Wednesday, August 27, 1969 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Rage Five Wednesday, August 27, 1 969 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five entertainment cinema Ann Arbor bars: The great Flood's The cheapie peepies Hlavinig a Party at Mir. FlIood's -.food Dining out: The desert There are approxinately three good restaurants in Ann Ar- bor. There also are some res- taurants where you can be sure you won't get food poisoning and might even come olf with a decent meal. But the rest of the local eateries both literally and figuratively stink. All the local restaurants can be subdivided by category as well. There are pizza places, German places, Chinese places.. most of them pretty bad. So The Daily staff has pool- ed its collective centuries of Ann Arbor eating experiences into this guide to dining in the area. EXCELLENT: The nearest ex- cellent restaurant is some 20 miles away in Brighton. The Canopy has a state-wide repu- tation for great food, and the prices aren't too overwhelming for what you get But you have to have a car - and reserva- tions as well - to go there. GOOD: Best in town is a lit- tle, recently-opened place on main Street, Chez Crepe. The menu is limited --after all, it is a creperie but everything is excellent (the corn souffle crepe, for example, and t h chef's salad dressing, a white French). Only problem is that portions are fairly small, al- though the prices are relatively low. Hidden away in the count ris another good restaurant, The Lord Fox on Plymouth Road, which specializes in seafood. It's a high-class type restaurant all the way around, including prices, but it's also worth go-. ing to, which is something for these parts. A third good place to eatais Leo Ping's, with Cantonese food New Yorkers in town say it. compares with New York Chin- ese fare, which they claim is the best there is. FAIR: You can get a passable meal at any of several spots. Manikas Sir-Loin Restaurant. on Main Street offers some good and some fair dinners at moderate prices. They have a nice fairly inexpensive "small steak" dinner, and they'll throw in a free wine cocktail as an ap- petizer for the of-age set. The place with the most d- ceptive reputation in town is Weber's, which many people seem to think is something spec- ial. It isn't. It's really a gla- morized. more exensive Holi- day Inn with prices steppedi tp to match. Holly's at the Inn is a pas- able restaurant with American food. Prices are reasonable, and yotu get a nice selection o r- lishes and appetizers rais with the meal. Newest in town is the Ambas- sador, in the Statler on State Rd. The food is just so-so, like most of the other restaurants of this type in town. Blaise's in the new Sheraton downtown is another one of the group, this time with a cultiva - ed atmosphere, Supposedly the giant hamburgers are pretty good. The Sheraton also offers English-style dining at t W Room at the Top. In two locations, Bill Knapps is the kind of place that you either hate or love. Unfortun- ately for Bill, lots of people hat e it - as many as like it. so you're pretty much taking a chance. The food is standard American, from greasy f r i e d chicken on. For fair, moderately priced food, the Frontier Beef Buffet will usually do. The food isn't kosher corned beef sandwich or chicken matzoh ball soup. Who knows, maybe they'll reopen. There are three German res- taurants in town, Metzger's, Old Heidelberg, and Old German. If you like German food, they're line. Also passable, maybe even better, is the Apartment, on top of Huron Towers Apts. The steak dinner for $5.95 is fairly good, but the atmosphere is fairly bad. Expensive and mostly med iocre for dinner, Clint Castor's Village Bell on South Univer- sity is rapidly gaining a reputa- tion lot a great luncheon buf- fet at reasonable prices. Castor's famous Pretzel Bell downtown has that college rah- rah atmosphere and the sand- wiches are good for lunches. Dinners aren't much, though, but the Bell regulars make the best of it with huge steins of beer. Charcoal House on State St.. is not too bad at all-it may have the best hamburgers in town, although larger meals are only mediocre. On East Liberty is Thanos Laamplighter, another stop for lair food. Luncheons are sup- posed to be good here. MIEDIOCRE: So far, in case you haven't noticed, most of these places have not been on campus, The