Min Kyu Kim Is at it Again
It’s getting hard to keep up with twenty-nine-year-old Min Kyu Kim, who’s taken over and rebranded three Ann Arbor restaurants within a year.
Read MoreDine
Keeping Pizza Weird
“One day we were driving around looking for some good food,” Jackson relates. “[Andre] was like, ‘Man, I know this crazy pizza spot in Toledo. You got to come try it out with me.’ So we drove all the way to Toledo from Detroit to try this pizza out, and it was just mind-blowing, amazing. We kept taking that trip.”
Read MoreMadras Masala Express Opens
Madras Masala Express has opened in the growing Lower Town neighborhood, its second location after a 2023 fire destroyed its building on Maynard St.
Read MoreWing Snobs
Detroit-based Wing Snob, founded in 2017, is a fast-growing franchisor in the quick-service restaurant industry, with more than forty stores open and twice as many in the pipeline.
Read More
Chai Forward
They’d noticed that most coffee shops in North America treat chai as a secondary offering at best, Noman says, so they decided to feature it foremost. “We went and tried chai in all different regions of India and Pakistan and Bangladesh,” he says. “We formulated our own blend of chai. Our chai comes from Assam, India. It has a bold flavor.”
Read More
A Dexter Dining Landmark Takes a New Turn
A nineteenth-century Arts and Crafts farmhouse built by a president’s brother has been inaugurated for a fifth term as a restaurant. Upscale casual dining at 42 North Social House succeeds the Fillmore Bar & Grill, which followed Terry B’s, Tuscan House, and Cousins Heritage Inn.
Read More
Dan Kolander Is Back in Town
Husband-and-wife team Dan and Sarah Kolander—longtime owners of Dan’s Downtown Tavern in Saline—purchased Chelsea Burger, in the space formerly occupied by Seitz’s Tavern. In an interview before a planned late-September opening, Dan Kolander says they’ll serve a “simple, easy menu” of burgers, sandwiches, wraps, and weekly specials—and they’ve applied for a liquor license.
Read MoreArise Bakery and Cafe in Saline
Andrea Cocciolone and Rose Richards, decades-long friends with a common interest in adventure racing—running, biking, and kayaking—are nearly a year into their latest adventure, Arise Bakery and Cafe.
Read More
Detroit-Style Pizza on W. Michigan Ave.
An expert in Detroit-style pizza and a veteran restaurateur are collaborating on a full-service and takeout business they expect to appeal to both Saline locals and destination diners. Joe Maino and Jason Branham’s DropTop Pizza includes a vivid dining room and bar along Saline’s main drag, with a back entrance for takeout orders and grab-and-go food and drinks.
Read MorePulse Nutrition in Dexter
Lynnea Harris spent three years playing professional volleyball overseas. “My job in Italy was to perform or I didn’t get paid,” she says. “I was drinking like one or two [protein] shakes a day. I was in the best shape of my entire life.”
Read More
Pretty in Pink
“This whole store is me,” beams Amanda Debek from a deep U-shaped booth upholstered in pink velvet and topped with a rich arrangement of artificial flowers at her new House of Chimney Cakes Café.
Read More
Pink Puzzle
What do a British telephone booth, pillar post box, park bench, and two signposts with Chinese and English flags behind the Hot Pot Chen restaurant have in common? Does the Chinese signage on the shipping container behind the objects hold a clue? And why is everything pink?
Read MorePlates of Joyy Opens at Briarwood
Twenty-one-year-old culinary artist Leslie Tejada has come a long way from the Dominican Republic, where she spent her first ten years. Briarwood Mall was impressed enough with her cupcakes—and her Instagram presence—to lease her space for The Plates of Joyy, which opened September 20.
Read MoreHot Pots on Plymouth Rd.
A Chinese hot-pot restaurant that opened in May is already garnering dozens of five-star reviews online.
Read MoreAnd Now, Gourmet Toast
When Candace Kovar’s search led to Washington, D.C.–based Toastique, “I got goosebumps. It was an intuitive gut feeling that this is the ride we’re supposed to be on.”
Read MoreAt the MilkShake Factory, Dan Reese Holds Two Jobs
The new MilkShake Factory near Westgate seems like a straightforward store for sweets: shakes, sundaes, and sheets of chocolate, seven days a week. But there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, because the franchise owner also happens to be the fast-growing company’s president.
Read More
Around the World in Ann Arbor
What follows is an imaginary itinerary across the continents, all within greater Ann Arbor. Whether in search of the familiar favorites that constitute our own version of soul food, or an adventure into ever-widening horizons, it can be found here, and without the jet lag.
Read MoreFrom Blaze to Fuel’d
A fast-casual Asian eatery offering stir-fries, poké, salads, and smoothies recently opened in the former Blaze Pizza storefront at Cranbrook Village.
Read MoreSamba Bowls Takes Vogel’s Spot
Named to invoke one of Brazil’s most recognizable cultural elements, Samba Bowls brings a taste of the country’s rich food traditions to downtown Ann Arbor. Jamille and Lucas Chamon’s first culinary enterprise offers an array of tropical bowls and smoothies from a refreshed storefront on W. Washington St. that long held Vogel’s Lock & Safe.
Read MoreBanh Mi Is Back at the Courtyard Shops
Korean-born pharmacometrician Sunny Chapel started two businesses last year, a clinical pharmacology consultancy called A2-Ai, and Banh Mi Street Food in the Courtyard Shops. The consulting business has taken off and already has seventy employees. That made it difficult for Chapel to devote enough attention to assuring the restaurant’s quality, so she put it on indefinite hiatus.
Read More