In this roundup of restaurant news, a second location of a Mexican restaurant is opening, a longtime local Japanese restaurant is relaunching, new ice cream spots continue to open, and a burger joint closes one of its two locations.

More Mexico

There's good news for fans of Mexican food and drink. La Mezcaleria will be launching its second location in Gastown soon.

They're close to opening their doors at 68 East Cordova, the former location of Nicli's Next Door, which closed on February 15. (Nicli Antiqua Pizzeria at 62 East Cordova remains open.)

The restaurant, which has a location at 1622 Commercial Drive, offers a variety of mezcals (made from agave), tequilas, and cocktails inspired by Mexico's various region while dishes are traditional Mexican recipes using organic, local ingredients.

Royale reborn

Kamei Royale is relocating from second-floor spot at Georgia and Burrard (211–1030 West Georgia), which closed on December 12, and will be relaunching at a new location in Coal Harbour at 1066 West Hastings Street on June 27.

The Kamei Group, which has been operating locations in Vancouver since the 1970s, runs three Ebisu locations as well as Kamei Baru at Smithe and Burrard streets.

There'll be more information to come on this one so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are some sneak peeks at the interior:

Icy delights

There's been a flurry (pardon the Dairy Queen reference) of artisanal ice cream shops opening up in the past while, much to the delight of our resident dessert queen, Tammy Kwan, who has been busy covering them all.

The latest development has been nitrogen ice cream, which uses liquid nitrogen to freeze ingredients.

Mister opened on May 27 in Yaletown at 1141 Mainland Street with its array of nitrogen ice cream

But if you're looking for other nitrogen ice cream action, there's also LIK N2, which opened at 320 Robson Street on May 13.

Not only does LIK offer nitrogen ice cream, but it serves it with a—believe it or not—syringe filled with sauces or syrups.

Meanwhile, local chain Cupcakes is also getting into the frozen goodies game by rebranding itself as Cupcakes & Other Good Stuff, which now includes their own ice cream line and a range of ice cream–related offerings.

Burgers too big

Big Smoke Burger closed its first Lower Mainland location at 500 West Broadway on June 3.

It opened the Broadway location on July 29, 2015, followed by a second location at Simon Fraser University's Burnaby campus (8901 University High Street, Cornerstone Mews) on February 15.

The SFU location is still open.

A note posted by the company at the Broadway location states that the location was "just too small" and that they're searching for a larger spot that will accommodate for a focus on beer, wine, and an expanded menu that more closely resembles what's available at the SFU location.

The international chain's Canadian headquarters are based in Richmond Hill, Ontario. In Canada, it has locations in Toronto, Mississauga, Niagara, and Ottawa. It also has locations in the U.S., Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.