0
0
0
8B - The Michigan Daily - Best of Ann Arbon 1999 - Thursday, April 8, 1999
etc Best Restaurants
From salads to late-night snacks,
Pizza House 1s worth the call
The Michigan Daily - Best of Ann ArbLo 1995
AZ Best of Ann Arbor Column
CARNIVALESQUE
Amer's (Best Lunch) So many
sandwich choices, so little time (and
money). When it comes to lunch,
fast, friendly service and a quaint
atmosphere, Amer's is the place.
Now with three locations near cam-
pus, you will be hard-pressed to find
an excuse for not spending the noon
hour there. But you might want to
get there before noon because all
locations tend to fill up.
Angelos (Best Breakfast) There
are very, very few things that will
get most University students out of
bed before 7:30 a.m. on weekends.
The promise of Angelos happens to
be one of them.
Blimpy Burgers (Best Burgers)
You have not lived until you've put
down a quint loaded with egg, bacon,
grilled hot peppers and mushrooms,
tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, ketchup,
A-1 and Tabasco Sauces and feta,
cheddar and swiss cheese all resting
comfortably on an onion roll the size
of a football. For almost 50 years all
of Ann Arbor has been coming for
the service but staying for the astro-
nomical amounts of grease. Why
would this year be any different?
"Blimpy virgins" beware: Don't
speak until spoken to - and be sure
to get your sucker.
Brown Jug (Best Cheap Beer)
Brown Jug Pitcher specials for
every night of the week means buy-
ing large quantities of all qualities
of beer is never hard on the wallet or
pocketbook. But the low, low cost of
the beer leaves one to wonder how
the heck "The Jug" can afford all of
those really neat pictures they have
all over the walls.
Cafe Java (Best Coffee) In the
dog-eat-dog world, the fierce,
steaming jungle that is the Ann
Arbor coffee market - Cafe Java
has emerged as a clear and tested
favorite. Often the pressure of
choosing between the seemingly
hundreds of coffee venues around
campus can leave some students
feeling as stressed as a frothy cup of
cappuccino - but eventually most
seem to opt for Cafe Java.
Casa Dominick's (Best Outdoor
Eatery) Thank goodness for Spring!
Sitting on the patio at Dominick's,
drinking sangria and talking with
friends is one of the epitomes of the
University experience. Rumor has it-
that the proprietors of the joint have
a deal with God to make nice weath-
er - so, let's take advantage of it!
China Gate (Best Chinese Food)
LOUIS BROWN/C
Bimpy Burger cook David Alverez toils away at the burgers Ann Arbor loves so
much. Blimpy's again secured "Best Burger" honors.
810 S. State St. 747-SPOT OR 747-7769
I\/IR. S P(O'T'S
FREE DELIVERY $7 minimum
Thanks For Voting
Mr. Spot's
Best Wings
by the Michigan Daily Readership Poll
1991 -1 998
So the Tigers are off to an OK
start. Weekend, etc. will be at
Tiger Stadium for their home
opener.
Baseball fans shouldn't miss the
issue. Non-baseball fans shouldn't
either, because there will be lots of
other coo1 stuff to read, too.
fsetoprinting FERUSALEM I
O3"t'9qUV I GARDEN I
I
Big saving! on newsletters II
r 1 OFF i
all clubs, (usinesses, and i
orgdnizatioins avflfe ad i
They are very fast. They are very
cheap. They offer very comfortable
dine-in services and always hit the
spot with their very efficient carry
out. They even offer an excellent
platter of what has quickly become
the nation's favorite new Chinese
dish - the one of course named in
honor of a great Chinese general
from the days of the Ming Dynasty.
Einstein's (Best Bagels) When it
comes to bagels, hey, they're all
round. But Einstein's bagels are bet-
ter than that - they're plump, fresh
and delicious. With so many flavors
to chose from, dough lovers could
go crazy before they take the first
bite.
Fleetwood Diner (Best Greasy
Spoon) Open at all hours, this local
grease magnet is the place for eggs
(of any style), bacon, hash browns,
dry toast and anything else that can
be prepared on a big, hot griddle.
It's too bad this place is not closer to
campus, because they know how to
make good food that's bad for you.
Seating is limited, so be prepared to
stand and wait (which is especially
hard at 4 a.m.). -
Gandy Dancer (Best Place for
You and the Folks, Best Romantic
Dinner) Well, let's face it - only
your folks could afford it. But it is a
classy, fun night out. And very dif-
ferent from those countless nights of
delivery pizza and sweaty beer.
Notice: If Dad has a hearing prob-
lem, sit next to the window over-
looking the railroad tracks - he'll
appreciate your effort.
