Index 02 · Edition 2026-11
New Openings Pulse: November 2026
New York City · 30 days
1,205
-2.7% vs prior 30 days
Seattle & King County
138
+7.8% vs prior 30 days
Chicago
99
-25.0% vs prior 30 days
NY State ex-NYC (liquor)
1,135
-2.7% vs prior 30 days
In the 30 days to 2026-11-14, official open-data records show 1,205 new food, drink and food-retail businesses in New York City (1,238 in the 30 days before, -2.7%), 138 in Seattle and King County (+7.8%) and 99 in Chicago (-25.0%). New York State outside the city recorded 1,135 new liquor licences and applications (-2.7%). Los Angeles and San Francisco are shown but left out of these comparisons, because their registries publish weeks late and the latest month is undercounted.
| Metro | Last 30 days | Prior 30 days | Change | Restaurants & bars (last 30) | In headline? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City, NY | 1,205 | 1,238 | -2.7% | 755 | yes |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | 1,135 | 1,166 | -2.7% | 701 | yes |
| Chicago, IL | 99 | 132 | -25.0% | 71 | yes |
| Seattle & King County, WA | 138 | 128 | +7.8% | 80 | yes |
| Los Angeles, CA | 7 | 84 | -91.7% | 4 | no (reporting lag) |
| San Francisco, CA | 53 | 53 | 0.0% | 37 | no (reporting lag) |
New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only): Liquor licences and applications only (no health-inspection source outside NYC); new licences also cover changes of ownership.
Los Angeles, CA: The LA business listing is refreshed about once a month and registrations are often backdated, so the last 30 days are heavily undercounted until the next refresh.
San Francisco, CA: SF registrations are often filed weeks after the location start date; recent weeks fill in later.
| Type | New York City, NY | New York State outside NYC | Chicago, IL | Seattle & King County, WA | Los Angeles, CA | San Francisco, CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| restaurant | 693 | 617 | 64 | 70 | 4 | 32 |
| bar | 62 | 84 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| cafe | 45 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 8 |
| bakery | 19 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| food truck | 0 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 5 |
| caterer | 19 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| retail | 367 | 402 | 15 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Metro | ZIP | New businesses |
|---|---|---|
| New York City, NY | 10003 | 36 |
| New York City, NY | 10001 | 28 |
| New York City, NY | 10036 | 26 |
| New York City, NY | 11211 | 26 |
| New York City, NY | 10019 | 25 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | 12180 | 13 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | 12550 | 11 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | 11743 | 10 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | 11050 | 9 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | 10801 | 8 |
| Chicago, IL | 60647 | 6 |
| Chicago, IL | 60622 | 5 |
| Chicago, IL | 60632 | 5 |
| Chicago, IL | 60639 | 5 |
| Chicago, IL | 60606 | 4 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | 98052 | 15 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | 98122 | 7 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | 98148 | 7 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | 98101 | 6 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | 98104 | 6 |
| San Francisco, CA | 94109 | 8 |
| San Francisco, CA | 94102 | 5 |
| San Francisco, CA | 94124 | 5 |
| San Francisco, CA | 94122 | 4 |
| San Francisco, CA | 94103 | 3 |
| Metro | Area | New businesses |
|---|---|---|
| New York City, NY | New York | 473 |
| New York City, NY | Brooklyn | 324 |
| New York City, NY | Bronx | 106 |
| New York City, NY | Staten Island | 49 |
| New York City, NY | Queens | 38 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | Rochester | 44 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | Buffalo | 38 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | Syracuse | 22 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | Albany | 15 |
| New York State outside NYC (liquor licences only) | Yonkers | 15 |
| Chicago, IL | Gage Park | 3 |
| Chicago, IL | Lake View | 3 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | Seattle | 46 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | Redmond | 15 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | Bellevue | 10 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | Burien | 7 |
| Seattle & King County, WA | Tukwila | 7 |
| Los Angeles, CA | Los Angeles | 4 |
| San Francisco, CA | Mission | 6 |
| San Francisco, CA | Bayview Hunters Point | 4 |
| San Francisco, CA | Financial District/South Beach | 4 |
| San Francisco, CA | Hayes Valley | 4 |
| San Francisco, CA | Sunset/Parkside | 4 |
| Cuisine | New restaurants |
|---|---|
| Coffee/Tea | 22 |
| American | 20 |
| Chinese | 11 |
| Other | 9 |
| Japanese | 8 |
| Caribbean | 6 |
| Pizza | 6 |
| Italian | 5 |
| Korean | 5 |
| Latin American | 5 |
| Mexican | 5 |
| Donuts | 4 |
Methodology
- Sources (official open data, Socrata APIs): NYC Open Data (DOHMH restaurant inspections), data.ny.gov (NY State Liquor Authority active licences and pending applications), City of Chicago (business licences and licence inspections), King County (first food-establishment inspections), City of Los Angeles (business registrations) and San Francisco (registered business locations). Not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these agencies. Texas is not included.
- What counts: a business counts once, on its earliest public signal date. Records from different sources at the same address with a matching name are merged. Only restaurants, bars, cafes, bakeries, food trucks, caterers and food or liquor retail are tracked.
- Windows: last 30 days = (2026-11-14 minus 30 days, 2026-11-14]; prior 30 = the 30 days before that. Weekly counts end on the date shown.
- History: the series starts with a 90-day backfill collected on 2026-11-12; it is updated daily.
- Caveats: sources publish with a lag (days for inspections, about a month for Los Angeles, weeks for San Francisco), so the latest weeks are undercounted until late records arrive. A new NY State liquor licence also covers a change of ownership at an existing venue. Outside NYC, New York State has liquor-licence signals only.
- Privacy: counts by area and type only. No business names, addresses, owner names, emails or phone numbers are published. Areas with fewer than 3 new businesses are not listed.
Frequently asked questions
- How many new restaurants and food businesses opened in New York City in the last 30 days?
- 1,205 new businesses in the 30 days to 2026-11-14 (755 of them restaurants or bars), against 1,238 in the 30 days before.
- Is Chicago seeing more or fewer new restaurant openings?
- Fewer: 99 new businesses in the last 30 days against 132 in the 30 days before (-25.0%).
- How many new food businesses opened in Seattle and King County?
- 138 in the 30 days to 2026-11-14, up from 128 (+7.8%).
- Why are Los Angeles and San Francisco left out of the headline?
- Their business registries are refreshed late and registrations are backdated, so the most recent 30 days are heavily undercounted until the next refresh.
- What counts as a new opening?
- A business counts once, on the date of its earliest public signal: a liquor licence application or grant, a pre-opening or first health inspection, or a new business registration.
- Can I reuse these numbers?
- Yes. The tables are licensed CC BY 4.0: reuse them with a link back to this page.