New in Town
New Restaurants and Shops Opening in Downtown Birmingham for 2026
From a plant-based restaurant from a celebrity chef to national retail brands, downtown Birmingham has added several new places this year that are worth knowing about.
Downtown Birmingham has seen several new restaurants and retail shops open or announce openings in 2026, giving families more reasons to make Old Woodward a regular stop. Here is a rundown of what has arrived and what is coming soon.
BESOS opened in May at 239 North Old Woodward Avenue. It is a plant-based restaurant from celebrity chef Matthew Kenney, featuring whole-food cuisine, craft cocktails, and Detroit-style pizza. The restaurant serves late-night until 1 a.m. and has drawn attention from food media across the region. It was covered by both the Detroit Free Press and DBusiness.
Cherry Republic, the Northern Michigan-based cherry gift and food shop, is opening a location at 243 West Maple Road in the former Detroit Guitar space. Known for cherry preserves, salsas, chocolates, and all things cherry, this will be the chain's tenth location statewide.
On the retail side, Rag & Bone is opening a two-level lofted space at 110 South Old Woodward, and Vuori activewear has opened at 100 South Old Woodward. Design Within Reach is moving into the former Anthropologie space at 214 West Maple Road. J.Jill is also opening a new store in the downtown district.
Ernesta, a custom-sized, made-to-order area rug shop, has opened at 138 West Maple. And Collected Bham, a vintage shop that started as a pop-up, has opened a permanent storefront.
Sources: Birmingham By Design, DBusiness, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit. Information verified August 2026.
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