w w w w s w w w w w w I 4 Th Mihign Dily- TursayAprl 1, 009 ThrdaApi 6 09 - eMc iga lil 1 Oh, Espresso Royale, truly the most noble of cof- fee venues, you continue to awe us. Situated firmly at a locus central to our travel on campus, your symbol is a shining beacon of hope for the downtrodden and numb, those who seek only a caffeine injection to pro- pel them through one more panic-ridden day of study. Inside, your tables and chairs offer comforting, wel- coming sites of study when the UGLi is full of noisy freshmen. Your majestic tones of brown and deep red exultantly restore our energy, similar to how your cof- fee restores us like an IV full of saline. Yours, Espresso Royale, is a kingdom free of meaningless distractions. Among your competitors, who could challenge you? Not Amer's! And as for the rest, ha! What "rest?" Starbucks, without pretension toward independence? Surely not Ambrosia or Rendezvous - what are they in the face of your your innocuous accessibility? Great king of coffee, you know the power of the horde, of coffee handed out en masse to your subjects. We return, Wednesday after Wednesday for your $2 lattes. The rest of the week is an apathetic haze as we survey the seat of your power, the drip coffee, each variety calling out our names like an old friend. There is no usurper, Espresso, no challenger. Your throne is secure. - BEN VANWAGONER According to its website, Pizza House is "A Slice of Chicago, in your home town!!!" Making the literal interpretation of that state- ment a reality would require the newest laser-drilling technology, the cooperation of millions of peo- ple, hundreds of billions of dollars and a ton of helicopters (and once we airlifted the slice of city over here, we wouldn't even have a good place to put it). Luckily for us, it turns out Pizza House was actu- ally using a form of metonymy and referring to Chicago-style pizza (who knew?), which is not only far easier to accomplish, but also much more delicious. Pizza House is a great place to go for some deep-dish delights. Locat- ed conveniently on Church Street between South University and Wil- lard Street, it's never a far walk - unless you live on North Campus, in which case you have my deepest condolences. But never fear, neigh- bors to the north, for Pizza House delivers until the miraculous hour of 4 a.m., setting it apart from the competition. So whether you live in East Quad and are too lazy to cross the street to satisfy your late night munchies or you're being held as a hungry hostage on North Campus by the tyrannous bus schedule, Pizza House will bring a saucy solution straight to your door. There are some who think Pizza House is overpriced, and to be fair, it is kind of expensive. I believe it was Winston Churchill who once said "responsibility is the price of great- ness." But at Pizza House, the price of greatness starts at around $10.99. As far as the pizza itself goes, Pizza House does a pretty damn good job emulating the city of Chi- cago's success on the pizza front. And it smells and looks as good as it tastes. Whether you go deep-dish or not, your taste buds, nostrils and retinae will all leave happy - even if your wallet doesn't. - JAMIE BLOCK Good No Thai! customers are astute when it comes to the art of purchas- ing No Thai! food. They scoff pretentiously at those they overhear ponder- ingwhat a restaurantecalled No Thai! would serve ("Why would a restaurant make a point of telling people what they don'tserve?"). They smile to them- selves when novice customers contemplate the meaning of the question mark following "medium" on the menu's list of spice levels. (Though to be fair, "medium?" isn't the best assessment of the spiciness it stands for) The whimsicality of No Thai!'s misnomer, casual use of punctuation and foreign cuisine make it the perfect place to grab a deliciously fill- ing meal while feelingtotally indifferent about how hipster, indie, scene, urban or bohemian you look (or whatever else you youngsters are cur- rently striving to be these days). For those who claim they judge restaurants based on food quality and aren't concerned with their image: You're not fooling anyone. In all seriousness, though, two remarkable qualities of No Thai! cuisine keep customers satisfied and ensure return visits. First, No Thai!'s food smells almost better than it tastes, and it tastes great. If you're low on cash, you can get roughly the same satisfaction from standing outside the restaurant and enjoying exotic scents as you can from actually indulging in its flavorful dishes. But No Thai's best achievement lies is its ability to create meals that survive collegiate conditions. Surprisingly, the week-old No Thai! left- overs lying in your refrigerator will taste just as good after two minutes in the microwave. Thank goodness for large portions, take-out boxes and those newfangled radiation machines. More hip than Jimmy John's, but void of Bubble Island's predomi- nately freshmen patronage and mysterious food-like substances (what are those bubbles made of anyway?), No Thai! is the best eatery on South University. - CAROLYN KLARECKI JED MOCH/Daily L 200 beers 0 5000 wines * 300 cigars * 600 spirits Best Liquor Store in Ann Arbor in 2009 As voted by The Michigan Daily readers Open 9am-lam 7 days a week Corner of South U & South Forest (734) 995-1818 F Ladies, it's almost that time, for bare toes and sandals, Sole Sisters and Pamper Me Pretty want to get you ready for the summer with a relaxing Pediassage and cute sandals Shoe-Tini / Pediassage Party April 1 @ 6 pm