Restaurants on the Block
Afternoon Delight, Shalimar, Bløm, and more hang For Sale signs.
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Dine
Peeking In on Hummus Republic, Dip Scoop
The core offering at Hummus Republic is a Chipotle-style customizable choice of wraps, pitas, or bowls filled with a base, plus hummus, proteins, vegetables, and dressings. Dip Scoop will have twelve varieties of Hershey’s Ice Cream with toppings, milkshakes, smoothies, and slushies.
Read MoreNew Kitchen Rules at Wolverine Pickleball
Wolverine Pickleball, the indoor/outdoor playground and lounge for grown-ups, is now serving up some elevated fare. The Den provides a permanent kitchen for both casual dining and catered events.
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Starry-Eyed
A group of local chefs and business owners hope to lure Michelin to Ann Arbor. In April, Michelin announced its first Great Lakes edition, rating restaurants in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. (It has published a Chicago guide since 2010.) Michelin reviewers have begun visiting restaurants, and the guide is slated for publication in 2027.
Read MoreLa Piña Loca Keeps Growing
Mom-and-pop paletería La Piña Loca, which opened in 2019 on Platt and Ellsworth and added a kitchen for savory Mexican snacks more than two years ago, is doubling down with a second location.
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Aperitivo Welcomes Pre-Dinner Crowd
Aperitivo, named for the Italian pre-dinner tradition, will feature low-alcohol cocktails, amaro, mostly Italian wines, and charcuterie board offerings with local, seasonal elements. “This is kind of your stop either before you go to dinner or when you’re done with dinner,” she says.
Read MoreLe Mec: a New Spot for a Classic Burger
Restaurateur Adam Baru purchased the building on the fringe of downtown at W. Liberty and S. First for $1,362,500 to bring back a French-inspired bistro. Le Mec, a colloquialism that translates as “the guy,” is also the name of a burger that was a favorite at Mikette, the Plymouth Rd. predecessor he closed during the Covid-plagued year of 2020.
Read MoreGrizzly Peak’s New Pardner Is a Salute to the Saloon
Taxidermied big game and enlarged photos from her grandfather’s rodeo days now hang from the walls of The Ranch Honky Tonk, formerly The Den extension of the connected Grizzly Peak Brewing Company. Every other bar seat is a horse saddle.
Read MoreBruegger’s Is Toast in Bagel Rebranding
Einstein Bros. Bagels, part of Panera Brands (itself part of the Luxembourg-based private conglomerate JAB Holding Company), announced in March that the Michigan locations of its sister brand Bruegger’s Bagels will be converted to Einsteins.
Read MoreWhere Students Can Choose Their Noodle
A savory, salty solution for cash-strapped students with scant culinary skills, those single-serving packages now line a wall of a new South University convenience store, Ramen Run.
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Curious Coffee Is Leaving the Nest
Curious Coffee, after a year’s residency at Bløm Mead + Cider, is ready to level up.
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The Restaurant Kids Are All Right
For many first-generation immigrants, restaurants were about survival, demanding long hours and leaving little room for anything else—something I experienced, our family life structured entirely around the business.
But for these second- and third- generation immigrant restaurant kids of Godaiko, La Piña Loca, and Q Bakehouse, the formula has changed. Though the kinship remains, the experience is evolving.
Read MoreDowntown Gets Another Taste of Yemen
Jabal Coffee House has opened a franchise at the busy corner of E. Huron and N. Division, becoming the area’s seventh entrant into the bustling business of Yemeni coffee and tea shops.
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AC Lounge’s Bartenders Serve Up Serious Drinks
Casey Miller’s new business card calls him “head alchemist.” For Ian Youngs, it’s “beverage enthusiast.” The barkeepers at downtown’s newest hotel “take our drinks seriously,” says Miller. “We don’t take ourselves that seriously.”
Read MoreA Succession Plan for Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger
Shortly before press time came the announcement of a succession plan for Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger, the quick-service stalwart known for affordable smashburgers served with a side of attitude.
Read MoreQuick, Customizable Mediterranean Cuisine at the Colonnade
A quicker, customizable version of Mediterranean cuisine is set to replace Zamaan Café Mediterranean Grill in the semicircular Colonnade shopping center.
Read MoreCD Top Shelf Offers Warm Perch, Cold Beer at the Ice Cube
CD Top Shelf brings a glass-walled sports bar that seats about a hundred patrons with a view of the stadium arena to the Ice Cube.
Read MoreTiki Meets Speakeasy at Huna
Hunã is part tiki bar, part speakeasy, and all under Echelon.
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Coffeegalitarianism
From a subscription-only coffee roastery to a cafe whose operating principle is democratic centralism, Espy Cafe offers something new.
Read MoreDagu Rice Noodle
Emily Ke grew up in the Anhui province of eastern China, but it was a trip to Cleveland that turned her on to Dagu Rice Noodle.
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