Metro Detroit’s 2026 Top 10 Best New Restaurants & Dining Experiences
From BBQ to tacos to oysters, here’s the 2026 Detroit Free Press/Chevy Detroit Top 10 New Restaurants and Dining Experiences list.
The Detroit Free Press and Chevy Detroit recently unveiled the 2026 Restaurant of the Year, Restaurant of the Year Classic and the 10 Best New Restaurants and Dining Experiences in metro Detroit.
Now it’s time to dine at the honored restaurants.
As part of the annual Restaurant of the Year program, the popular Detroit Free Press/Chevy Detroit Top 10 Takeover dinner series enters its 12th year and offers guests a chance to experience a curated selection of dishes at this year’s recognized restaurants.
Each dining event is an exclusive and personal interaction at the restaurant or establishment. Typically, the experiences take place as a private event and, at times, when the restaurant is closed.
Bar Gabi, with its modern Romanian fare in Hazel Park, kicks off this year’s Top 10 Takeover with a dinner on March 31. Landing at No. 5 on the Top 10 Best New Restaurants and Dining Experiences list, Bar Gabi is located in the former Frame and Framebar space.
Bar Gabi is from the husband-and-wife chef team Gabriel and Gabriela Botezan. As metro Detroit restaurant scene veterans, the Botezans spent years cooking at several area Italian restaurants.
Here’s what to know about the Top 10 Takeover dinner series event at Bar Gabi.
When is the Top 10 Takeover dinner at Bar Gabi?When: Tuesday, March 31Where: Bar Gabi in Hazel ParkSeating times: 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.How to get tickets to Top 10 Takeover
Starting Thursday, March 12, Detroit Free Press subscribers get early access to ticket sales for the Bar Gabi event. Subscribers should check their email at noon Thursday, March 12, for a link to ticket sales.
Tickets for the general public go on sale at noon Friday, March 13, at freep.com/top10. General ticket sales take place every other Friday.
For each dinner event in the series, Chevy Detroit offers a chance for one winner to receive two tickets to the event. Enter the contest at chevydetroit.com/top10.
Tickets for this event are $85.68 per person, which includes tax, gratuity, and $3 donation to Keep Growing Detroit.
Since the inception of the dining series, the Free Press and Chevy Detroit have maintained a charitable aspect. That effort continues this year with $3 of each ticket sale donated to Keep Growing Detroit – an organization aiming to make Detroit a food-sovereign city.
Keep Growing Detroit (KGD) provides seeds, transplants and soil to members for a small membership fee plus host classes, community dinners and offers a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture. The organization supports both backyard gardeners and larger-scale urban growers. For information visit KGD’s website detroitagriculture.net.
Bar Gabi’s Top 10 Takeover menu
Diners will enjoy a five-course, chef-curated meal at Bar Gabi.
StartersDuo of Mititei & Langos: Skinless sausage with mustard and fried langos dough with feta, sour cream, garlic sauce.PastaRigatoni: Braised short rib, Cacio e Pepe sauce w with Parmesan crèmeMain dishesSchnitzel: Breaded pork loin, potato salad with roasted red pepper relish.Ostropel de Pui: Braised chicken stew with garlic and tomato sauce on crispy polenta cake.
Vegetarian options:
From the woods: Wild mushroom rage, herbs, on soft polenta.En Papillote: Roasted root vegetables served en papillote with a fresh pickled salad.Dessert
Papanaşi: Farmers cheese doughnut, vanilla crème fraîche, blueberry compote
Cocktail pairingsHugo Spritz $13: Elderflower prosecco, mint lime.Wildlight $16: Jalapeño infused elote mezcal, génépy, sube, lemon, honey.Wolf & Ember $14: House old fashioned made with bourbon.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SusanMariecooks. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for insider scoops on food and dining in metro Detroit.
Dining and Cooking