Overheard: New Restaurants Opening in Almaty This Spring and Summer 2025

After taking a break from restaurants to launch the grand-scale Orlovskie Bani, Alexander Orlov’s Sun Group Asia is back — and aiming higher. In the center of Almaty, the holding is building Yurta, a boutique hotel with just 20 rooms and a spacious 170-seat restaurant focused on the ethnic cuisines of nomadic cultures. Expect traditional Central Asian recipes reimagined by chef Ilya Struzhkin, tandoor-cooked dishes, camel meat delicacies, and a Qymyz Bar offering 20 varieties of qymyz — fermented mare’s milk. An ethnographer consulted on the concept, so the cultural depth matches the culinary ambition.

Address: 106G Dostyk Avenue

Opening: Late May to early June

The same team is now building Queen Mountain Resort in the hills, with panoramic views of the mountains. It will feature a large restaurant serving European and Kazakh cuisine, including signature pizzas and its own cheese dairy. Just like the city location, Queen Mountain Resort plans to host concerts and social events — but with more of a family focus: a play area and petting zoo are already in development. A bathhouse complex in the style of alpine chalets is set to open later on.

Address: 548 Kereı Jane Janibek Handar Street

Opening: Late May

The Moscow-based brand by Arkady Novikov, Syrovarnya, has seen huge success in new markets (see: Tashkent), and expectations for the Almaty opening are just as high. The project is being developed by Novikov Group in collaboration with local team LiON restaurants (TomYumBar). Almaty’s Syrovarnya will occupy two floors inside Dostyk Plaza and will seat up to 230 guests. The interior will incorporate Kazakh elements, while the menu stays true to the concept — rustic Italian cuisine with generous amounts of cheese in nearly every dish. All Syrovarnya locations worldwide (now over 40) produce their own mozzarella, stracciatella, burrata, scamorza, ricotta, and halloumi.

Address: 111 Samal-2 Microdistrict, Dostyk Plaza

Opening: Spring 2025

Mercury Properties, in collaboration with MSR Group and the teams behind Six Coffee & Wine, Pasta la Vista, and Renée Café, is bringing back a local legend — the iconic Akku café in the park on the Old Square. In Soviet times, Akku was a beloved spot for the city’s creative crowd, famous for its Turkish coffee brewed in sand, ice cream, kebabs, and a pond with two swans. The building was destroyed by fire twenty years ago, but the city never forgot «Akkushka.»

The new city café is being built with love for Almaty and respect for its history. Expect a modern design, original menu, signature cocktails, an in-house bakery and roastery, and year-round service. A new wave of creatives is sure to gather here. But some things never change: you’ll still find Turkish coffee, bread made from the original recipes, and ice cream that tastes like childhood.

Address: 123 Panfilov Street, Aliya Moldagulova and Manshuk Mametova Park

Opening: June 2025

The ever-energetic team at abr may announce ten new restaurants every six months, but truly fresh concepts are rare — which is why Palomar (opening in the former Lolita bar space, across from Stolichny) is so highly anticipated. It’s set to be a stunning wine restaurant with Spanish cuisine by chef Ruslan Zakirov and a pre-party kind of energy. Picture this: arched ceilings, frescoes, columns, marble, elegant chandeliers — and you, glass of wine in hand, nibbling on handmade cured meats, swaying to a vinyl DJ set.

Address: 92 Abylai Khan Avenue

Opening: July 2025

Chef Ivan Kudryavtsev — tartare master, chicken pasta champion, and cinnamon roll knight — is giving his beloved bistro a new home. Kitchen on Furmanov will have everything we loved about the original location on Baribayev, and a little bit more. Our team already visited the construction site and got the inside scoop — we even wrote a full article about it (здесь должна быть ссылка на английскую статью).

Address: 113 Nazarbayev Avenue

Opening: Late April 2025

Photos: web sites and social media restaurants; Yandex Maps