It’s time for my annual list of the most anticipated sushiya openings for the upcoming year.
And by upcoming year, I mean the year we’re currently in. Don’t get mad, I spend all my free time watching Miss Rachel. You should see me pronounce “ball”. Nail it every time.
This is one of my favourite pieces of content. It’s also getting harder. I usually piece it together by consolidating industry whispers with whatever sushiya openings from the previous year were delayed (spoiler: it’s always a lot) and mix in all the “most anticipated restaurant openings in _______” that exist on the internet.
Unfortunately, the latter has become a feeding ground for every PR firm. Are you a hospitality group that’s just added a glitzy sushi spot with the “BEST CRISPY RICE IN TOWN”? Odds are you’ll be featured.
I tried to feature a cross-section of cities, but drop me a line at info@thesushilegend.com or on IG @thesushilegend and slide into the DMs if I missed anything and I’ll consider adding them in.
Most importantly, I make zero representations that any of these places will actually be any good, so save your angry emails and annoying DMs.
Thanks for reading.
Miura represents the return of Derek Wilcox to helming his own counter. Wilcox ran 69 Leonard Street in New York in between heavy hitters Eiji Ichimura and Shion Uino, but he’s got pedigree in his own right. A decade in Japan, including a stop at the renowned Ginza Sushi Aoki. The location in Beverly Hills has its own claim to fame – it’s where the legendary Urasawa used to be. Following in those footsteps isn’t easy, but early reviews are positive. Opened January 2026.
Nichi Getsu is the edomae-sushi project in Berlin from the team behind Shiori, which a local blogger calls “the best japanese restaurant in Berlin” (though I don’t know why you’d ever trust a blogger).
Opening March-April 2026.
I’ve never been to Omaha, so I’ve never eaten at David Utterback’s acclaimed Yoshitomo, but I do love his approach to sushi (I interviewed him here). Noriyoshi is his new Omaha-based temaki concept. Consider me intruiged.
ETA: Unknown.
After 12 years in Taiwan running a revered sushiya that morphed into a pseudo private club, Shogo Amamoto is opening Sushi Amamoto in London. The spot takes over from Taku, a well-received sushiya, but the pricing apparently remains the same: 17 courses at £180 and 22 courses at £380 per person. Taku won a michelin star, but head honcho Takuya Watanabe is now apparently in Paris . Amamoto-san has been given the title Executive Chef De Patron, and Jongho Park is running the counter, so I’m not sure how much he’ll actually be there, though he features in early Instagram videos.
As a pea-brained foreigner that distills my knowledge of countries to a singular hobby, let me just say this: when I think of Austria, classical music comes to mind. And Omakase – done properly – is a symphony.
So the opening of Shiki Omakase in Vienna is exciting. An 8 seat counter, €298 for dinner, €198 for lunch.
Open.
The second Tokyo location of Sushi Ginza Onodera Musuko from the Onodera group, the Akasaka spot is designed as an entry level sushiya (Musuko means “son”). If you’re unfamiliar, the mission of the Onodera group is “from ginza to the world”. To really dumb it down, that means bringing tradiitional cusiine to the world, which they do through 23 restaurants and counting (not just sushi). The picture is their weekday lunch set, for 1,980 Yen (the equivalent of $13 USD, or 1 non-error Gobbles The Turkey).
Tokyo’s Sushi Mitani is notorious for three things: Excellent sushi (duh), a multi-year wait for reservations, and their wine pairings. There has been no official confirmation, but seems like it will open in Lotte New York Palace.
It probably deserves a larger article, but here’s what The World’s 50 Best says about its Shinjuku honten (flagship):
Comprising just eight seats hidden behind a wooden door marked with a sign no bigger than a bathroom tile, you could easily walk past this gastronomic giant without blinking an eye. Yet this is the sushi fan’s equivalent of El Dorado. Reservations are famously taken only from 10am on January 1, with most years booking up within the hour. Yasuhiko Mitsuya has a particular interest in techniques that originated in Tokyo’s Edomae period and much of the fish he uses is house cured.
ETA: June 2026
Sushi Noz recently received a second Michelin star – which I covered live like a real journalist right here – and it will hope to receive similar acclaim when it opens in Century City in LA this June. It’s unclear who the Itamae at this location will be, but if anyone knows, drop me a line at info@thesushilegend.com.
I reviewed the original here.
The original Sushi OE was a revered 6-seat counter in Cammeray, Sydney run by Toshihiko Oe. Any day now it will re-open in the Sydney Fish Market, expanding from six to eight seats, while aiming to maintain the same lofty standards.
ETA: February 2026
If the influx of Omakase-focused-sushiya post-Jiro was NYC Sushi 2.0, and the escalation of the Chalkboard Omakase was NYC Sushi 3.0, the opening of NYC outposts from renowned Itamae in Japan is going NYC Sushi 4.0.
I have no idea if that makes any sense but work with me here.
In addition to Sushi Sho and Sushi Mitani, we now have Sushi Yoshitake to add to this list. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s the brainchild of renowned Shokunin Masahiro Yoshitake, who was one of 20 featured in Andrea Fazzari’s Sushi Shokunin. It’s actually a return for Masahiro-san, who was part of NYC Sushi 1.0 at Sushi Den (a legendary spawning ground) almost 30 years ago before returning to Japan. In fact, re-reading his section of Shokunin, his love for the Big Apple is obvious.
The New York Post covered some of the details here, but all you need to know is that the location is 550 Madison Avenue, the hospitality group making it happen are the people behind Korean Steakhouse, Cote, and it’s unlikely that Masahiro-san himself makes the move (according to little birdies of mine).
Opening: September 2026.
Takeda’s closure left a sushi hole on the Upper West Side, but I hear – though cannot confirm – that it will re-open in TriBeCa this year. If and when it does, Takeda will somehow fill a gap in the city’s 180 and counting omakase-focused sushiya – Toyama-focused seafood. Read my original reviews here and here.
Opening: Unknown 2026.