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