Hudson's 2026 Restaurant Newcomers, Sorted by the Night You Can Actually Get a Table

Hudson added a counter-service sandwich spot, a coastal Mexican seafood restaurant, and a French brasserie this year, and it got back a farm restaurant that closed in January. Look at their calendars, though, and most of that new cooking happens on the same three or four nights. If you live here and want to try one of them on a Tuesday in November, you have exactly one dinner choice: the brasserie across from the train station.

Most of the new places in town are late-week restaurants. That's a fair way to run a restaurant in a small city with a big weekend crowd, but it changes how a resident plans, so the guide below is organized by night.

The week at a glance

These are the most recent hours each place has published. Merkin's are from spring and Manor Rock's have changed more than once, so check before you head over.

Thursday and Friday are the only days when all four serve. Tuesday and Wednesday belong to one restaurant.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Mr. Cat, and Kitty's Market for the daytime

Mr. Cat Brasserie took over the old Kitty's space at 60 South Front Street. Its own site lists dinner every night from 5 to 10, a schedule it announced as starting Monday, August 3. Brunch is on a short pause for now. Developer Ben Fain's Nice & Weird operation brought in Hagan Whelchel as culinary director when it reworked Kitty's, according to the Times Union.

Hudson Valley Magazine reviewed it on October 12 and picked out the same thing this calendar does. Mr. Cat is open seven nights a week, "no dark Monday, no reservations-only mystique." The menu covers brasserie standards like oysters mignonette, country pâté, steak frites, snails, French onion soup, mussels, a bistro burger and roast chicken. It also has a few twists, including Parisian gnocchi made with choux, mussels in a smoky tomato-chili sauce instead of white wine, and lavender-and-rosemary almonds. The rotisserie from the Kitty's days is still running, and the roast chicken comes off it. The dining room now has low red leather banquettes, silvered glass and warm wood where the white tile used to be. When the magazine's reviewer went on a Saturday, the room held a father with his nine-year-old, an older couple and a family with a toddler.

Next door, Kitty's Market lists hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day at the same address. Edible Hudson Valley's October guide describes it as a grab-and-go cafe and grocer. Between them, the two businesses at 60 South Front Street cover breakfast through late dinner on the days when the rest of this year's openings are dark.

Monday and Sunday: Pez joins in

Pez opened June 18 inside Rivertown Lodge at 731 Warren Street. It runs on a Thursday-to-Monday schedule, so it's one of the few new kitchens open at the start of the week. Rivertown Lodge's Pez page lists service from 5 to 10 p.m. on those days.

Chef Efrén Hernández partnered with the lodge's owners, Ray Pirkle and Kim Bucci, as Rural Intelligence reported in April. That story gave a May 14 target, and the restaurant actually opened in June. Eater's report describes a menu built on East Coast seafood, with ceviche, aguachile, scallops and tostadas. Edible Hudson Valley's July review adds oysters and seafood towers to that list. If you've been waiting for the summer crowd to leave before trying a seafood tower, a Monday evening at Pez is one of the quieter windows the new places offer.

On Sunday, Pez and Mr. Cat cover dinner. The midday option is Merkin's Sunday Long Lunch, described below.

Thursday and Friday: the whole class opens

This is where the calendar fills up, and the two smallest operations do most of it.

Merkin Hudson opened April 3 at 45 8th Street. It's the counter-service offshoot of Cafe Mutton from chef-owner Shaina Loew-Banayan, according to the Times Union. The paper listed cold sandwiches including bologna and pâté, plus soup, charcuterie to go, wine, and oysters when they're available. Both Chronogram in April and Edible Hudson Valley in June gave its hours as Thursday and Friday, noon to 9, plus a weekly Sunday Long Lunch. Those are spring numbers, so check Merkin's current schedule before you go. For a Thursday lunch or an early Friday dinner, though, it's the only new spot in town open at noon.

Manor Rock is the other late-week regular. Zack Nussdorf announced in January that he was closing the Warren Street restaurant while keeping the farm going. Chronogram reported in June that it had quietly reopened in a leaner, more casual, bar-focused form. The kitchen is Nussdorf and executive sous chef Akeem Cooper-Smith. The white tablecloths are gone, the menu is shorter, and prices are generally lower. You can still build a multicourse meal around the restaurant's own pork, vegetables from its farm and a serious bottle of wine. You can also sit at the bar with a braised pork rice bowl and a beer. Guinness and Miller High Life are on the list now. "We want to keep in mind the local community and be a neighborhood spot for people as well," Nussdorf told Chronogram.

The schedule has moved since that story ran. Chronogram described Friday-to-Sunday dinners during courtyard season. Manor Rock's Resy page now lists 746 Warren Street, Thursday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. It also says walk-ins are welcome at the bar and in the enclosed courtyard. Because the farm drives the menu, what you order in late fall won't match the cucumbers and strawberries Chronogram saw in June.

Saturday: three of four, and a long wait for most

Saturday drops Merkin from the lineup. Mr. Cat, Pez and Manor Rock are all open. That's also the night the out-of-town crowd is most likely to fill tables. If you want one of these meals without the weekend competition, the calendar points you to Thursday, or to Monday and Sunday for Pez, or to any night at all for Mr. Cat.

Banque, on pause at 544 Warren

One more name belongs on the calendar, as a blank square for now. Banque, the cafe at 544 Warren Street that served pastries, chocolate, coffee and wine, paused service for the summer. Chronogram reported on July 9 that no reopening date had been set. On July 15, the Times Union quoted Banque saying the pause was "not necessarily goodbye" while it thought about its next chapter. As of late October, its homepage still reads "CLOSED," and it doesn't call the closure permanent.

How to use this calendar

Restaurant hours in Hudson change with the seasons, and some of this year's openings have already changed theirs. Manor Rock went from Friday-to-Sunday to Thursday-to-Saturday. Mr. Cat paused brunch and added a full seven-night dinner schedule. Pez opened about five weeks after its first announced date. Check the restaurant's own page or its reservation listing on the day you go, especially as winter sets in. If you're reading this when it comes out on a Thursday, all four newcomers are serving tonight.

Our office is up the road in Chatham, and keeping up with which dining rooms are open, and on which nights, is part of knowing this county well. If you'd like to talk about life in Hudson or anywhere else in Columbia County, the team at Beach and Bartolo Realtors is glad to help. Contact Us.