Restaurant flurry — Is it a revival?

Just as the mood in Boston restaurants is at its glummest, there’s a flurry of new places opening or in the works. Orinoco in Brookline – which is about to become taco central, as unlikely as that is. Abbey Park and 88 Wharf in Milton, another unlikely new restaurant hub.  Sonic on Route 1, which is mobbed — Sonic, a fast food creation that we in the Midwest thought was cheesy decades ago!!!And coming soon, the behemoth Post 390 on Clarendon Street, which threatens to suck up a lot of the dining oxygen at 300 seats with plenty of money behind it.

Add to that changeovers, BanQ will become Ginger Room, Excelsior will become something else, and more rumors are in the air.

Is this the end of the recession? Cheap rents? Panic? Time will tell, and hopefully diners will be able to sort out the new from the good, quality from the chaff, good value from the cheap bargains. Maybe the dining public is digesting this right now while waiting in line to order Sonic burgers and a malt.