New spots coming from teams behind Tres Gatos and Painted Burro, plus other restaurant news

Openings: The team behind Jamaica Plain’s ever-popular Casa Verde, Centre Street Café, and Tres Gatos has a new restaurant in the works. Brass Cat Café (3399 Washington St. at Union Avenue) will serve coffee and sandwiches by day and comfort food by night, says partner Keith Harmon.

This venture “will encompass the Southeastern part of the United States, like Louisiana,” he says. “Fried chicken, comfort food, steaks, a heavy vegetarian presence.”

But don’t get too excited: It might not open for about a year. That said, sister restaurant Casa Verde (711 Centre St. at Burroughs Street) now has a full liquor license, so expect plenty of bourbon and margaritas, Harmon says.

It’s a busy time for openings: Brookline’s Burro Bar (1665 Beacon St. at Winthrop Street), smaller sibling to Davis Square’s Painted Burro, is slated to open in the old Ribelle space on Jan. 23; Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Waltham (500 Totten Pond Road at 3rd Avenue) opens its second Massachusetts location on the same day. In Charlestown, the casual Monument Restaurant & Tavern (251 Main St. at Lawnwood Place) is open; so is Fort Point’s City Tap House (10 Boston Wharf Road at Congress Street), with 60 draft beers, mussels, and wings.

Lunches: Swanky izakaya and sushi bar Pabu at Millennium Tower (3 Franklin St. at Washington Street) now serves lunch. Enjoy tempura udon, katsu burgers, and an array of sashimi Monday through Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Closings: Elsewhere in Jamaica Plain, the Forest Hills location of burger parlor Grass Fed (3698A Washington St. at Tower Street) has shuttered, owner Krista Kranyak tells me. The flagship Centre Street location is still open.

Changes: The North End’s Sfizi (135 Richmond St. at North Street) will reopen as a seafood restaurant within the next couple of months, says a rep for the small plates parlor. Elsewhere on the Italian restaurant scene, the South End’s SRV (569 Columbus Ave. at Massachusetts Avenue) welcomes former Townsman sweets maven Meghan Thompson as pastry chef; she’ll launch a bread program, too. KARA BASKIN