Gratzi (Best Restaurant Service)
Maybe it's because they give you a
free meal on your birthday (with
proper ID, don't try to pull a fast
one). Maybe it's because they offer
truly excellent food at a relatively
affordable price and in an efficient.
Maybe, like Mongolian Barbeque,
we all know at least one person who
works there and we think they do a
good job. At any rate, Gratzi was
edged out for best Italian food but
won as a darkhorse in this category.
Grizzly Peak (Best Microbrew)
Chocolate beer? Like the wonderful
Chinese food places you've seen on
TV, the folks at Grizzly Peak live by
the simple creed: If you can dream
it, they can whip it up for you. They
also offer a tasty mixture of pre-pre-
pared microbrews that are always
worth checking out. As the micro-
brewed beer craze takes its rightful
place behind other such cool alco-
holic trends of the past as dry beer,
Mrs. Pucker's Alcoholic Lemonade,
ice beer and Zima - the folks at the
Peak hope it will leave a more last-
ing mark. Apparently most of the
campus feels the same way.
April, 1:30 p.m., corner of South
University and Washtenaw Avenues
- I am freshly showered, freshly shaved,
freshly dressed. A mostly wasted effort:
I'm sweating where I stand. Over my left
shoulder I've slung my backpack, which
I'm wearing more out of habit than of
necessity; in my right hand I clutch my
guitar. I watch the passing traffic passive-
ly, sweating, waiting for the light to
change. Rivulets of sweat curl down my
forehead, tracing the contours of my face,
running along the line of my nose, diving
into the hollow behind my nostril before
reaching the ridge of my upper lip, where
the trickling sweat hesitates and gathers
itself into a bead. I blow it off and watch
it arc to the ground, feeling another bead
collect in its place.
The weak sunlight, which pushes
through the flat formless gray cloud cover
warily, as though trespassing, has only
strength enough to give colors an unreal,
washed out appearance. The effect is dis-
turbing in such a way that the mind shies
from contemplating what it might mean.
(It might mean nothing - it probably
does - but what if? No: It means noth-
ing.) To my right a balding, bearded,
white-haired man who looks to be about
65 years-old sits on the curb, legs folded
at odd angles like an insect, feet sweeping
back and forth over short distances
through the dust in the gutter. He catches
me looking at him and starts up just as the
light changes. As I cross the street I can
hear him following me, making a low gut-
tural noise in his throat, which noise for
some reason reminds me of a spinning
hard disk's mechanical growl. He follows
me across the street and down the South
U. sidewalk a ways until I lose him in a
crowd of sixteen year-olds, dressed like
they think people who smoke pot dress, in
carefully arranged bell-bottoms and tie-
dyed t-shirts. Some of them wear leis
made of plastic marijuana leaves. All of
them eye my guitar with mute interest
instead of looking at me, and they pass
on.
3April, 1:40p.m., S. University outside
of Middle Earth - The crowds are thick
and shift aimlessly, rearranging them-
selves continuously to no purpose. The
smell of tobacco and stale body odor per-
meates the still air. I realize the only time
I caught a whiff of marijuana so far was in
the hallway of my apartment building just
before I left for campus.
GRADUATING
STUDENTS
Consider a lucrative career in
commercial real estate sales.
We're a local company, looking
to hire a self-starting, business-
oriented graduate with a good
sense of humor. I have 32 years
in real estate, yet keep an open
mind and respect for theabili-
ties and opinions of younger
agents. Sound interesting? Call
Gary or visit our web site.
Gary Lillie & Associates
Realtors
663-6694
www.garylillie.com
A quick look over the crowds confirms
that this festival is at root a commercial
enterprise: Hordes of early- and mid-
teenagers swarm to the t-shirt stands to
purchase paraphernalia that will prove to
their friends back
home that they did
the Hash Bash.
They push money at
the vendors desper-
ately, fanatically,
springing away
from the stands tri-
umphantly after
they collect their
hard-won purchas-
es. By far the most ANDREW
popular shirt I've MORTENSEN
seen thus far is a sort r ( IDEAS
of crudely drawn (-)'ti GE.
parody of the Taco ANY)
Bell chihuahua,
which on the Hash Bash T-shirt looks like
an anemic, heavy-lidded, red-eyed chip-
munk with an oversized head and set of
ears. A stylized joint droops from its
mouth; the caption reads: "Yo quiero
smoke a bowl! This ain't a burrito I'm
smokin!"' I stop and talk briefly with
someone wearing one of these shirts, dur-
ing which mostly one-sided conversation
(I provide most of the words) I point out
that technically the shirt should say "Yo
quiero to smoke a bowl." Then I feel stu-
pid for saying it. My new friend shakes
his head and smiles, tells me I'm wrong,
says he takes Spanish, says in Spanish
they don't have the word "to." I can't dis-
agree with him. When I take my leave of
him he's holding up a T-shirt over his
torso, testing for size.
