Estrellita is heading downtown. The Filipino restaurant, a Michelin Bib Gourmand honoree, plans to leave Grant Park in the second half of 2026 and reopen on the bottom floor of the 115 Broad St. SW building in South Downtown, with a fall 2026 opening on the calendar.
Estrellita opened on Woodward Avenue in 2020, focusing on dishes from the Pampanga region of the Philippines. It picked up its Bib Gourmand three years later and has kept that recognition every year since. Owners Hope Webb and Chef Walter Cortado have been working out of a very small room, and the Broad Street location gives them a much larger footprint. Rough Draft Atlanta characterizes the new restaurant as nearly three times larger than the Grant Park one.
"We were growing out of our space rapidly because we were only operating out of 523 square feet," Webb said.
How the move came together
By 2024, the owners could see that a bigger space would eventually be necessary. They committed in 2025, after converting to a coal fire-roasted kitchen. Webb said that menu took off, and with the restaurant turning a good profit, the timing felt right to grow. When they got back in touch with their leasing agent, the agent suggested South Downtown and this Broad Street address specifically. Once Webb and Cortado saw the plans, they were sold on the neighborhood.
For Webb, a downtown dining room is also about reach. She said Filipino food will only be widely embraced if it draws interest from people outside the Filipino community, and that bringing in a wider audience of food lovers has long been one of the restaurant's main goals. In her words, "What's a better opportunity for it to go mainstream than to be in a major city's downtown?"
She also said South Downtown feels closer to where she and Cortado come from, pointing to New York, New Jersey and the surrounding area.
A bigger menu, a bar and outdoor seating
The added space makes room for an expanded menu, including the return of classic Filipino dishes such as pancit. Estrellita will also add a full bar along with a selection of pulutan, the Tagalog term for finger foods eaten alongside alcohol.
Outside, Estrellita will share patio space with Kitchen Counter, the new restaurant from Todd Ginsberg and Josh Kim, and Glide Pizza. On top of that, the restaurant will claim its own segment of the communal courtyard on Broad Street for a sunken patio. Webb described a scene where one person picks up Glide Pizza, another orders lumpia and adobo from Estrellita, a third gets a breakfast sandwich around the corner, and everyone ends up eating together in that shared area.
Part of a busy year for South Downtown
Estrellita is the latest restaurant announced for the neighborhood. Tyde Tate Thai Kitchen and Spiller Park Coffee were already open on Mitchell Street when the move was announced. Openings slated for 2026 included Bottle Rocket; Broad Street BBQ, from the owners of Sammy's; Mule Train, from Mike and Shyretha Sheats; and new locations of Brewhouse Cafe, Delilah's Everyday Soul and El Tesoro. Most of those restaurant openings were set to land ahead of the summer 2026 FIFA World Cup matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Other activity nearby: the weekly food festival and market Smorgasburg Atlanta was scheduled to return to South Downtown in March 2026 at the intersection of Forsyth and Trinity. Around the corner, construction continues at the Gulch and Centennial Yards, home to Wild Leap Brewery and Hotel Phoenix and its restaurants.
Original reporting by Sarra Sedghi for Rough Draft Atlanta.
