Bellflower
Autumn glowed glorious in Michigan. Despite the pandemic, despite the volatile election, despite...
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Dine
Bagel Shortage
Just after noon on a Saturday, Sherry Stephens of Ann Arbor tried the door at MD Bagel Fragel at 3500 Washtenaw Ave. It was locked, even though the store’s regular hours are 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.A sign on the door read,...
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La Pina Loca
I bet you could use some fun, most any fun. How about batons of fresh fruit sprinkled with lime...
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Eating Out
“It was a dark and stormy Sunday night, and I met my friend Jennifer Conlin for dinner at...
Read MoreAfternoon Delight
Afternoon Delight founder Tom Hackett is retiring. Hackett, who opened the popular cafe in 1978, remains an owner, but business partner Joanne Williams has taken over day-to-day operations.A large part of Afternoon...
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Two Takes on the Blue LLama
These reviews are based on visits before Michigan’s pandemic shutdown. Originally scheduled...
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Everybody Eats at Nick’s
Walk into Nicks Original House of Pancakes, and you will see a cross-section of Ann Arbor. There...
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Ice Cream, No Cream
For some of us, it might have been much harder to get through Michigan’s stay-at-home order...
Read MoreShutdown Dining
All five Main Street Ventures restaurants–Palio, The Chop House, Real Seafood Co, Gratzi, and Carson’s have combined forces to offer a “greatest hits menu” viewable only at carsonsamericanbistro.com and...
Read MoreCarryout and Kindness
Note: this is an updated version of an article from the April 2020 Ann Arbor Observer that includes a partial list of local restaurants offering takeout and/or delivery during Michigan’s Covid-19 shutdown. That list is now...
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New York Slices
“Why am I eating this?” my husband asked, looking down dubiously at the pizza slices...
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Boba Battle
Originating in Taiwan, bubble tea has been migrating across the world for the last four decades....
Read MoreCash? What’s That?
Since Holiday’s restaurant on West Stadium Blvd. began offering what it calls a discount for cash–in the form of adding the processing fee to the tab of patrons paying with plastic–owner Rob TerBush has noticed...
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The Drive-In in Winter
On a mid-December Sunday, the temperature in Dexter read thirty degrees, and snowflakes mixed with...
Read MoreRuth’s Chris Steak House
For merrymakers in Ann Arbor, it’s relatively easy to find birthday freebies at restaurants, like the free desserts at Zingerman’s Roadhouse and Knight’s Steakhouse. There’s even a searchable database in...
Read MoreVertex Coffee Roasters
Vertex Coffee Roasters, the newly opened cafe at the corner of South University and Washtenaw, is looking to expand beyond coffee with a monthly mocktail event designed to attract students and others looking for a nonalcoholic...
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CoreLife Eatery
New to the west side, CoreLife Eatery’s building rises out of the Maple Village parking lot...
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Shake Shack
New to the east side of town, the fourth Shake Shack burger joint in Michigan (and one of hundreds...
Read MoreTownies Brewery
When is a mural not a mural? When it’s a sign. Dan and Patty Arban, the owners of Townies Brewery, learned the difference after a run-in with City Hall not long after they opened last year. They’d announced their...
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Hola Seoul reviewed
Sometimes a gimmick is just a gimmick. And sometimes it gets people in the door to discover good...
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