3 April, 2 p.m., just past the arch of
West Hall - I've been getting looks of
mild distrust and bemusement and finally
it hits me that I'm the only one who has a
guitar case. Every other guitar I've seen
has been gripped tightly about the neck
and used almost like a walking stick or
slung haphazardly across the owner's
back. I pass a man of questionable
hygiene lying in the grass.. He's playing
the battered guitar which rests on his
pudgy belly. He's talking but I can't make
out what he's saying because he's strum-
ming so hard. His guitar is missing a
string. Behind him an alert young man is
filming him with a small camera. The
scene unnerves me. I leave when the alert
young man aims the camera my way.
3 April, 2:15 p.m., the Diag -
Controlled chaos of sorts. Lots of
shouting and laughter. The drum circle
assaults all comers with a tedious but
- judging by the number of people
standing around the circle - appealing
rhythm. Just before I get on to the Diag,
I notice a man slumped on the low con-
crete curb, legs crossed at the ankle,
arms dangling like the boughs of a
weeping willow. His chin rests on his
chest. His breathing is labored. His arm
is being tugged by a friend whose face
is a mixture of sincere concern and dis-
dain. The slumped man convulses, a
bizarre abdominal undulation, and
vomits on his own crossed ankles. The
air is at once filled with the stench of
beer. Someone laughs, and the crowd
around the slumped figure, myself
included, recoils in disgust. We all
hurry past the scene into the Diag.
I'd forgotten that the notorious campus
evangelists view the Hash Bash as a
prime opportunity to do some witnessing.
This year, as last year, one man from the
revelers has appointed himself the head
antagonist. At his urging, the mob has
essentially driven one of the missionaries
up on a small pillar outside the Grad
library. From his perch the small mission-
ary shouts slogans while wielding his
Bible like a shield. His eyes are filled with
fear and a frightening zeal. Immediately I
distrust him. His shouting is buried by
chants of "Fire it up! Fire it up!" and
"Hemp, hemp hooray!" both of which
begin at the directive of the lead antago-
nist. At intervals, the antagonist turns and
yells incoherent things at his followers,
and I find myself thinking that his misdi-
rected preaching isjust as tiresome as that
of the man who uses the Bible as an
excuse to condemn everyone to hell.
On the other side of the Diag, not far
from the drum circle, another preacher
talks to a smaller group. I avoid his eyes.
H v
.s?}4
fO
The only thing I notice about him before
heading for State Street is the black button
on his black coat. It says "Satan Sucks."
3 April, 3 p.m., State Street - Food
stores and restaurants are frantically feed-
ing the masses. Domino's is doing brisk
business; I think the door to the store
never closes. Everywhere along the street
people seem to be buying things, and I
can't believe that Ann Arbor would ever
truly want to stop the Hash Bash from
happening. On this day alone, an incredi-
ble amount of money pours into the city,
helping local economy, but also adding to
city and state coffers via taxes. The recent
marijuana legislation introduced in the
state government is the product of igno-
rance and fear borne of the leftover stigma
a
e
ti
c
C,
t}
a
C
e
Tired of 1
e. 1B 0
Try Dasc
615 E. Lit
66E
M-Ft
SAT
Appointment
a fantasticj
journey begins...
... in the b
I
1 DOZEN Wlh
I FRIE'
20OZ. S(
expires 4/30/99
IGS
------- -I
It's Cheap!
It's Close!
Records
LP's, Tapes & CD's
Bought & Sold
Across from the Diag upstairs
at 336 1 /2 S. State
* Paying top dollar for your used
CD's plus $1 bonus on trades!
" Voted "Ann Arbor's Best" 15
straight years in Ode 1tidugan iaug --
readership poill
Ann Arbor " 761-8686 ""W-WMVr T
M-F 10-8 " Sat. 10-6 " Sun. 12-6
bring in this coupon to receive
1$2 OFF A PURCHASE OF $20 OR MORE1
L oneo ,,,, , .exp.5/1/99 -
Limit I
fIPer Person Per Order
only If 401 .-. , , 1, I 307 S. Fifth Ave.
401 E. Huron t. (walking distance I Phone #: 734-995-5060
j from campus) :0 769-0560 I exp. 12-31-9
aI I INRUIX _M IE ON MUM00
I
9I
J
music by Leon
book adapted from Volta
directed by Brent Wagner, musi
April 15-17 at 8pm " April
Tickets are $18 and $14
League Ticket Office " C
UM School of Music
V Mfts Oi