What sets Beau apart is its clarity of purpose. The menu evolves regularly, but the cooking remains technically confident and stylistically coherent, with a clear sense of identity coming from the kitchen. Rather than chasing trends, Beau feels focused on refinement – a restaurant interested in getting better, not louder.
Read more: A year of Eating Out: My six stand-out dishes from Belfast restaurants in 2025
Pica45 Belmont Rd, Belfast, BT4 2AA
Pica on the Belmont Road in East Belfast.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
Since opening in June, Pica has become both a figurative and literal hotspot on the Belmont Road. Specialising in tacos, margaritas and small plates, the 26-seater restaurant combines bold Mexican flavours with locally sourced ingredients.
Founders Ady Hamilton and Cally Carrigan Cork place authenticity at the centre of the operation, from the roughly 900 hand-pressed tortillas made on site each week to the 14 varieties of dried chillies imported directly from Mexico.
The result is a menu that resists standardisation. Dishes shift depending on produce and inspiration, with highlights including Baja fish tacos and jalapeño, queso and spiced tomato quesadillas, alongside a drinks list built around margaritas, tequilas and mezcals.
That sense of confidence is already beginning to shape conversations about what might come next.
Capparelli at the Mill231 Belfast Rd, Belfast, BT16 1UE
Carlos and Lucie Capparelli at Capparelli at the Mill in Dundonald.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
One of the most striking openings of late 2025, Capparelli at the Mill combines ambitious cooking with an unusually dramatic setting.
Housed in a restored 18th-century watermill on the edge of Dundonald, the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant is the latest venture from Lucie and Carlos Capparelli, with acclaimed chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi involved as an investor and consultant. The menus reflect Carlos’s varied background, drawing on Brazilian, Italian and Spanish influences shaped by years working in London kitchens.
Fresh pastas, rotisserie dishes and vegetable-led plates form the backbone of the offering, with food that feels generous and familiar while still delivering moments of surprise. As it settles into life beyond its opening months, Capparelli at the Mill feels well placed to become a significant destination beyond Belfast’s city centre.
Read more: Eating Out: Capparelli at the Mill – a classy Mediterranean spot in Belfast
La Bottega625 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7GT
La Bottega on Belfast’s Lisburn Road is small but perfectly formed. PICTURE: MAL MCCANN
Nestled on the Lisburn Road, La Bottega has quietly built a reputation as one of the city’s most authentic Italian dining rooms.
In 2025, the restaurant was awarded the Ospitalità Italiana quality seal – a recognition granted by the Italian government to restaurants that genuinely uphold Italian culinary traditions – making it the only restaurant on the island of Ireland to receive the accolade that year.
That distinction reflects a menu grounded in classic antipasti, fresh pastas and regional mains, supported by a carefully considered Italian wine list. At a time when diners are increasingly drawn to substance over novelty, La Bottega’s commitment to doing the basics exceptionally well continues to set it apart.
Street Food Atelier310 Newtownards Rd, Belfast, BT4 1HE
Street Food in East Belfast.
PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
If Belfast’s food scene continues to blur the line between casual dining and high-end technique, Street Food Atelier is a key part of that conversation.
Founded by chefs Artur Fron and Jakub Kielczewski, both of whom have fine-dining backgrounds including stints at 2Taps and Fontana, the east Belfast food truck delivers globally inspired dishes that change monthly. Menus have ranged from Brazilian picanha and pão de queijo to Korean-influenced plates and inventive flatbreads.
Parked outside Boundary Brewing, Street Food Atelier demonstrates how a street-food format can support creativity and technical ambition without sacrificing accessibility – a model that feels increasingly influential within the city’s evolving food culture.
Piccolo Kitchen699 Lisburn Rd, Belfast, BT9 7GU
Piccolo Kitchen, Lisburn Road. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN
Opened on November 27, Piccolo Kitchen brings a well-established Italian-inspired ethos to the Lisburn Road.
The latest project from Stephen Toney and Kristian Nicolo, the team behind Co Armagh favourite Zio, the restaurant focuses on wood-fired pizzas, fresh pastas and unfussy, flavour-led cooking. Rather than reinventing the wheel, Piccolo Kitchen leans into familiarity done well, informed by the loyal following the owners cultivated outside the city.
As the restaurant settles into daily service, it feels less like a short-term opening buzz and more like the kind of neighbourhood spot designed for longevity.