laus102

April 16th, 2015 at 1:24 AM ^

Completely disagree. Food engineered to make white people happy. Boring. Nothing authentic here. Zingerman's roadhouse? Bob Evans @ 3x markup.

GotBlueOnMyMind

April 16th, 2015 at 1:34 AM ^

Well, as one of those "white people," I will say that Haifa Falafel is the best middle eastern food I've had based on price and taste (comparing to Chicago and Atlanta mainly). Also, what does that even mean? Yeah, I loved Mister Spots when I was there, but who didn't? I wasn't aware that someone's race was a determinative factor in his/her taste buds.




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rockediny

April 16th, 2015 at 8:38 AM ^

What the hell are you talking about? What does race have to do with this? Besides there are plenty of restuarants that serve foods from different cultures. The Jamaican Jerk pit was a personal favorite and I also liked the same restuarants my white (and asian, and indian etc.) friends did, including a small indian place right down the street from where I lived.

white_pony_rocks

April 16th, 2015 at 8:46 AM ^

what are you talking about? curry up, Syrian exotic bakery and cuisine, cardamom, arirang, tmaz, there are a lot more than just white people's shitty Zingerman's in this town, maybe you should get out more

Trolling

April 16th, 2015 at 1:27 AM ^

I would personally smack someone for bringing a 15$ reuben sandwich to a group meeting as "study food". Dumb clickbait list is dumb.

Protip: just scroll through the thumbnails instead of clicking 20 times. 

ypsituckyboy

April 16th, 2015 at 9:10 AM ^

I vividly recall sitting in Sweetwaters in Kerrytown studying one day, when two well-to-do sorority girls sat down near me to "study". After about 5 minutes of checking Facebook and gossiping, they decided that they just haaaaaad to go get some "Zingys" across the street before they could really start studying..

I don't know why, but my opinion of Zingermann's will be forever tainted by those two.

MaizeNBlu628

April 16th, 2015 at 10:56 AM ^

I don't understand this mentality at all, are "well-to-do" people not allowed to spend their money or enjoy good food? If I had the money during my time in AA, I would have gone to eat at Zingerman's more often too. That's no different than when I use to study in basement of Union, I would need to get a frosty from Wendy's before I really get started.

WolvinLA2

April 16th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^

Eaxctly.  This line of thinking makes no sense to me.  I rarely ate Zingerman's when I was in college because I wasn't well to do, but had I been I would have eaten it a lot more because I think it's delicious.  Now I eat it every time I go back.  

So because some girls, who could afford it, like eating Zingerman's - that's a bad thing?  I don't understand that.

WolvinLA2

April 16th, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^

Sometime cities like Austin and NO are left off these lists because they aren't necessarily college towns - they're big cities with a college (or colleges) in them.  NY and LA are great food towns with colleges in them as well, but I think we'd all agree they don't belong on this list.  You have to draw the line somewhere.

the real hail_yes

April 16th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^

I live in Austin and I can tell you that while the food scene is quickly developing it definitely leaves a lot to be desired, especially around the campus area.

Don't get me wrong, I love BBQ, but Austin needs more food diversity (and when I say diversity I don't mean like the asshole way above referenced, engineered for white people or whatever)

drjaws

April 16th, 2015 at 2:11 AM ^

Berkeley at #2 is legit. The sole thing I miss about living there was the vast selection of restaurants owned by first generation families making legit home style food. Russian, Thai, Vietnamese, northern Indian, southern Indian, Moroccan and the list goes on and on.




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oriental andrew

April 16th, 2015 at 9:55 AM ^

I thought so too the first time I visited, but there's some good stuff there.

Anything in the Whiteaker neighborhood is pretty interesting. I had a fantastic meal at Izakaya Meiji, Papa Soul's, Ninkasi Brewing, and Vanilla Jill's Scoops and Soups for dessert.

the 5th street public market has a few interesting places, including the food court. Was a little disappointed with the burgers from NW Burgers, but Ocha and Marche aren't bad. 

Across the street, Cornucopia is pretty great, and the Oregon Electric Station has been consistently good for a finer dining option. 

For Thai, I've tried Ta Ra Rin and Sabai and liked them both. Very different atmospheres, but both were tasty. 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Good if you look.

