I do not remember it unfortunately.
That place was a staple of my childhood. Many great memories were made there. Both the great taste of a satisfying victory and the the bitter taste of defeat.
Yes, I went there as a kid. Peanuts on the floor right on the hill by Arborland.
Bimbo's had 2 locations.
The awesome one was downtown, where Arbor Brewing is now (114 E Washington). The other one was on Washtenaw, and was called "Bimbo's on the Hill." Paesano's is there now.
yes, the one on washington was great after games. band wore red pinstrip uniforms with old styly barbershop quartet hats. the place was pretty wild. singing, dancing, and usually celebrating michigan victories while i went often in the late 70s.
I'm sure it was before my time, but when did it shut down? And where was it exactly?
I'm too young for Bimbo's, but does anybody remember Gaslight? Great sicilian pizza, my dad would take me there when I was younger and talk about how it was his favorite place to eat in AA when he was an undergrad.
Yes, I do mean Lamplighter! It has been a while, obviously.
The Lamplighter was a favorite of the basketball team back in '85, '86, '87. Antoine Joubert, Roy Tarpley, etc.. I used to see them there a lot.
Thano's used to do the catering in my fraternity. I think Thano finally retired about five years ago.
Sad day when that place closed. Awesome pizza (my fave was the greek pizza, aka "Perry's"), outstanding saganaki, all of which went well with the many pitchers I drank there. There are still, of course, some fine eateries and drinkeries in A2. But IMO, it just ain't what it used to be.
Good God I miss lamplighters. I ate lunch there every day until they closed down to become a stupid clothes shop. I want my burger and Grolsch back!
Yes I remember the one downtown vividly. We'd be entertained by the music while the parents smoked and got loaded at the bar. Novel fun 1970's style. I think it made it to the early to mid 80's. Essentially Chuck E Cheese kicked Bimbo's in the nuts.
Bimbo's downtown was a great staple of childhood dinners out with the family in the early 70s. My dad loved to sing, and songs like Beer Barrel Polka were right up his alley. My mom, sisters and I would join in with my dad, and we'd eat pizza until we just couldn't put down another slice. We got our picture taken with the performers once for some scrapbook type reason, they were some fun-loving, nice musicians.
By the time I got to U-M (late 70s), Bimbo's popularity seemed to be waning, but I made it a point to have some pizza and beer with our dorm crowd more than once each term, until.....
The drinking age went up to 21 in the middle of the 78-79 academic year, and after that, I think the Bimbo's business must have taken a hit. I don't remember it being around by the time I graduated in May of 1980.
The singing dishroom employees crew at Markley Hall brought home a few of the Bimbo's songsheets, had them laminated, and we used them to sing songs while we cleaned up after the dorm meals for my entire time at U-M. I think one or two of the laminated sheets still exist with some of the other employees -- wish I'd kept one.
IIRC, Bimbo's and the Village Bell were two of my favorite establishments that did not survive it into the 1980s. (If they did, it wasn't very long into the 80s.)
That's kind of funny; my mom graduated in May of '80. I'll have to ask her if she remembers it.
I didn't start school there until 1982, but my older brother enjoyed both Bimbo's and the Pretzel Bell. I believe the Bell closed just before or just after I started school there. I think it was once featured as a prime "coming of age bar" in Time magazine or something. Or at least that's my likely apocryphal memory.
was the place in the basement on South U in the block below Bicycle Jim's. Lots of Hill-area dorm folks used to frequent the Village Bell -- in fact, my 18th birthday was capped off by a night of drinking at the V-Bell. I think it closed right around 1980
I think I may have eaten at the Pretzel Bell once with my parents on a visit to campus, but I don't remember anything about the P-Bell, other than it was somewhere around Liberty and Fourth St., perhaps?
I have never heard of the Village Bell. Do you mean the Pretzel Bell? If not where was Village Bell?
I posted a little more above, but the Village Bell was a basement level bar on the north side of South U, about half a block east of Forest.
IIRC, there was a Mr. Tony's submarine shop above it, and it was about 2 or 3 storefronts east of the entrance to the now-defunct Bicycle Jim's.
I haven't been to that part of campus in years, so I'm not sure what's there now.
Yes, the location in between Main and state, I believe off of washington was awesome. Great food. Great old time band. Great playlist. They had a space invaders video game there. I think 80-82, somewhere in there is when it closed.
Went often as a child in the late 70s.
Mr. Flood's Party. Right across from the Fleet and a couple of doors down from Parthenon Gyro. *The best bar in Ann Arbor when I went to M 1980-1984.* Awesome live blues, dark beer, salty peanuts in shell. *The best*; only the Chance and Rick's were even close. Closed around '86.
