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THE MICHIGAN DAILY NEW STUDENT EDITION ANN ARBOR THURSDAYSEPTEMRR8.1994
Popular restaurants reside on side streets Students
By JEN DiMASCIO
Daily Staff Reporter
In your first months in Ann Arbor, resist the
temptation to look for familiar fast-food and
franchise eateries. The city has so much more to
offer so save the Olive Garden for the next time
you go home.
While your parents or summer stash of cash
are still nearby, try out some of the finer restau-
rants in town. Take a stroll westward to Main
Street.
Perennial favorites huddle around the cor-
ner of Main and William. Gratzi, Palio, the
Prickly Pear and Maude's are good places to
start, but their menus are vaguely similar. At-
mosphere and price vary, but Palio has the best
service. The Prickly Pear offers Southwestern
fare and plenty of tortilla chips. Gratzi looks
good, but be warned it's extremely overrated.
The better restaurants hide on side streets.
The Gandy Dancer, The Moveable Feast, Bella
Ciao and The Earle all prepare excellent meals.
Bella Ciao's menu changes seasonally, and
they offer heart-smart meals. Try it before
you leave Ann Arbor. The Gandy Dancer
offers a renowned brunch buffet - great for
your parents. The Earle is better for intimate
dining-they don't accept parties larger than
eight people.
If you're feeling more like a Chinese meal,
Middle Kingdom rivals Liberty Street's
Dinersty in terms of food, but surpasses it in
sit-down atmosphere, making it another
choice for Homecoming weekend. Don't for-
get China Garden. It is located off campus,
but I hear their peking duck rivals restaurants
nationwide.
Once school begins and fine dining ends,
there are still many places to find a good meal.
South University is home to many moderately
priced eateries. The GreatWall has nice Cantonese
noodles. Amer's original location, unlike its State
Street sister, is a nice hideaway and the food tastes
the same. Chicago Dog House offers friendly,
witty service and plenty of toppings for a hot dog,
sausage or tofu treat. The Brown Jug, which you
probably discovered at Orientation, is perfect for
the occasional cheap and greasy breakfast or late-
night munchies.
South State Street restaurants serve a rela-
tively fast and quick meal during a walk to the
Stadium. Pizza Bob's serves Ann Arbor's
best and original Chipati - a deceivingly
fattening, yet tasty salad stuffed in a home-
made pita. Mr. Spots has long been the king of
Buffalo wings, but L.A.'s Club Cafe next
door added wings to their menu that are larger
and fresher than Spots. Watch LA's though,
for most items are seriously overpriced. Bor-
dering Spots on the other side sits the best
Italian restaurant this side of the Appala-
chians. The tomato gravy atATaste ofItaly rivals
my grandmother's and they use fresh bread for
sandwiches. They even make steak sandwiches
- real ones. Alert all Philadelphians.
Although Ann Arbor will never be renowned
for its pizza, a variety of local spots will suffice.
Anthony's is more expensive than most, but the
quality is the best. Cottage Inn's in-house pizza at
the William Street location is quite good, but
delivery is clearly mass produced. Bell's and
Pizza House stay open until 4 a.m. Geppetto's on
State Street dies apathetic and slow death, but may
improve under new management.
DOUGLAS KANTE
Ann Arbor restaurants serve fine cuisine in a sophisticated setting such as Gratzi, the award-
winning Italian restaurant on Main Street.
Amer's and Zingerman's have been bat-
tling for best deli of Ann Arbor honors.
Zingerman's wins. Amer's has a fighting chance
only because it's slightly cheaper and more con-
venient for students. Zingerman's is a great place
to have lunch with parents - who have both the
car and the cash. But the Park Avenue Delicates-
sen, also on State Street, is a quiet spot with a good
sandwich.
Ann Arbor is recognized for Middle Eastern
cuisine. Jerusalem Garden is a perennial favorite.
They make a wonderful, cheap falafel. Ali Baba's,
located on Packard is a nice sit-down place, just
make sure they give you a full bowl of their
fabulous lentil soup. Shraharyar remains the pro-
fessors' choice, and the Wolverine Hideaway uses
fresh veggies to give their gyros a boost.
Just remember there's plenty of food to try in
Ann Arbor. Spread it out over the next four, five or
six years that you're here.
Pubs
With the plethora of bars,
you'll never.go thirsty in A2
By JOHN R. RYBOCK
Daily Staff Reporter
Rick's. Scorekeepers. Ashley's. By
the time University students graduate,
many will have a favorite watering
hole to hang out in with their friends.
By trial and error, they'll find one with
just the right selection of beers, choice
of music, ambience, along with friendly
service.
But for new students, many will
have to wait. Until then, they'll partake
of their beers through frat parties and
friends old enough to buy. But for those
of you who are old enough, it helps to
have some clue about the bars before
you hit town.
The first place for a student to look
for bars is, of course, around campus.
And as with pretty much everything
else around the University, they are
divided into the South University and
State Street areas.
The king of the bars in the South
University area is definitely Rick's.
Though given the name "Rick's Ameri-
can Cafe," with pictures of Bogart on
the walls near the door, this place has
little to do with wartime Casablanca.
