Best restaurants in Ann Arbor? v.2015
February 8th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 1:46 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^
To answer your question, Cafe Zola, Zingerman's Roadhouse and Sava's are all still good. A few new restaurants were mentioned in here (Aventura, Bigalora, Knight's-Downtown, Zola Bistro). Zola Bistro and Bigalora on Washtenaw Ave are outside of downtown and not crazy crowded. You have a good solid choice by all these options.
February 8th, 2015 at 1:59 PM ^
Before taking in Imitation Game at the Michigan, my wife and I had a drink at Taste Kitchen and then dinner at Sava's (newly renovated). Both are good (ate at Taste Kitchen last week). We also enjoy Melange for Sushi, and Lena's is an interesting menu.
February 8th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
Jolly good pizza!!!!
February 8th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^
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February 8th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^
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February 8th, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 8:01 PM ^
It was great when it first opened, but after about a year they dumbed down their menu because people treated it as a special occasion only restaurant, and the population isn't large enough to support a restaurant like that. At that point it was no longer special and it was the beginning of the end.
February 8th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 2:44 PM ^
If you want really good indian food, skip Cardamom and its cramped space and unathentic fare, and drive to Canton for Ashoka - awesome, especially for the tandoori meats.
February 8th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^
Knights is my favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor. You can go to the original on Dexter Ave or their new location downtown in the old Borders bookstore. Good food and stiff drinks... you can't go wrong.
February 8th, 2015 at 2:51 PM ^
Maize and Blue Deli > Zingermans
inb4 the neg
February 8th, 2015 at 6:33 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 3:00 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 3:09 PM ^
by far my favorite breakfast place in the city. The food is really good, and the place is very quaint. I love it.
February 8th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 3:18 PM ^
I'm only in town one weekend a year usually, but Isalita's Happy Hour has made itself known to me. Especially among the younger of my friends/family - the more budget conscious I guess you could say. But I really enjoyed it, and I saw people that were way more seasoned waiting for tables by the time we left. I recommend it for Latin food - not sure it's technically Mexican, as it's name would make no sense. It might be more like Puerto Rican/Mexican/Cuban. Whatever - it's good. I've been surprised as well at how few mentions it has received.
February 9th, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^
by the margaritas, but the food was really excellent!
February 8th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
white castle?
:)February 8th, 2015 at 7:30 PM ^
AAAAhahahahaha! A thread about great resturants and you mention a cheap chain resturant!! Soooo clever!!!
/s
February 8th, 2015 at 3:59 PM ^
Benny's - Phelps's favorite place in Ann Arbor.
Cubs AC
Northside Grill
BELL'S
Gourmet Garden - Get the Chinese Pancake
JC Rich - Dolsot Bulgogi
Knight's
Fraser's
and best coffee.. Roo's Roast.
February 8th, 2015 at 8:35 PM ^
Benny's is the world's greatest hangover cure.
February 8th, 2015 at 10:01 PM ^
And THAT'S why it's Phelps' favorite restaurant in A2?
February 9th, 2015 at 9:52 AM ^
Best coffee is Mighty Good!
February 8th, 2015 at 4:07 PM ^
I haven't seen Slurping Turtle mentioned. Is it not that good?
February 8th, 2015 at 4:35 PM ^
Only stopped in there for a drink but in comparison to Knight's next door, it had less alcohol and was pricier.
February 8th, 2015 at 5:08 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
Surprised no one has mentioned Kangs yet.
Recently went to the Blue Nile and loved it, but I'm not an expert on Ethopian food.
Ashleys is where I want my funeral to be held.
Love Fleetwood. HIppie Hash is good any time of day.
Dominicks is closed right now but when its open its always worth a trip.
February 8th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
Is the Prickly Pear still around? Always liked their southwestern crab cakes.
February 8th, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^
I read this whole 3 pages and saw no mention of the GANDY DANCER. Is this some sort of sick joke ?
February 8th, 2015 at 6:58 PM ^
Gandy Dancer was THE celebration/special occasion place in A2 when I was growing up... had like 16th & 18th birthdays there, maybe celebrated HS graduation there too (Pioneer '78). Last ate there probably 5-6 years ago and, honestly, with all the many fantastic restaurants that have opened in A2 in the past 10-15 years Gandy dancer is really nothing special anymore. Unless you love a blast from the past?!
Or was your post all /s anyway?
February 8th, 2015 at 7:06 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 8:34 PM ^
The food really is underwhelming as well. I went last year for my roomate's 21st birthday. For the stratospheric prices that they charge, the meal was disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it's still better than many places, but for such a done up experience, the food is pretty terrible.
February 8th, 2015 at 9:12 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 10:02 PM ^
In the '80's it's where companies took you on interview dinners to impress you. For a kid with no money that ate only pizza and McDonalds . . . it worked!
February 8th, 2015 at 7:05 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 8:01 PM ^
February 8th, 2015 at 10:16 PM ^
SFBlue, by some grand coincidence we "joined" this club on the exact same day - and I'm a SFBlue too!!! Although now that my kid's in school we live in Mill Valley (sorry to be so stereotypical!)
Now our North Bay Alumni club is looking for a new place to congregate for football games (we've been doing hoops too, but I think it'll be hard to scare up a decent crowd this season!)
We had been going to Max's in Marin and then Wipeout in Marin, but both have now closed. I'm afraid the only times they were ever busy was when we had a big game... Marin peeps with kids will NOT shlep over to Blue Light, although that was my go to place to watch our games for years.
Have you got any favorite public house to watch Michigan football?
February 8th, 2015 at 11:43 PM ^
Mill Valley is awesome but I am not sure of game day options up there. There are a lot of M fans in the City. In '09 we had Pete's Tavern across from PacBell for the ND game. There were 500 people there maybe more. Keep me posted on what you are going to do.
February 9th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^
February 9th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
I love The Earle... somehow it maintains its quality and charm where Gandy Dancer has not.
February 8th, 2015 at 8:31 PM ^
In response to some of the posts:
Sava's just changed their menu and it has been getting pretty heavily panned.
Blue Tractor is ass. Their food is a half-hearted attempt at barbecue that tastes like an over-sauced tire. Bumper Crop is not a terrible beer though. You could do a lot worse.
Pacific Rim is excellent. New favorite in town. Definitely on the pricier side though, so be aware of that.
Lena is also under new management and the food quality has backslid alarmingly over the last year.
BTB still rules.
February 8th, 2015 at 8:33 PM ^
before dinner.....
February 8th, 2015 at 10:04 PM ^
Or especially before bed.
February 8th, 2015 at 9:16 PM ^
Great thread, really making me miss AA. The downtown/State St. area has got to rank near the top of places in the US with the highest density of good resturants per sq. mile.
February 9th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
Especially since I don't recognize/have not been to half of the restaurants mentioned in this thread.
But let's not get carried away...NYC, Chicago, SF, Philly easily have bigger restaurant scenes then A2. Heck, DC is trying to squirm it's way into the conversation.
February 8th, 2015 at 9:48 PM ^
I'm a big fan of Logan and Pacific Rim. Can't go wrong with Chop House, Jolly Pumpkin, or Frita Batido though.