campus eateries tend to be terrible. The Brown Jug on South Uni- versity Ave. has decent hot turkey sandwiches and chocolate cake when it's not stale. Also, their Irish Hills Club Sandwich is good when they have it -- about once a week, But the ham- burgers can be disastrous, anid the bulk of the food is just plain grea-. PJ's, on South University and on State St., is really pretty bad, except lot' the strawberry short- cake, But they hav° a terrible gravy they insist on burying all meat in-maybe because the meat is bad too. They offer all kinds of hamburgers, from oliveburgers on, but they're only fair at best. Best Steak House on State St. is just like you find every- wher'e-- that groovy little $1.49 steak, whose quality varies wildly. Good luck. Harry's, on Maynard St., is much like the Jug, except a little wotse. The Cottage Inn Pizzeria on .East William, should just make pizzas. The only other thing wort'h touching there is the hot fudge sundaes: everything else is awfuil. At the Virginian, on State St. service is bad, and food, they say, worse. The Wheel on South Uni- versity may be the worst place in town, although competition is fierce. The South U restaur- ant used to offer a worse ver- sion of the same greasy fare, but it closed. Despite the Iris B e 11 Ad- venture, the food at the plush Rubaiyat just doesn't match the entertainment. Once a top eating spot, the fancy Rubaiyat is now just pretty bad. Bimpy's, home of the Blimpy burger, has become a West Quad standby. Not because the ham- burgers are good - they aren't . but because you don't have to walk very far Out Washtenaw is 'Friar Tuck's Pantry. The place looks nice, but the food --- all of it - is abominable. .l ,_ . C . _A"t .- ii . .., a ...f ..A tage Inn. All you can do is try all three and decide which is least unappetizing. SPECIALTIES: The best you can get in town are ribs from DeLong's pit barbecue. Eat 'em there, or have them delivered, but try them. At two bucks, one of the best bargains in town. For ice cream specialties, iMl- ler Farms on South University is tops. They have many, many, flavors, and sundae fantasies of all shapes and kinds. Lucky Jim's fish and c h i p s (pickup only) can also be a real treat. They come wrapped ' in real English newspaper, too, and with vinegar for the chips, Submarine sandwich fanciers can rely on Pizza Loy and Dairy Joy on State St. The pizza is good toop, but it's pickup only. Breakfast lovers should try Angelo's, on Catherine St., a favorite of the medical center crew. Servings are bountiful and prices low on breakfast specials. Steve's Lunch, on East Jef- ferson, is another good place for big, inexpensive breakfasts, and fairly decent, inexpensive meals, A nice place to go and sit with friends is Dominick's, on East University. The pizza and sandwiches are all right, and you can sip a hot chocolate or coffee forever. Great for sandwiches, soup and bagel's is Mark's Coffee House on East William. Try the poor boy, the homemade soup, By DREW BOGEMA A special Daily investigation into the redeeming qualities of local bars has revealed that Ann Arbor is rapidly taking on a two- tone character - those who frequent Flood's and those who go elsewhere. Mr. Flood's Party opened in Ann Arbor early this summer, the product of the joint efforts of Buddy Jack and Ned Duke, veteran Ann Arbor hipsters who despaired of the all-too-similar nature of most Ann Arbor bars. And, its peculiar allures brought an imme- diate, booming response from experienced Ann Arbor bar-hoppers who craved atmosphere, low prices and the ever-present diversity of freakdom, hipsters, and free-floating elderly spirits. At Flood's, one finds such a spiritual harmony, such a broth- erhood, such a communal happiness as to make its expanding clien- tele swear off any other establishment in town. On any given night, one will find Flood's tripping on love, rock, gaiety, jazz, mirth, country and western, widespread contentment in spite of occasional blues. It also fosters a quantity of business that makes Matt Chut- ich (Bimbo's) or Clint Castor (Pretzel Bell-Village Bell) cringe with envy. True, the old favorites continue to thrive, although if Flood's expands into the neighboring Union bar (which is currently up for sale) their attitudes could change from peaceful coexistence to out- and-out hostility. The Town Bar boasts of a soul-shaking jazz