As third-generation owners Mark and Marsha Rendel, who live across the street, inch toward retirement, they’ve sold the business to longtime employee Brehima Sidibe. Mark calls the Mali native “my adopted son.”
Eve Aronoff Fernandez now serves up Cuban street food at Frita Batidos in four cities, but when the space next to the original downtown location opened up, she and her culinary collaborators responded with their typical enthusiastic ethos: “Why not?!”
In our May issue, Adam Baru of Mani Osteria detailed plans for Le Mec, a French-inspired bistro at the corner of W. Liberty and S. First St. But he says a literal nightmare awakened him to realize that “we were trying to do something that ultimately was pretty far outside of what we do really well."
Two south-side cannabis dispensaries launched in 2023 recently shut their doors.
Longtime employees of the restaurant take over as owners. The music plays on.
Food trucks can be a convenient—and trendy—way to get a fast meal and support an entrepreneur. They can also be a regular feature at gas stations, even if the surroundings are less than romantic.
Reinhart Realtor Scott Dawson says that besides ties to the university or family, what draws retirees to the city is the same as what attracts families and working people.
Read MoreNot since Borders has a retailer founded in Ann Arbor expanded as widely as Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, now with thirty-seven locations in a dozen states. The latest, in Pierpont Commons on U-M’s North Campus, is a homecoming of sorts for founders Wei and Lisa Bee, who are both U-M alumni, as are their three sons.
Read MoreNearly forty years ago, new life was fashioned from a former lumberyard office on Depot St. Brainchild of prominent local developer Bill Martin, the cozy, quaint Casey’s Tavern became a classic townie hangout, known for its burgers and other comfortable pub grub.
Read MoreDr. Paul C. Uslan Optometry was based at Church and South University before moving to a more accessible office on N. Maple and Miller in 1992. Having come of age as the first soft contact lenses were coming out, he developed clinical expertise and played a role in establishing fitting protocols.
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Sweet Hop Swedish Candy, in the former Ginger Deli on E. Liberty, specializes in what’s become a global phenomenon fueled by social media. Randy Thompson says the wide range of fruity, sour, and salty confections imported from Sweden is more than just a commodity.
Read MoreFarmhouse glow-up, designed to be seen, and small houses with a big price difference.
Read MoreAvalon Bakery & Café reverts to Pretzel Bell, A2 is down a Qdoba, and Zales & INTY.M Gallery at Briarwood close.
Read MoreHundreds of Michigan-made fragrances are featured at House of Alpha in Briarwood Mall’s JCPenney wing.
Read MoreAt Picture Perfect Selfie Studio, customers can take unlimited photos in twenty-two distinctive booths.
Read MoreLate Plate offers smashburgers, chutney and avocado bowls, chicken and falafel sandwiches, and milkshakes.
Read MoreTypically the most—or only—crowded store in Briarwood Mall, Apple has nearly doubled its footprint with a recent move into a newly configured space merging several former east-end storefronts, as we first hinted in the January issue.
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Media personality and provocateur Dave Portnoy, a 1999 U-M grad, called it “the best college campus pizza I’ve ever had” in a 2022 YouTube video with over 448,000 views.
Read MoreOn E. Liberty, just around the corner from her namesake first restaurant, Orijin is itself a play on the name of partner Jin Gorian, hired three years ago as executive pastry chef at the Boro, a component of Dixboro Project.
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Located just southwest of Packard and Platt, this neighborhood now has a mix of housing types and sizes, as well as varying yards and various dogs and a whole lot of trees (we’ve even got a magical little forest on our west side).
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