Located in the basement level of 611
Church Street, Rick's capacity of more
than 300 gets filled regularly. With
bands appearing almost nightly, and
dollar pitcher specials - warning: it's
pitchers of Milwaukee's Best- Rick's
is considered by many students to be the
best bar. However, if you have a nega-
tive attitude toward the Greek system,
be warned that Rick's close location to
most of the Greek houses makes it frat-
city.
Rick's was voted best for cheap
beer and bar drinks by University
students in a survey conducted by
the Daily.
For those looking for a pot of gold
to go with your pitcher of beer, the
place to try is O'Sullivan's. Come the
weekend of the Notre Dame football
game and on Saint Patty's day,
O'Sullivan's becomes themostdensely
populated place in Ann Arbor.
Touchdown Cafe offers sports,
sports and more sports. The place fea-
tures a full menu of bar fare, and they
have, via satellite, an interactive trivia
game where you can match your wits
against those of people around the coun-
try who are as inebriated as you are.
However, several of my friends have
complained of the service there ("We
watched our ice melt waiting for our
waitress to come back."), but hope-
fully, things will be working smoother
by the fall.
Three other places on South Uni-
versity may be called bars, though they
really are not. Pizzeria Uno, Good Time
Charley's, and the Brown Jug all fea-
ture spirits of various sorts, though much
of their emphasis is on food (though'
come summer, Charley's outdoor cafe
is a nice place to spend a warm evening).
Located away from South Univer-
sity, near the Law Quad, is Dominick's.
Though I've never been there per-
sonally, it has been described as "a
courtyard type place," with most of the
seating outdoors. Nice in the summer,
though probably a bit miserable dur-
ing a Michigan winter. People seem
to have a love-it-or-hate-it attitude
about the place, so you'll have to
See BARS, Page 10E
discover
comfort i
area cafes*
By PATRICIA KIM
Daily Staff Reporter
So, you're looking for a caffeine
jolt to wake you up for your all-night
studying. Or maybe you just want a
place to hang out with your friends
over some non-alcoholic drinks. Yog
definitely won't find Ann Arbor lack
ing in coffee shops - they're all over
campus on almost every street corner.
But how do you find the perfect cafe?
To help you sort through the assort-
ment of coffee houses scattered around
campus - Amer's, Boyds Coffee
Store, Cava Java, Espresso Royale
Caffe, Gratzi Cafe, Rendez-Vous Cafe
- here is your guide to Ann Arb*
coffee shops.
Coffee shops are a favorite spot for
students to socialize, meet friends and
study for exams. The coffee shops each
provide a quaint atmosphere while serv-
ing the likes of cappuccino, espresso
and complementary baked goods. You
should expect to find more than just
coffee when you enter a campus cafe.
Boyds, located in the Union, serves
breakfast foods like bagels, muffir@
and croissants. Espresso Royale- with
several cafes near campus on State and
North University, Packard and State,
Main Street, and in the North Campus
Commons-offers the same breakfast
foods but in a wider variety including
different cakes, brownies, and English
muffins.
Rendez-Vous and Cava Java, both
located on the South University, a
Amer's, with two locations on Stat'
Street and Church Street, offer other
dishes such as salads and sandwiches.
Rendez-Vous specializes in Mediter-
ranean foods. Gratzi on State Street
offers Italian pastries. Amer's boasts
the "largest deli in the midwest."
The typical Ann Arbor coffee shop
also provides live entertainment.
Espresso Royale and Cava Java regu t
larly host musical groups. .
After all the other restaurants and
bars have closed, students wander to
neighboring coffee shops such as
Rendez-Vous and Amer's. Both
close well past midnight. They have
become a favorite late night study
spot for many students Rendez-
Vous traditionally remains open all
night during finals.
LSA junior Andres Cortes, a se
described "peon" at Cava Java and a
former employee of Boyds, said
there is even a marked difference in
the people who frequent each cafe.
Due to the Union location, Cortes
notes that Boyds seems to attract
much more of a student clientele
while Cava Java houses a more
mixed crowd.
Music school senior Matthe l
Bower, who works at Gratzi, said'
"We have all kinds of people com-
ing here."
If your a smoker, the options for
the ideal coffee spot are becoming
more and more limited. Only Renr
dez-Vous, Gratzi and Amer's pro
vide a section for smokers.
Most of the time, you can spot
students smoking furiously in these
cafes while studying for finals an@
chatting with friends - cigarette in
one hand, coffee cup in the other. Of
course, these cafes also have non-
smoking sections.
Several cafes on campus cater to
non-smokers by enforcing strict
smoke-free policies such as Cava
Java and Boyds. Both have never
provided an indoor section for smok-
ers. Espresso Royale has changed
its policy by providing a smokinW
section only in its North Campus
location.
LSA senior Suzanne Maniere,
manager of the Espresso Royale
Caffe on State Street, said the com-
plaints by their customers regard-
ing the intense cigarette smoke led
the cafe to make the decision to
become smoke-free.
What makes each coffee shoo
special? Art School senior Sandra
Bottinelli, who often frequents
Rendez-Vous Cafe for the vanilla
cappuccinos, said she enjoys sitting
on the outdoor terrace where she
can "people watch on South Uni-
E.
One course leads to financial happiness. The Easy A,' from
Society Bank. It's the easy, economical bank account de-
signed to fit the financial needs of the college student.
But that's not the half of it. Easy A means you also receive your
first 50 checks printed free, a specially designed checkbook
cover, and other advantages.
~. IZ~