Elsewhere in the former Borders space, Sheila Li hopes to open her Sweetwaters franchise in time for the Art Fair. Li’s husband, Roy Xu, owns the environmental company GreenBright, says Sweetwaters co-owner Lisa Bee, so...
Read MoreIt’s hard to assess the offshoot of a popular local institution without comparisons. So here’s the short version: the new Knight’s Downtown Steakhouse is better-looking than its Dexter Ave. parent, but the menu...
Read MoreChange is not always about better or worse–and sometimes it’s not even that different. Take Seva, the vegetarian restaurant that had been downtown on Liberty since, like, the hippie days (1973). For many, it was...
Read MoreAs this year’s brutal winter morphed into a challenging, cold, wet spring, the diminutive restaurants parked in the courtyard behind Downtown Home & Garden had a difficult start to the season. And for 2014, the annual...
Read MoreBurgerFi, on the storied corner of South Forest and South University, is the newest entry in Ann Arbor’s growing segment of upscale burger joints using ingredients that have at least some story behind them, if not a...
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With its “Tuesday Trios”–three courses for $30–Terry B’s offers fine dining at a bargain basement price. The dishes for this promotion usually come straight off the Dexter destination’s...
Read MoreIt’s easy to miss A Taste of Soul by Biggie’s. A cement block building on Ypsilanti’s Spring Street near Huron, it looks more like a TV repair shop than a restaurant, but actually it’s a takeout place...
Read MoreIt’s not easy to pigeonhole the newest establishment on the corner where Grizzly Peak has built a brewpub fantasyland. On Ashley just off Washington, a hinged little shingle of folksy old world metalwork reads “Old...
Read MoreThe only restaurant besides Zingerman’s to get its own number in Huffington Post’s “Nine Reasons to Eat in Ann Arbor” was Vellum, a collaboration between John Roumanis (Mediterrano and Carlyle Grill) and...
Read MoreThe reasons I choose a particular restaurant can change with time—even from day to day—but often I find a favorite dish or table or server that thrills and comforts and brings me back over and over to the same seat. When...
Read MoreThough Cafe Felix has graced Main Street since 1997, I had never stopped in. I’m not really sure why–perhaps I imagined it more coffeehouse than restaurant or perhaps the inset front never attracted my eye the way...
Read MoreFoodies discovered vegetarianism decades ago, and the local produce movement has been nothing short of wonderful for enhancing the crisp brightness of plant-oriented cuisine. But veganism, which pushes vegetarianism to the limit...
Read MoreIf you’re one of us coffee geeks who heard talk of the new steam-punk process at the Glassbox Coffee & Juice location in the fancy new Arbor Hills Crossing on Washtenaw and got there in the first weeks to view the...
Read MoreEven after several visits to the Songbird Cafe, I’m still trying to figure out what it wants to be. The enticing pastries and fancy lattes–cardamom rose, rosemary sea salt–and customers who spend hours with a...
Read MoreIn less than a year since Juicy Kitchen Cafe opened in the small strip mall at Maple and Miller, a variety of regulars have made it their own. Skyline High students and M-14 commuters dash in at sunrise for coffee, banana bread...
Read MoreBurgers aren’t just for buns anymore–but grilled cheese is. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar can split before-and-after duty on crisp French fries. And house-made veggie burgers peacefully coexist on a menu with a...
Read MoreA theory: Pizza ranks among the world’s most popular meals because 1) irresistible magic happens when good dough meets aromatic sauce meets rich cheese, and a hot oven melds them into a crispy-edged whole greater than its...
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