Farewell North Carolina

[droe77]

Hey folks. Looking for VC'ers in the Ann Arbor area to fill me in on what's good.

 

I'm packing up the fam after 5 years in NC and we're headed up to Ann Arbor for a new opportunity, new start, etc.

 

I've been dowtown a few times, loved it of course, hence the move. We've found a home in SE Ann Arbor, but I could use a primer on the town, where to go for a good beer, good grub, good show, etc. from any natives who may read this.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[cryptique]

I'm not a native Ann Arborite, though I've lived here for eight years now. I'm also not the sort who goes out a whole lot. That said, I have my particular favorites.

 

Food: Ann Arbor has a lot of good food, and if you're into ethnic cuisine, you'll have some choices. For Thai, I love Tuptim Thai on Washtenaw and Lotus Thai on Ann Arbor-Saline Road (in the strip mall where Target is). For Indian, there are many choices, most of them downtown -- Shalimar, Raja Rani, Madras Masala, Chennai Vilas -- all of them are pretty decent (though sadly, I believe my favorite, Shehan-Shah, is now closed). There are at least two Ethiopian restaurants in the area -- Blue Nile downtown and Red Sea on Washtenaw, and both are good but Red Sea is my preference because they usually spice their food a bit more assertively. For Lebanese/Middle Eastern food, you can't beat Al Noor on Washtenaw (near Hewitt, in a former Taco Bell), though Jerusalem Garden downtown is very good (but small). There are pretty decent gyros at Ahmo's (two locations, and soon to be a third, I think).

 

Getting off the ethnic path, there's Zingerman's Deli, which is world-famous (though if you order a sandwich there, you might want to ask for the mustard on the side -- they slather on so much that it often overwhelms the other ingredients). There's also Zingerman's Roadhouse, a more recent addition to the empire (which also includes a bakehouse and creamery, among other things), where they make American classic fare from the best possible ingredients. Neither the Deli nor the Roadhouse are cheap, however.

 

My favorite sub shop in town is DiBella's, which is on Eisenhower in a strip mall near Ann Arbor-Saline Road. They're based in upstate New York but opened the Ann Arbor location a few years ago, and to my mind they're far and away the best sub place in town.

 

If you're on the southeast side, you may find it worth the trip to pick up pizza from Aubree's (in a strip mall on Washtenaw just east of US-23). Try their whole wheat crust ... our favorite pizza in town. Otherwise you can't go wrong with Cottage Inn, which is an Ann Arbor institution. Domino's is based here, but you wouldn't really want to eat that stuff, would you?

 

For ice cream, it's Stucci's. Go nowhere else.

 

Beer: Arbor Brewing downtown brews some tasty varieties. Their food is pretty good too. For a downtown brewpub, it's not terribly obnoxious, and they have a working shuffleboard. Grizzly Peak is also a decent option. I haven't been to Leopold Bros. on Main in many years, but I remember them having a few good brews. If you just want a beer and don't need a meal, try the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti (a bit north of Depot Town). I believe that's where most of Arbor Brewing's beer is brewed, and they have a beer hall with pretty decent atmosphere (just no kitchen). Depot Town itself has a few places worth going: Aubree's (their main location), where they've got some pretty good stuff on tap (and that pizza), and Sidetrack, which has Strongbow cider in cans, among other things.

 

Shows: As for music and entertainment, the Blind Pig gets good bands once in a while, but that's a tiny little sweatbox so be prepared. Higher-profile acts come to the Michigan Theater, which is an old moviehouse (and still functions as one when they're not hosting music). Hill Auditorium on campus also gets larger acts from time to time (Wilco played there a while back). The best venue in town is The Ark, which hosts mostly acoustic music (it's probably one of the finest acoustic venues in the country). Keep up with the schedule on their website and go there often. Most bands head to the Detroit area, though (I've seen a lot of shows at the Magic Stick, which is a pretty good venue).

 

CDs/books/etc.: For used CDs, I shop mostly at Wazoo Records (downtown on State, yellow canopy, go upstairs) and P.J.'s (on Packard in the State/Hill/Packard triangle). There's also Encore (on Liberty). I'm sure there are a couple of other places I've never been, but a lot of good stores have closed down in the last decade as the indie record stores continue to die out. Ann Arbor is the home of Borders, though their original location moved from its State Street space into a larger building on Liberty (more or less across the street). There are a number of decent bookstores around town, though they too are getting crushed by the likes of Amazon and Borders. Lately I've been buying stuff at Nicola's in the Westgate shopping center (Jackson Road at Stadium/Maple). For random cool shopping, I occasionally find myself at places like Acme Mercantile and Downtown Home & Garden.

 

Ann Arbor's a pretty good place ... we finally decided to buy a house here a couple of years ago, so we'll be here for a while. There are parts of it that bother us -- we're not the sort who hang out on the sidewalks down on Main Street (that's the "look at me" scene, and that's not us). The property taxes are high, but at least we get decent services for them. The football crowds can be a bit much, but that's only half a dozen days out of the year (today's the first one of the season). Traffic has been getting worse, and parking downtown is pretty difficult (even the structures are full sometimes). But there's plenty of good stuff happening here, and though we don't have kids ourselves, I imagine it's a darn good place to raise a family -- the school system is good and it's a pretty kid-friendly town.

 

I hope you enjoy it ... PM me if you have any specific questions, though I'm hardly an expert -- I know what I know. And I'm sure I forgot a lot of places I would have mentioned above, but this post is long enough already.

 

Tom