On New Year's Day, the local blog Birmingham By Design published a forecast of downtown's 2026 restaurant openings. It sorted the contenders by one simple test. If a storefront had signage in the window and, when a door was open, visible work inside, the writer counted it as a sure thing. If it didn't, it was a maybe.
The one maybe on the list was 600 North Old Woodward. The writer walked past it often and never saw signage or construction. Nine months later, the window test proved half right. All four "for sure" addresses got a new tenant, but only two got the one their signs announced. That track record is the best guide to the signs going up downtown this fall.
The January list
Here is what the forecast expected, address by address:
- 176 South Old Woodward, the former Sushi Japan: Kaishin Izakaya, a more refined take on Japanese dining. The forecast picked it as the first new downtown restaurant of 2026.
- 115 Willits: e Fiori Ristorante, from the team behind Casa Pernoi on East Maple.
- 233 North Old Woodward: Street Beet, the casual vegan spot already running at 1800 Michigan Avenue in Detroit.
- 239 North Old Woodward, next door: Bloom Bistro, a second vegan concept with no online presence.
- 600 North Old Woodward, the former Café Succo: Kemosabe, a French-style bistro and the maybe.
Where the sign matched the door
The first two delivered as promised.
Kaishin Izakaya opened in March 2026 in the old Sushi Japan space. It comes from the people behind Sushi Hana in Bloomfield Hills. Downtown Publications had already reported in fall 2025 that the space had new owners, Gold Coin Inc., owned by Woojin Lee, who also operates Sushi Hana. The interior got a complete makeover. The menu centers on seafood, served in the setting of an izakaya, the casual Japanese pub where people go to spend an evening with friends.
e Fiori opened June 17 at 115 Willits. The address has a history. Cameron's steakhouse was there first, then Màre, then Sprazzo, so this is the corner's fourth restaurant identity. Chef Luciano DelSignore, who opened Bacco in 2002, runs it with managing partner Nicole Antakli DelSignore. The restaurant covers 6,800 square feet and cooks dishes from all 20 regions of Italy. Pasta is handmade daily and the sourdough is naturally fermented. It seats 199, with private event space for 250.
What sets it apart from the corner's earlier tenants is how you walk in. You pass through a boutique selling flowers and gifts before you reach the bar and dining room. The Detroit Free Press called the pairing of restaurant and floral shop the first of its kind in Michigan. If you want something to order on a first visit, the Lasagna Abruzzese is built from prosciutto cotto, ricotta, pecorino and saffron béchamel.
Where the address filled but the name changed
The two vegan storefronts on Old Woodward, between Willits and Maple, are where the window test stopped working.
At 239 North Old Woodward, the space signed for Bloom Bistro became Besos. Besos is plant-based, so the January guess about the food was correct. The operator was not. Chef Matthew Kenney is a partner and executive chef, and Crain's Detroit Business described it as his first Michigan restaurant, a plant-based concept built around "clean indulgence." According to the Free Press, Besos was officially open by May 27 after a soft opening of nearly a month.
Next door at 233, the change was bigger. Street Beet founder Meghan Shaw announced the Birmingham expansion in July 2025. The plan was a quick-service walk-up behind a new bodega-style market, with alley access and a focus on lunch, snacks and late-night food. "Street Beet Coming Soon" signs went up in the windows. By April 2026, Downtown Publications reported that those signs had been replaced with branding for LAQR Lip Lab, a bespoke cosmetics brand that was planning a summer opening. Street Beet said on social media that it still intended to open in the rear of the building. It posted its own sign at the back entrance, and outdoor seating was set up along Willits Alley. We found no later report confirming that the rear walk-up has opened. Treat it as still in progress.
That leaves the block holding one new plant-based restaurant instead of two. It sits among options the January forecast already listed, Sweetgreen, Try It Raw and Pure Green, all within a few square blocks.
The maybe, still a maybe
Kemosabe at 600 North Old Woodward is where it stood in January. We found no reliable report of progress since the New Year's Day walk-by. Earlier plans described a French-style bistro with indoor, patio and rooftop seating. If it opens, it will be the northernmost sit-down restaurant in the downtown footprint.
The year also had a closing that no sign predicted. Lincoln Yard and its café, Little Yard, at 2159 East Lincoln closed July 29 after a little more than two years in business. Union Joints ran the complex with Roger Penske Jr. Lincoln Yard served rotisserie-centered comfort food, and Little Yard served coffee, pastries and quick bites. Co-owner Curt Catallo told Downtown Publications that the restaurant built a loyal dinner following but never drew enough lunch business to sustain itself. Catallo also said Union Joints owns the building, which is being listed for sale. No replacement tenant had been reported as of early October.
The signs going up this fall
Downtown has a new batch of announcements, and the January track record is the right way to read them. Here is where each one stood as of October 5, 2026:
- Cherry Republic, 243 West Maple. This is the Michigan cherry-products company's first Metro Detroit shop. In late August, MLive reported a target opening of late September or early October, before the holiday season. The company's Birmingham page still says "Coming Soon!" and "Opening fall of 2026," with hours listed as TBA. We found no confirmed grand-opening date.
- Bev's Bagels, 283 Hamilton Row. The organic sourdough bagel shop from Detroit's Core City announced a September opening here. Planned hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. The menu adds items available only in Birmingham, including open-faced bagel sandwiches with Michigan heirloom tomatoes, a chopped salad for the lunch crowd, gluten-free plain and everything bagels, and weekday pastries. The business's homepage still lists only its Detroit address, so we couldn't confirm it has opened.
- PopUp Bagels, 34400 Woodward. Signage went up in the former T-Mobile space in late September, according to a local report. No opening date has been announced, and the address is outside the downtown core.
Of the three, Bev's comes with the clearest local story. Chef-owner Max Sussman, a James Beard Award semifinalist, grew up in Huntington Woods.
"I've always loved hanging out and eating in Birmingham. When I was growing up, I'd go there with my grandparents for lunch all the time," Sussman told Metro Intelligencer.
On the retail side, at least one January opening went exactly as announced. Ernesta opened its 1,250-square-foot rug showroom at 138 West Maple on January 5, offering custom-sized rugs and in-person design consultations.
Counting it all up as of early October: of the five restaurant addresses on the January list, two opened under the announced name, one opened under a different name and operator, one went mostly to a cosmetics brand, and one has shown no visible progress. Downtown also lost one restaurant-and-café complex on East Lincoln and has two new food storefronts announced but not confirmed open.
A storefront tells you more once you know who controls it and what's actually happening behind the window. A house works the same way. Clarence reads condition and repair costs with a contractor's eye, and Kristi knows how presentation shapes price. If you're curious what your Birmingham home would sell for this fall, Team Mishaw can give you that number. Get your instant home valuation.
