Why Sweetfin Feels Like One of LA’s New Restaurants Again in 2026

Lists of the best new restaurants in Los Angeles in 2026 are full of fresh openings. Sweetfin has been here for a decade.

That is exactly what makes its latest run of attention interesting.

This year, food and restaurant media started paying attention to Sweetfin’s biggest menu evolution yet, from a Michelin-starred collaboration to warm bowls and cooked proteins.

So what changed?

In this blog, we’ll look at why Sweetfin feels fresh again in 2026, what changed on the menu, and why longtime diners suddenly have a reason to look at the restaurant differently.

Sweetfin Isn’t New. So Why Does It Feel New Again?

Sweetfin opened its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Santa Monica in 2015. By its tenth-anniversary chapter, it could have celebrated with a special bowl and kept doing what people already knew it for.

Instead, the menu changed in a bigger way.

Poke is still part of Sweetfin, but the menu expanded into warm grain bowls, salads, roasted vegetables, cooked proteins, and more California-Asian flavors. That gave regulars more ways to order and gave people who do not always want raw fish another reason to walk in.

It feels less like a birthday celebration and more like a fresh direction.

The Biggest Change? Sweetfin Went Beyond Poke

For years, Sweetfin and poke were closely linked. The expanded menu widened that picture without pushing poke aside.

Cooked salmon, roasted chicken, tri-tip, tofu, warm grains, salads, and roasted sides joined the familiar raw-fish bowls. The point was not to replace what Sweetfin already did well. It was to make the menu work for more cravings.

Someone who wants spicy tuna can still order it. But the friend who says, “I’m not in the mood for raw fish today,” now has somewhere to start too.

That makes group lunch easier, but it also makes Sweetfin worth another look for people who thought they already knew the menu.

What Happens When a Michelin-Starred Chef Rethinks Fast Casual?

Sweetfin worked with California chef Daniel Patterson, known for Coi, his former two-Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco.

The collaboration helped shape warm bowls, salads, sides, sauces, and cooked proteins. But the Michelin name is only part of what makes the partnership interesting.

The bigger question is what that level of culinary thinking looks like in food you might actually order on a Tuesday.

Here, it shows up in combinations of warm grains, roasted proteins, fresh vegetables, bright sauces, pickles, and crunch. The food still needs to feel quick and approachable. It just has more room to play with temperature, texture, and flavor.

Sweetfin introduced this next chapter through its West Third Innovation Kitchen.

Why Did This Menu Change Get So Much Attention?

LA Magazine, Restaurant Business, and Nation’s Restaurant News came at the story from different angles, from Patterson’s involvement to Sweetfin’s move beyond an all-raw poke menu.

But they were all reacting to the same thing: Sweetfin had changed in a meaningful way.

The expanded menu gives diners more flexibility without walking away from the poke, scratch-made sauces, fresh produce, and California-Asian flavors that shaped the brand in the first place.

That is how an established name can find its way back into the conversation around the most talked-about restaurants in LA.

You can find more of the recent coverage on the Sweetfin press page.

Then Sweetfin Showed Up Somewhere Unexpected

The story also moved beyond Sweetfin’s restaurants.

In 2026, Sweetfin became a concession partner at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and teamed up with former professional tennis player Sam Querrey on the Sam Q’s Salmon Bowl for the tournament.

Not exactly where you expect a poke-bowl story to go next.

But Is the Buzz Actually Relevant to What You Eat?

Press coverage, Michelin-starred chefs, and tennis tournaments make good headlines. None of them matter much if the meal itself does not give you something different.

For diners, the practical change is simple: there are more ways to eat at Sweetfin now.

You can still choose salmon or tuna poke. You can also go for cooked proteins, warm grains, vegetables, salads, tofu, and roasted sides. The flavors still sit in Sweetfin’s California-Asian lane, but the menu now works for more appetites and more kinds of lunch.

That is where all the headlines come back to something simpler: what you actually feel like ordering for lunch.

So, Is Sweetfin One of LA’s “New” Restaurants in 2026?

Technically, no.

Sweetfin has been part of the Los Angeles food scene since 2015, so it does not belong on a literal list of restaurants that first opened this year.

But when people search “best new restaurants Los Angeles 2026,” they are usually looking for somewhere that gives them something they have not tried before.

That is where Sweetfin fits the wider conversation around trending restaurants in LA. The restaurant itself is established, but the experience has changed enough to give longtime diners something different to order.

Among the top LA restaurants in 2026 worth revisiting, that may be the more interesting story anyway.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sweetfin a new restaurant in Los Angeles?

No. Sweetfin opened its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Santa Monica in 2015 and later marked its tenth-anniversary chapter with a major menu evolution.

Why is Sweetfin getting attention in 2026?

Sweetfin expanded beyond poke with warm bowls, cooked proteins, salads, and sides developed with chef Daniel Patterson, giving diners more ways to order while keeping its California-Asian identity.

Who is Daniel Patterson?

Daniel Patterson is a California chef known for Coi, his former two-Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco. He collaborated with Sweetfin on its expanded menu.

Does Sweetfin still serve poke?

Yes. Poke remains part of the menu alongside warm grain bowls, cooked proteins, salads, sides, and plant-based choices.

What is Sweetfin’s Innovation Kitchen?

The Innovation Kitchen launched at Sweetfin’s West Third location as the home of the expanded menu developed with Daniel Patterson, adding warm bowls, salads, and roasted sides alongside classic poke.

Sometimes Feeling New Matters More Than Being New

Los Angeles gets new restaurants constantly. Giving people a reason to look again at a place they already know is harder.

That is what makes Sweetfin’s 2026 moment interesting. The poke is still there, but now it sits beside warm bowls, cooked proteins, salads, and a broader California-Asian menu that gives more people a reason to find something they want.

Explore the Sweetfin menu to see what has changed.