Although the pandemic has hit the restaurant industry particularly hard, the news hasn’t been all bad over the last few months. In fact, eateries have continued to open despite the extra adversity, adding to the ever-evolving Boston area scene. One of the city’s prime dining destinations, the Back Bay, has hosted the debut of several new noshing locales, including the recently opened Smashburger in Copley Square. The Denver-based burger chain is offering free delivery through early September via a handful of familiar online services, and even features breakfast, a rarity for the franchise. On nearby Newbury Street, The Bittersweet Shoppe on Newbury began offering an old-fashioned soda fountain experience—complete with root beer floats and picnic-style takeout options—in June, while Revival Café & Kitchen—a casual hangout serving coffee, tea, pastries and sandwiches for breakfast and lunch that is brought to us by the team behind the soon-to-be-hibernating (as of September 20) Commonwealth and the shuttered Crema Café—joined its siblings in Cambridge and Somerville in mid-July. Downtown Boston hasn’t been a stranger to new faces, either, as the growing fast-casual Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh (pictured) empire out of Denver that focuses on customized, healthy Middle Eastern-inspired fare landed on Boylston Street near Boston Common on July 20. Another area location is planned for Watertown’s Arsenal Yards development later this year. Closer to Boston Harbor, appropriately enough, The Daily Catch, a North End staple for years, now has a waterfront location to serve its take on Sicilian-style seafood. Speaking of Boston Harbor, the Seaport District hosts an offshoot of neighborhood favorite Chickadee called Mayday!, a pop-up outdoor cocktail bar based in a shipping container. The menu is rotating, and, per a temporary Massachusetts law passed in late July, adult beverages can be ordered to-go with your meal. Over in Cambridge, on July 16, a preview of three inter-related restaurants set to debut at the Cambridge Crossing development in East Cambridge later this year was unveiled under the moniker The Lexington at the Picnic Grove. This outdoor spot serving wings, tacos, lobster rolls and more is open Thursday through Sunday and requires reservations for its 80 socially distanced seats. July 17 was the debut of Season to Taste, a more casual version of the fine-dining Table at Season to Taste in North Cambridge. In a nod to the times, the eatery is al fresco only for the time being. Another re-tooling of an established space saw the light of day on July 29 in Kendall Square when the former Café Artscience re-debuted as Senses, which boasts a new Mediterranean-focused menu. Yet another re-brand took place in Charlestown recently, when the space that once hosted Moroccan mainstay Tangierino pivoted to Street Bistro Charlestown, a comfort food-focused haven, complete with an adjacent smoking lounge, Boston Cigar Club. For food on the go, the late, lamented Stella, formerly of the South End, is being revived as a food truck dubbed Stella Express. Set to roll out (pun intended) on August 18, Stella Express dishes out a range of chef Evan Deluty’s classics from the Stella menu—including Caesar salad with grilled chicken, chocolate mousse and Deluty’s beloved Bolognese—from a street corner in South Boston at the intersection of B Street and West Broadway. And since everything else is virtual nowadays, why not dining as well? The team behind such Davis Square standouts as Posto and The Painted Burro have debuted Elm Street Sweets, an online bakery that is offering pickup of its treats—including cookies, cakes and pies—at Somerville's classic Rosebud diner.