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Oxford Inn Last Day Announced; W XYZ Bar in The David Whitney; and more.

Metro Times eats at the Olive Garden.

The Oxford Inn.
The Oxford Inn.
The Oxford Inn
Brenna Houck is a Cities Manager for the Eater network. She previously edited Eater Detroit and reported for Eater. You can follow her on the internet at @brennahouck.

REVIEWS—Kat Rembacki visited the W XYZ Bar in the newly renovated David Whitney Building. "Though the Deco tile flooring was restored, everything else is brand spanking new, and wonderfully chic," she writes noting that, although it's a hotel the bar has an "ultra-cool vibe." Expect a bumpin' playlist, free pool, wifi, cocktails, snacks and live music on the weekends. [Core Detroit]

AWARDS—This Thursday the Detroit Free Press is taking a look back at the top 10 restaurant newcomers of 2014 with a big unveiling by critic Sylvia Rector of the Free Press Restaurant of the Year. Last year, the winner was Torino. The year before it was Bacco Ristorante. This year who could it be? Selden Standard? Gold Cash Gold? Top of the Pontch? [Freep]

CLOSING ALERT—The Oxford Inn is in its last week of service. Although the restaurant, closed today due to inclement weather, the company announced via Facebook that it will officially shutter on February 8. [EaterWire]

THE CHAINS—Michael Jackman recently trekked out to an Ann Arbor Olive Garden to check out the "most significant menu revolution in the restaurants history." Jackman rarely holds back and definitely doesn't here: "The food was like a long-belted Midwesterner's hallucination of what actual Italians eat." Or here: "The food at the Italian-inspired restaurant is often as goopy and narcotizing as Red Lobster's oversauced dishes." Of the salmon bruschetta, Jackman ponders, "Can you take that preparation of tomatoes and basil pesto and perch it on top of a brick of food service salmon and call that ‘bruschetta'?" [Metro Times]