New Restaurants in Carmel-by-the-Sea 2026: Familiar Spaces, Fresh Menus

Faux gold brick now covers much of the walls at the old Sade's on Lincoln Street. Paintings of vintage race cars hang above a new high-top table for groups. The bar takes credit cards and makes drinks with more than three ingredients. When Edible Monterey Bay's Mark C. Anderson visited in late September, he wrote that three drinks came to $60 with tip. The old U-shaped bar and back bar are still there, with extra seating added for groups.

That mix of a familiar room and a new operator describes almost everything changing at Carmel's tables right now. Carmel has new restaurants open or on the way through 2027, and nearly all of them are going into spaces with a local history: a nearly 100-year-old bar, a former Italian dining room on Dolores, the corner where Affina and later Edwin's operated, and the old Forge in the Forest. With one exception, the operators are people who already run restaurants in town.

Where the old names went

Here is where each project stood as of early October 2026, based on the latest local reporting.

Lincoln Street: a century-old bar under a new name

Sade's was founded in 1926 and served its last drinks at the end of January 2026, just short of its 100th anniversary. Monterey County Now reported that the lease ended Jan. 31 after the building's landlords decided not to renew it. Bashar Sneeh took over the space and reopened it as BashBar. The words "the community well" are now painted on the front window.

The menu is short. It has five signature cocktails, including a bourbon sour, an espresso martini, and a Boilermaker that pairs Bulleit with beer, at $14 to $18. There are five "Filthy Favorites" at $14 to $16, seven wines by the glass at $12 each, and 10 beers at $8 to $10. On a September Monday, most of the seats were full.

Sneeh has spoken openly about the history of the room. "I definitely understand how it's an anchor in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and totally understand the feeling behind it," he told Edible Monterey Bay. "I took all of this into consideration." He also said, "Everyone who thought Sade's is gone, it's not gone. The name changed, but the place is still there, the feeling is still there." Anderson wrote that he and Sneeh "agree to disagree" on that point. One local he spoke with called the result "another Carmel bar." Anderson's answer was that there aren't many of those left either.

Dolores Street: one operator's steakhouse, two more concepts on the way

BashBar opened after Sneeh's larger project this year. Char Steakhouse took over the former Cantinetta Luca space on Dolores Street. Monterey County Now places it a few doors down from La Bicyclette. KSBW lists the opening as July 2026. Edible Monterey Bay's Aug. 4 report describes a visit "a day or two after opening," so it is safest to say Char opened this summer.

Char is Sneeh's first steakhouse. He also runs Dametra, PortaBella and Catch. Edible Monterey Bay reported that he arrived in the United States at 27, speaking little English. He worked at a Carmel gas station and bussed tables in Pebble Beach. After jobs at The Lodge at Pebble Beach and The Inn at Spanish Bay, he opened Dametra Café four years into what he had drawn up as a five-year plan.

The menu is built around Certified Angus Beef Prime steaks, including a 22-ounce bone-in ribeye. It also has seafood, house-made pasta and wood-fired pizza. The cocktail list includes a Beef Tallow Old Fashioned made with Wagyu tallow-infused Bulleit and served with a bite of filet mignon on the pick. Edible Monterey Bay called the room "elegant bones" with a makeover: exposed beams, a wood bar near the entrance, exposed brick in the back and an adjoining wine room. Hours and menus are at charcarmel.com.

The same magazine calls Dolores "one of the stronger restaurant stretches of street in the tri-county area." The street has two more concepts coming. Anthony and Alissa Carnazzo, who own Stationæry, are converting a former attorney office property on Dolores just northeast of 5th Avenue into two businesses that share a courtyard. Mama's Boy, a neighborhood deli selling sandwiches, fresh pasta, salads and Italian goods, will be in the front building. Mammone, a Sicilian restaurant serving seafood, pasta and Neapolitan pizza, will be in the rear.

On Feb. 11, 2026, the Carmel Planning Commission approved a change-of-use permit for the deli and a full-line restaurant permit for Mammone. It also approved design review for the exterior work and the courtyard. The project is set at 44 indoor seats and 22 outdoor seats. As of KSBW's Aug. 14 report, both are expected to open in 2027.

6th and San Carlos: Jeju Kitchen's owner opens a brunch spot

Edwin's closed in June 2026, leaving the corner of 6th and San Carlos empty. Before Edwin's, the building was Affina. Ashley Wolff told Edible Monterey Bay she had wanted the location for years and loves the tall palm tree outside. "It's my ultimate life's dream," she said, "and the timing was serendipitous."

Wolff opened Jeju Kitchen in Carmel Plaza in late 2023. She says it is still the only Korean restaurant in the city. Banju will be her second restaurant. The name means the art of eating and drinking in Korean. The plan:

• Menu: about 80% California food and 20% Korean-Hawaiian, with nostalgic dishes from the 1990s and 2000s. Wolff describes it as "more lunchy than breakfasty."
• Drinks: a beer and wine license with sparkling wines that include bottles from Scott Caraccioli, plus coffee, a matcha program, and spritzers with and without alcohol.
• Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to start. Evenings are being kept open for guest chefs and pop-ups.

In August, the building still needed structural repairs, new floors and paint. Wolff said she hoped to start recipe testing and staff training in October and open in November, before the holidays. The reporting gathered for this post does not confirm whether that timeline still holds.

511 Junipero: the forge goes to Flanders Mansion

The last space on the list comes with the most local history. In the week of Oct. 2, a city public works crew removed an old forge from the former Forge in the Forest restaurant at 511 Junipero Ave. and moved it to the garage at Flanders Mansion. The Carmel Pine Cone reported that the forge may have belonged to Francis Whitaker, the nationally known blacksmith who worked in Carmel for many years, though its provenance is uncertain. The city took ownership of it after Historic Resources Board chair Jordan Chroman asked for a report on the work underway to prepare the site for Justin Cogley and Janet Elarmo.

Cogley is the executive chef at Aubergine. He is planning Corner Market as a more casual restaurant focused on seafood and seasonal produce. The project's own website still says "Coming 2026." SORASEA Hospitality now gives a target of summer 2027, which matches the latest news reports.

What the new tenants have in common

Look across all five spaces and the same thing shows up. Sneeh reopened two well-known rooms within a few months of each other. Wolff is expanding from Carmel Plaza to the corner of 6th and San Carlos. The Carnazzos are adding two concepts alongside Stationæry. Cogley is building a casual counterpart to Aubergine on Junipero. KSBW's August list also includes Nora's, which opened in summer 2025. Apart from that, the change in Carmel's dining scene from 2026 into 2027 is coming mostly from operators who already run restaurants in the village, and it is happening inside buildings with long local histories.

The timeline for the rest of the list is as follows. As of August, Banju was aiming for November. Mama's Boy, Mammone and Corner Market are all pointed at 2027, with Corner Market targeting summer.

Mario Tejeda notices these changes as a third-generation Salinas resident who works with buyers and sellers in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and he likes hearing which new spots his neighbors are trying. If you are curious about what is changing on your own street, or want a local take on the village before your next move, reach out to Mario Tejeda. Let's Connect.