trio and a racial harmony that brings Ann Arbor's students and black ghetto resi- dents together, producing warm hopes and dreams for a future so- ciety. Schwaben's is still alive one night a week (and sometimes two or three) with hard rock, but everyone knows it's only a way station between Flood's and the Town. Bimbo's makes it with the frat rats, sorority chicks. and aspir- ing professionals along with their always painfully evident, obnox- ious middle-class clientele. Peanut shells litter the floor, and pizzas burn in the oven as deafening dixieland pours forth from the Gas- lighters. A few years back, consensus had it that a good time was avail- able at Bimbo's, but Kerry Price and Rich Bloch left, Pat De- Loughery had a stroke, and while John Teachout still packs a damn good trombone and banjo, the trumpet, honkey-tonk piano, and tuba generally drown him out. The Pretzel Bell is swell for the truly collegiate types in our midst and tradition-minded elders who love to purchase a pitcher and stare at framed artifacts of past Michigan athletic glory, thereby avoiding the guilt of noting the racial quality of the bus- boys and kitchen help. The Village Bell on South University has as its only attractions carpeted ceilings and a proximity to studentdom that draws the collegiates who are too lazy to go downtown. The Golden Falcon has been known to feature a worthwhile rock band or jazz group, although its prices are oriented more to- ward the affluent suburbanite or pretension- tripping redneck than the impoverished student. The Rubaiyat swings with Iris Bell at piano, along with a really good bass and drums. The Liberty Inn has a pool table, a col- or tube, and a ladies room. At Flicks, the Del Rio, Twentieth Century, Varsity, or Star Bars one sees the elderly alcoholics crush themselves with defeat and futility every evening around eight. One can watch Sheriff Doug Harvey cavort at the Old Heidelberg and Old German, and still, allegedly, thoroughly enjoy oneself if inclined to ethnic en- tertainment. As for the Flame, it has a jukebox and a peculiar clustering of homogeneity. If you're uptight about race and uncomfortable with white- racist-inspired-black-belligerency, don't go to Clint's C 1 u b, the Derby, or Wonder Bars. After all, everyone knows this is where blacks collect who have a habit of strangely eyeing white, middle- class, honkie cleanliness. But if your hair is long, your feet are bare, and you harbor a calm, joyous, loving personality you may learn to pass chittlin's test. As for Fraser's Pub, the Village Inn, the Waterfall, the Ra- mada Inn, and the Fireside Lounge, one will have,to visit without this crude subjectivity. Reputedly, however, they cater to the bour- By NADINE COHODAS You don't have to be rich to see a movie in Ann Arbor, even though three of the four major theatres in town charge a cool $2 admission. Some spots will let you in for -are you ready-only 75 cents or maybe even 50 cents. (And although once in a while some places may ask a whole dollar there is also an occasional free flick sponsored by University Activities Center or some other student group.) The bargain movies are pretty good, Last year, A Thousand Clowns and Alfie went for 75 cents, and Tom Jones and Wait Until Dark came in at 50 cents. The cheapie peepies are es- pecially good for foreign movies, that win critical acclaim but don't make it at the good old American box office. These films are often hard to find even for people who want to see them. Cinema Guild, in Archi- tecture Aud., last year made available many of these films, like Woman of the Dunes and My Name Is Ivan. Cinema Guild, along with Cinema II in Aud. A of Angell Hall, offer films for the 75-cent budget, Cinema II concentrates on recent films, especially those rapidly becoming classics in their own time, like Blowup. Cinema Guild has many foreign films, of course, and throws in lots of American classics, from Forty Second Street to Birth of a Nation. Cinema Guild also puts on a number of festivals each yea', devoted to a top director like Godard or a top actor like Bo- gart or maybe just a special medium, like science fiction. Cinema Guild runs movies Thursday through Saturday all year long with some specials sandwiched in in the earlier part of the week. Cinema II is less industrious and shows films only on Friday and Saturday and once in a while on