Hungry...Howie's?..............damn it, being young and not from Ann Arbor...
ya know...this should toatally be OT.
Bimbo's is based in Kalamazoo and continues to operate out of the original location in downtown Kzoo. They used to have dozens of locations, but are now consolidated to just one. It is still run by the same family, Smilanich's. It is my favorite thin crust pizza anywhere.
I know the Bimbo's in Ann Arbor closed in the early to mid seventies, was it part of the same one in Kzoo?
I only know of Bilbo's in Kzoo
Yes, there is a Bilbo's in Kalamazoo, but also Bimbo's (no relation between the two). It's located in downtown Kalamazoo on Michigan Ave.
This is spectacular information! Being of the age to have grown up with Bimbo's in Ann Arbor -- it was, in my 7-yr. old assessment, the greatest restaurant in the world -- I'll definitely try to figure out a way to stop there with my kids, en route to Chicago some time.
No. Here are some former pizza joints I do remember:
1. Nikko's - complete shit. but they were pretty fast.
2. Omega - pizza sucked. NYPD moved into their space. Good burgers, though.
3. Backroom - it used to be really awesome. then suddenly it sucked.
4. Marco's Pizza - this place has to have closed, right? ordered a couple times. frightening.
Favorite birthday spot as a kid! Do not recall exactly where it was but I think on Washington a block off Main. I remember you could throw peanut shells on the floor, impossible in today's litigious society. There was a second Bimbo's "On the Hill" that was on Washtenaw east of Huron River Drive, not as good as the original. Did the original have Bimbo's have Pizza in it’s name?
Best thin crust I have ever had.
http://arborwiki.org/city/Bimbo%27s
I went there frequently as a kid back in the '70s. They had a band--an old time ragtime-style band. Piano, banjo, and one other person (trombone maybe?) They sang songs from the turn-of-the-century, encouraging the patrons to sing along. "The Band Played On," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "Sidewalks of New York," "Daisy Bell." Songs like that. They had a songsheet--maybe I saved one; I don't know. When the band was off or on break, they would sometimes show old Three Stooges and Abbot and Costello shorts. There was also a back room where adults would sit if they just wanted a pizza and a beer without all of the noise.
They had peanut shells on the floor and wine jugs and 1920's movie posters and other signs on the wall (they had a "Coolidge for President" lawn sign, I recall). The pizzas were pretty good, and they cut them into squares instead of wedges. You could order Faygo Red Pop by the pitcher.
It was like a Chuck E. Cheese for a simpler time. There will never be anything like it again.
Also, get off my lawn.
Wasn't that was the one right down the street from Golddigger Burger and Homewrecker Hardware? Ah, the good old days...
Seriously though, if Quickie Burger is any indication, I would love to see what Bimbo Pizzeria's logo was.
As an undergrad in the late 70's early 80's I remember Bimbo's and don't have too much add to the previous posts except I seem to recall right next door was a small bar called the King's Arms Pub. They were connected by in the back part of the bars, probably shared the liquor license.
February 20th, 2011 at 6:12 PM ^
Bimbo's in the mid-60's, about ''64/'65, was split in have by a half-wood/half-curtain. The other half was a coffeehouse called The Golden Vanity, owned and operated by Ted Kistler & Jim Brignall, folk duo "The Campus Singers." Singers like Josh White, Jr., and Ed McCurdy appeared there. Monday night was Hootenanny/Open Mike night.
Coffee was regular - $1/cup; Cappucino was regular (out of an industrial coffeemaker) with Nestle's chocolate added -- I think it was $1.50. Pizza from Bimbo's could be ordered, as could anything else from Bimbo's. Frequently heard as "Blowin' in the Wind" and all other Movement/Protest Songs were sung were "Hold the anchovies" and "Double cheese."
Sadly, the Vanity didn't last too long (a year or two at the most ... it's been so long I can't remember). Brignall was a full-time Harvard Law student; Ted was a would-be (and did become) actor/singer on his own (fantastic one, too). The place was open 6 nights a week, and it was hard to fill the place as it was hard to get to class and still go out at night back then. (I, myself, was an EMU-girl.)
I stumbled upon one of the remaining origional Bimbo's up on a lake in northern Minnesota while camping this past weekend! It's the very same pizza & started by the same man who owned the Ann Arbor locations. Still delicious after all these years! :)
more info & photos on Ann Arbor Townies
March 14th, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
Packed, Packed, Packed in the 70's .............1/2 EMU 1/2 MICH students...............