The Upper West Side is hitting refresh on its restaurant scene, with lots of new restaurants and cafes having opened in the past few weeks or set to open shortly.

They include Mexican Festival Restaurant, Nicky Meatball, Bocca di Bacco, Birdbath, Domain, El Bracero, Isola, C Natural, Effy’s Cafe, Cibo e Vino, Juice Press, Little Town, Chipotle, Tum & Yum, Macaroon Parlor, and Makana. It took us a while to gather all of this info; thanks to everyone who sent in tips over the past few weeks.

Mexican Festival Restaurant: A new restaurant is set to replace Maria Bonita at the corner of Broadway and 102nd street. A sign out front says it will open on October 11. Mexican Festival promises “real Mexican food.” That space was once home to Mama Mexico; Maria Bonita lasted about a year. Thanks to Gena for the photo.

Isola: The pizza restaurant, which used to have a location on C0lumbus and 83rd, just opened at 109th street and Columbus Avenue. Zagat gave the rundown on Sebastiano Cappitta’s newest spot: “The UWS restaurant guru’s sixth, and newest venture will be outfitted with the signature wood-burning oven, his favorite feature for churning out crispy thin-crust pizzas. There’s also a host of housemade pastas, like gnocchi alla sorrentina – a noodly version of the margarita, and the spaghetti allo scoglio, with calamari, shrimp, mussels and clams – both finished off under those word-burning flames.”

Nicky Meatball: And the clear winner for the new restaurant with the best name is… Nicky Meatball is the newest project from Bella Giardino (71st street) owner Nick Mormando. It will be located on 83rd and Amsterdam in the former location of Good Enough to Eat. DNAinfo caught up with Mormando a few weeks ago: “Nicky Meatball will serve Mormando’s award-winning beef and pork meatballs, as well as lamb meatballs, sliders and a meatball parmesan hero. Mormando said his goal is to make the new spot a “neighborhood place” with reasonable prices along a swath of Amsterdam Avenue saturated with bars. The space hasn’t been renovated in some 30 years, so a large overhaul will soon be under way with a late November opening date planned, he said.” Nicky’s Meatballs, by the way, were named “Best Meatballs in the Boroughs” in 2009, so there’s a lot to look forward to.

Bocca di Bacco: A new wine bar and restaurant is set to open in the home of Footlights Shoes, which is in the final throes of a liquidation sale at 74th street and Columbus. Community Board 7 approved the bar’s liquor license. Bocca di Bacco has a Hell’s Kitchen location too. Here’s the dinner menu.

Birdbath: A new Birdbath is set to open at 80th street and Broadway in the coming weeks, joining the existing Birdbath on 85th and Columbus, notes DNAinfo. Birdbath is big on being eco-friendly, delivering its fresh baked foods to the UWS from downtown by bicycle. The new location is expected to have a full juice bar, an espresso bar and more seating.

Domain NYC: Vareli, the Mediterranean restaurant and wine bar on 111th street and Broadway, has morphed into a new restaurant called Domain (pictured at right). The owners are the same, but the food has changed. Here’s a description from a restaurant rep: “Offering a unique menu of modern American cuisine under the creativity of two-time Michelin Star chef, Derrick Styczek, diners at Domain NYC will enjoy dishes that highlight fresh, seasonal and organic ingredients, all of which are complemented by a wine program curated by Wine Director/Sommelier, Richard Bill. With both small and large plate options, dishes include Smoked Rainbow Trout, Char Grilled Baby Octopus, Tequila-lime nage-poached Atlantic salmon, Steak of Yellow Fin Tuna and Scallops in Peking Duck Broth. Domain also offers diners the option of a raw bar, where Chef Styczek focuses on fresh seafood and organic ingredients with options including delicate Kumamoto and locally sourced Blue Point Oysters, a Maine Crab Cocktail and a Chilled Seafood Tower for two.”

El Bracero: A new Mexican restaurant has opened on Columbus Avenue and 108th street with quesadillas, soups, tostadas, huaraches and more. We hear its family run and open from 7 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. Check out the menu here. According to Seamless, the most-ordered item on the menu is guacamole followed by the Queso Nachos.

Effy’s Cafe: A new cafe and restaurant is coming to 104 West 96th Street, the former home of 96 Rose Deli. Effy’s also has an Upper East Side location, where they serve salads, wraps, sandwiches and breakfast food. They’re offering a $1,000 reward for creating their new slogan, according to their website. How about “Eat Here Now”? What, too unoriginal? Here’s the menu from the East side. Thanks to Ira and Cathy for the tips.

Cibo E Vino: The former location of Georgia’s Cafe on 89th street and Broadway will soon become a restaurant called Cibo E Vino. In a brief write-up, the Post says “The 1,200 square-foot space, with 64 seats inside plus patio space, will serve northern Italian and Mediterranean cuisine.”

C Natural: This new market and cafe/juice bar on Columbus Avenue between 87th and 88th streets serves sandwiches, smoothies, shakes and more. It’s family-run, and has a nice bright atmosphere inside. They also held an art show recently. Go support mom n’ pop!

Juice Press: The new juice bar (pictured at right) opened on Friday on the Southeast corner of 71st street and Columbus, the former home of Brief Encounters. The store sells raw and organic juices made fresh at one of the company’s downtown locations, and they make smoothies in the store. Along with all sorts of intriguing juice mixes, they’ve even got a drink with “ginkgo brain formula” known as the $*#%ing Genius.

Little Town: A new brewhouse opened last month on Amsterdam and 108th street. See some photos of the new spot here. Little Town also has a downtown location on the East side.

Chipotle: The newest location of the Mexican chain just opened on 83rd and Broadway in the former home of Nëo Sushi. Jeff tells us that the restaurant was hopping on its first night this week: “It looks pretty much like every other Chipotle — but they seemed (from my viewpoint across the street) pretty busy last night. The first Yelp reviewer seemed relatively impressed too: “The new location is smaller than the average Chipotle, but the decor and vibe are great. Even though it seems like a lot of the team are new to the burrito game, everyone was really lovely and positive.” Thanks to Ken, Jeff, Sarah, Angie, Roger and Emily for tips.

Tum & Yum: A new Thai place opened this summer on 104th and Columbus. Here’s the menu. Thanks to Laurie for the tip and photo.

Makana: A new Hawaiian and Japanese barbeque spot opened on 106th street just East of Amsterdam a little over a month ago. It’s already getting good reviews on Yelp, with “A great new option for a quick, cheap and delicious bite in the neighborhood. I’ve ate here twice this week: The first time we had the Hawaiian BBQ chicken platter and the BBQ Beef Shortribs. The chicken was very, very moist and flavorful – same goes for the beef. The dinner platter portions were nicely sized, and had plenty of food (especially for how cheap!).” Their website is here.

Macaroon Parlor: A new bakery and coffee shop has signed a lease for the space at 101 West 87^th Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. “This stretch of Columbus Avenue north of 86^th Street continues its transformation into a red hot retail corridor for national retailers, restaurateurs and specialty stores,” said Massey Knakal’s David Chkheidze, the Realtor for the transaction.

This list doesn’t include several other openings that we’ve already written about, including Red Farm, Arte Pasta, Burke & Willis and Barley & Grain.

Thanks again to all our tipsters! Apologies if we didn’t mention everyone. Happy eating and let us know if you like any of the new places! To sign up to receive more news like this in your inbox, click here.