Memories of your favorite RIP Ann Arbor business.
Going back to South U will never be the same for me now that China Gate is closed. I ate there so often that Chef Jan and the staff were almost like a second family to me. Many a stressful day ended on a positive note with some take out or dine in there.
What are memories of a favorite AA business of yours that has passed on?
Maude's.
They had the best ribs I've ever had in my life, even to this day.
It was very nice inside, and all of their food was great -- especially the babyback ribs. I remember getting to eat there a couple times a year as a student when my parents would visit. It was awesome.
Great choice! I had my rehearsal dinner at Maude's as well as several other events. The food was exceptional.
Del Rio.
Is Dominics still around?
Dominick's is still around (though no idea what the pandemic has done to it). And I would murder someone to linger at a picnic table over a quesadilla & giant weird sangria right about now.
Isn’t it not open until Memorial Day anyways?
Depending on the weather, it would open up as soon as after spring break (early March).
Yes. But needs a refresh or a basic paint job.
Del Rio. Great call! Bell's pitchers and the veggie empanada with a heavy dash of Clancy's. My brother and I had a place on Main St, next to the Heidelberg...and we were at the Del 4 nights a week. Easy.
Bell's Pizza and Middle Kingdom. I have fond memories of meals at both places, though the ones at Bell's usually took place late at night. The fact it was replaced by a Domino's makes its closing even more upsetting. I don't have anything against Domino's necessarily but Bell's had much better pizza.
I tell you Domino’s got a hell of a lot better when Patrick Doyle replaced a certain CEO who decided to take his special brand of fucking things up to UM.
I went to bell at 7 pm sober once and it wasn’t the same
Middle Kingdom all the way. so, so good.
Great to see the love for Middle Kingdom. A friend turned me on to it before it located on Main Street. It was in Ypsi across from Haab's. A real husband and wife deal. She ran the dining room and he ran the kitchen. Good people.
April 28th, 2020 at 10:05 PM ^
Middle Kingdom had the "secret menu"... was hyped when we got our hands on that
Full Moon and the Hall of Foam Wall ...
Kai Garden
The second incarnation of Eve was the best restaurant that Ann Arbor's ever had, in my opinion. The only good thing about the quarantine is that Frita Batidos is now delivering some of Eve's old recipes. They're not as good as they were straight from the kitchen, but they're still good.
Bella Ciao was also an excellent restaurant.
Bagel Factory was my go to for lunch most days. Their garlic bagel was one of the best I've found in my travels. I'd grab some bagels and something to drink and head to NUBS or to the terminal that was hidden in a secret room on the 3rd floor of East Engineering. My computer architecture prof told me to use it whenever needed.
Fragels!!!!!!!
When I was a kid, I loved going to Bennigan's. I think I only went there once when I was a student at U of M, but their Monte Cristo made my mouth happy when I was younger.
The Monte Cristo at the end of Pirates of the Caribbean was always the best. Maybe because it was Disneyland.
When were you a kid? A2 Bennie’s? If mid 80’s then I might have cooked your Monte Christo- complete with 1/4 cup of fryer fat. ( summer job turned into 1st job out of college).
That's funny, but no, you were there a bit before my time, I guess.
Steve's Lunch on S. University
Too much to drink the night before? Breakfast at Steve's was the solution.
Steve's Lunch was the best. Sure, 2 eggs over easy with sausage and hashbrowns took an hour and a half but it was well worth it. The bi bim bop was second only to Kang's. Lived across the street so many meals at Steve's with great friends.
Ann Arbor is really the greatest *weeps*.
Fondly called 'steve's blow chow'. $1.99 breakfast. Better yet, a chili and cheese omelette with a cold coke on ice. That was living...
Good call. Ate there every Sunday AM for years and read the NYT---until a line formed. The Lee family was great. They bought a grocery store in Kalamazoo and left AA, a very sad day.
Steve’s lunch was THE place when I lived in University Towers. Bulgogi was fantastic but Galbi was the best. At $7 it was steep but well worth it. Korean food in a bar setting...what else can a man asked for?