Sundays for the movies in great demand, like Blowup. There is a regular method for going to either Cinema Guild or Cinema II. You and your date usually get in line either at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show or by 7 p.m. to buy aticket for the 9 p.m. show. Then, you calmly saunter back to the auditorium, ticket in hand, for your show and walk right in. Very rarely, it seems, does one stand in line at 7 p.m. for the 7 show or at 9 p.m. for the 9 show, although you often must get in line at 6 p.m. on Friday for tickets for a top movie on Saturday. Cinema Guild is probably Ann Arbor's most notorious low- Fil1m capital ofthe midwest George Manupelli's Ann Arbor Film Festival makes Ann Arbor the film capital of the Midwest. For the past seven years, the festival has attracted the best in underground, experiment, and independent made throughout the country. The festival runs for five days at Cinema Guild in March with four to six hours of different films each night. On last night of the festival over $1500 in prize money is awarded and the winners are shown. And to top all that, the highlights and winners are sent all over the country with chances at more and more money. Then the guys with smelly cigars come around and look at the films and take the young talent off to dark corners. Last year, audiences were treated to George Manupelli's Dr. Chicago, the lyrical story of the abortionist-sex changer in modern society. And, if the rumors are true, Manupelli has two more "Chicago" films in the works. Manupelli, a professor in the art department, has been the moving force for experimental and in- dependent film in Ann Arbor. Another highlight of the festival was Stanton Kaye's Brandy in the Wilderness, which was awarded first prize. "Brandy" is the story of a young great director who ends up living the life of the film (or filming the life he leads). Local talent is also promoted by the spirit of the festival. Besides Manupelli, there is Andrew Lugg (who is reportedly work- ing on a new gangster film), and Keewatin Dewdney, a festival winner from a few years back with his animated Sissors. Last year Bruce Henstell and Ellen Frank's Selected Quotations From Chair- man Mao, Jay Cassidy's A Personal Statement By Robin Farbman, and Bill Clark's Hollywood Here I Am were awarded prizes for films by University students. Ann Arbor has thus become a real hot town for people who like to watch films. Weekend after weekend is crammed with more and more possibilities for viewing pleasure. But for people whose lives circulate around the movies, there is no hotter time than the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Subscribe To THE MIC".,HIGAN DAILY cost film house. In 1966 it made large headlines when the Ann Arbor police headed by Det. Lt. Eugene Staudenmaier seized the film Flaming Creatures dur- ing a performance. They said it was obscene. In addition to the two Cine- mas, there are several smaller organizations and some ad hoc movie enthusiasts who sponsor films. The Ark on Hill St., Can- terbury House and Newman Center all offer low-admission films-many of them homemade movies by Ann Arbor cinema- tographers. The ad hoc groups usually pick less common spots for their films. Ocassionally there will be a movie in one of the dorms. 4West Quad last year had reg- ular Sunday night films for 50 cents.1 Or some student group will take over the Natural Science Aud. or Trueblood Aud. in the Frieze Bldg. for a Holly- wood event. And during finals, somebody always come through with a flick or two in the Multipurpose Room of the Undergraduate Library. But if you really must go to a bonafide theatre, you still can do it on less than millionaires earnings. Just go to a Saturday or Wednesday matinee. They're only $1.50 till 6 p.m. and the popcorn's just as good. and the umpteen varieties of geoisie. coffee. Sandwiches all come on But, to repeat, for an evening to be a success, the smart set Russian black bread. begins at Flood's. Most stay all night, TV RENTALS SNo Deposit FREE service per month Required NEJAC TV RENTALS 662-5671 SERVING BIG 10SCHOOLS SINCE 1961 The Fall Lookis Lederskin they're made by al --a - - -Y OE: 'iM You Meet NICEST PEOPLE I. at. the We have a tremendous stock of used books for allI your courses at the low SBS prices. U y You need NOT reserve them. I Y' nnn t11 Q"nn lP m f4Yr vi r r nvnipnrP