I've tried a handful of the places on the Eugene Weekly list and can vouch for its voracity ;)

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20141106/lead-story/best-eugene-2014-2015

Next time I'm there, I'm going to try Off the Waffle. If it's anything like Waffle Window, I know I'll be a happy camper.

http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/best-restaurants-outside-portla…;

Also want to try the Korean places (noodle bowl, chingu, arirang) to see how authentic (or not) they are. Sometimes, you just want the food of your ancestors, know what I mean?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=crAv5ttax2I

laus102

April 16th, 2015 at 3:07 AM ^

to Tomukun expecting to get good, authentic ramen, and was sorely disappointed. Also, have eaten at asian legend, China gate, lucky kitchen, San fu, evergreen, and asia city, and all were 'Americanized' (white) versions of chinese food. Still looking for authentic Chinese.

Haifa falafel is pretty good, but doesn't hold a candle to places like Cedarland in dearborn for middle eastern, which doesn't make sense, considering how close we are to detroit. For Mexican, what do we have, isalita, prickly pear, taco King? Taco King is the closest thing to authentic that I can discern, and it still pales in comparison to a place like Los Guachos in Columbus, OH.

As much as I hate Columbus, not unlike everyone else on this site (deservingly so, fuck ohio), they do have a plethora of authentic cuisines. and it makes sense, columbus is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the USA, and I has a much bigger population. African food is off the chain there. Blue Nile? Please. Overpriced, and inauthentic.

The underwhelming authenticity of the food in AA really ties into more with the overarching problem with AA itself, as a city. No discernible culture. Back in the 70s the town actually had an identity, but the university has simply dominated the culture since. It's to be expected, I mean first, AA is a smallish Midwestern town. Secondly, the majority of its residents come for 4 years and leave. It's a drunken 20 year old itinerant's cultural paradise, and a real living breathing person's cultural wasteland.

The one thing that AA does knock out of the park is 'american' cuisine, and that makes sense, when one realizes how homogenous its population actually is. Afternoon delight? Best rasin toast Ive ever had. Blimpy burger? Absolutely delicious burgers. Lunch room? Best pastries in town, and my personal favourite restaurant in all of AA.

But the truth of the matter is, for how much the university broadcasts how diverse it is, the food just does not reflect this supposed rich melting pot of ethnicity. And it's tough, as a small business owner, to open a business that serves authentic ethnic food that spoiled white 20 year olds wouldn't eat or appreciate (rods diner as an exception), I get it. It's practically impossible financially. I'm not blaming this problem on anyone. I just don't think people should be calling Ann Arbor's food something that it just quite isn't. Also I have a ridiculously high standard for authentic food, so yeah .

SalvatoreQuattro

April 16th, 2015 at 3:53 AM ^

Firstly, your distinctly anti-white bigotry is not appreciated here. Secondly, you would not know "authentic" food if it hit you in the face. Third, Ann Arbor has no culture?  You clearly haven't spent much time in the town. You also don't know what the word means as everything around you represents a culture. You might not like it, but it is a culture.Walmart, cookie cutter houses, soccer moms...this is a type of culture.

If you want authentic food you either must go to the nation where that food originates or eat in the home of people who cook using the recipes and ingredients of the old world. Restaurants are all under the pressure of generating a profit and/or are limited by availibility of certain ingredients or laws restricting how they prepare a certain food. That means all will make concessions. What you believe to be authentic is at best a fine facsimile.

 

You are no where nearly as worldly as you think yourself to be. You are an exceptionally arrogant, ignorant, human being. Oh and you are racist too. All in all, I'd say you are generally unlikeable person.

Magnum P.I.

April 16th, 2015 at 7:10 AM ^

His whole point is that "restaurants are under pressure to generate profit," just as you say. In AA, the pressure is for more Americanized food because there are more Americanized people. In larger, more diverse cities, there is pressure for more authentic food because there are niche markets.



No reason to resort to insult and bile.

WolvinLA2

April 16th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^

jblaze nailed it.  No small college town (the subject of this list) will have Chinese food like San Francisco, Cuban food like Miami or Greek food like NYC.  You just can't expect that. 

Yes, the Korean restuarants where I lived in Koreatown, Los Angeles were more authentic than anything in any college town I'm sure, but that doesn't mean I have to think every other Korean restaurant in the US sucks just because it's not as authentic as one in a Korean neighborhood.