Amen brother. I should have read the other responses before posting.
Who remembers the Garbage Pit? On State Street next to Pizza Bob's
It closed because people like me deliberately went there and took their invitation to buy nothing, but I enjoyed hanging out at Not Another Cafe back in the day. And there was a stretch of a year or so where I went to Dave's Comics every week.
Ann Arbor has seen a lot of places close, of course, as towns do. But I've found that many of its smaller businesses have remained surprisingly durable. Fingerle Lumber lasted longer than basically any other company of that sort that I know of before selling out a year or so ago, and little engines that could like Stadium Hardware and Nicola's Books (the old Little Professor--I remember when it used to have that spot closer to the old Kroger location) have soldiered on in a world that has completely changed around them.
Bell's, next to Fleetwood, was practically a time machine. I lived on Pauline for 2 years before moving to Chicago last winter (great timing...) and I always loved taking friends from college who only knew South U and downtown there.
You cannot beat a bulgogi omelette with mandoo in the most old school diner. You just can't, don't try.
I live close to Bells and when I have gone there for pickup there it has been empty - hopefully they can survive.
The Parthenon at Main and Liberty where the Pretzel Bell is now was great. Gyros were very good and the fries were the best.
We used to do birthday dinners there growing up. Still miss it.
Hinodae. Their chicken teriyaki was the stuff of legends...
I could not remember the name of this place. That one dish was great...the rest of the menu, not so much
My roommate and I went there every week for the gyoza and chicken teriyaki over white rice, with extra sauce on the side. Loved that place.
Unfortunately, after the COVID-19 dust settles, there could well be a bunch of places that become fond memories. I drove to Kerrytown today to pick up an order from Sparrow meat market and the town is vaguely reminiscent of Christmas in April.
Yeah, I am following the GoFundMe for Dawn Treader and seeing them struggle to meet their goal is giving me massive anxiety.
Dawn Treader might go under? Noooo
Sadly agree. And that's shockingly tough news for Dawn Treader, which is one place I still really enjoy visiting when I'm back in town (with my kids now, who love it).
China Gate closed! What the F!
Great food and location. Why did they close???
Anyway, places that I like that are no longer there:
1. Dhano's Lamplighter. Overall, good food, but I was dating a Greek girl (like from Greece, not a sorority girl) at the time and had some good hook-ups there.
2. The In & Out. At the time is was next to the Taco Bell on East U. Call me crazy, but it had some of the best slice pizza.
3. Steve's Lunch. Not great overall, but filled a particular need at times.
4. Bella Ciao. Just good food. Surprised it closed
5. Cafe Felix. Just saw that it closed. It was just OK, but I took too many dates there to look sophisticated.
6. Sweet Loraines. Kerrytown's best (besides Zingermans)
I could go on, but this is my initial list.
Man, Thano's was good, loved their crust. Sweet Lorraine's was great, just such a weird location, almost missed it unless you knew it was there.
Thano's was great, I loved the pizza there! One of my best friends girlfriend worked there. We would hang out for hours eating pizza. The girlfriend would regularly drop off coffee cups with shots of Ozzo or Metaxa and tell us we had to drink up because she needed to pick up the cups on the way back to bar/kitchen.
Good times, from what I remember.
April 28th, 2020 at 11:33 PM ^
I used to hear stories that people would run into Bill Frieder at Thano's.
He would drink with the players there. . .pitchers of beer on the table, food. . .him and Garde Thompson, Gary Grant, the Judge.
You were likely to see Frieder anywhere and everywhere. . .wandering the streets at 5 am. Strange fellow.
The building’s owner terminated the lease because he wants to do more “upscale” development with all the crazy student high rise apartments that are being built in the area.
My dad had a business on Washington at about the same distance down as Thano's on Liberty. In college I could hit him up for lunch there from time to time.
His favorite was Drake's and their Limeade. I only think I was at Drakes once - it was open from from 1935 until 1994. Pretty long run. It's now a Bagel place
I still have a little yellow football Drake's gave to kids on their birthdays. That's about all I remember about it haha.