2B - Thursday, October 17, 2013
The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.coni
2B - Thursday, October17, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
New
fo
Tatch out, Five Guys
there's a new ham-
burger in town. If
you ask me, it's about time.
. Ann Arbor, surprisingly,
has never
really offered
much when
it comes
to burger
joints. Of
course you
can order
a burger at NATE
nearly every WOOD
bar in town,
but as far
as restaurants that special-
ize in the American classic,
there are few: Red Robin (way
down State Street), Quickie
Burger (terrible food) and most
recently Five Guys (not a bad
choice). My bet is that Blimpy
Burger - may she rest in peace
- long dominated the campus
market for hamburgers with
its cult following, effectively,
staving off competition for
decades. Now that Blimpy's
gone, though (at least for now),
I wouldn't be surprised if we
see a rapid influx of new burger
joints in the near future.
BurgerFi, Ann Arbor's new-
est place to grab a patty and
fries, would have us call this
the "Burgerfication" of Ann
Arbor. The new fast-casual
restaurant opened its doors
on South University just over
two weeks ago. I was excited
enough at the prospect of fill-
ing the burger-less void in my
heart - and stomach - that
Blimpy left with its closing. But
when I heard that BurgerFi was
billing itself as "The Burger
Joint for Foodies," I knew it
would be love at first bite.
The restaurant's interior is
industrial-modern. The stools
and chairs are made from recy-
cled Coke bottles and the tables
from milk cartons. Sheets of.
hard stone cover the floor, giv-
ing way to walls of unstained
2x4 planks of light wood. The
ceiling is a patchwork of metal
FOOD COLUMN - -
BurgerFi is
r foodles
SPOTIFINDS
Daily Arts Writers dig through recent
Spotify releases to find the tracks worth
revisiting or discovering.
grating
incand
about.'
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g with warehouse-like beef dog won't disappoint.
lescent bulbs scattered The classic sides here are
There's a huge fan with hand-cut french fries and bat-
that remind me of a tered onion rings. I wholly
pter's looming above recommend the french fries,
ddle of the seating area. which are neither too thin nor
ations include chains, too thick.and served in gigantic
trim and brushed chrome portions. Seriously, a "regular"
where. order of fries can feed two to
food totally works in three easily. They are cooked
vironment. It's no-fuss, for a generous amount of time,
to-earth grub that's still which I like, but if you prefer a
nd thoughtful. limper fry, be sure to order it as
der a burger, of course. such. And just as a forewarn-
tties - of which you ing, as you can experience for
t least two - are supple yourself, you're going to have
ttery. Never frozen, the to add salt. A lot of it. Unless,
or local beef makes for of course, you order the Urban
rior burger. There's no Fries - Parmesan and herb fries
ge of cheese, and the top- topped with garlic aioli - from
hoices are endless. But the secret menu. I mean ... what
'st distinctive component menu?
gerFi's burgers, I believe, To wash it all down, BurgerFi
bun. offers a number of drinks. The
e you ever tried cutting chain's known for its selection
ly baked loaf of white of craft beers and glass-bottle
while it's still hot? The sodas, but there are also wine
'ripples the structure and mixed drinks to be had.
bread's interior, smush- For dessert, try the fro-
once upright loaf into zen custard. Whether it's in
e, dejected ball of warm the form of a shake, a float, a
This is exactly what cone or a sundae, you can't go
ns when your incisors wrong with this extra-thick,
t to puncture a BurgerFi ice cream-style treat (in case
hich is nothing buta you're wondering, frozen cus-
ent to its extreme fresh- tard is made with more egg
s if they couldn't get any yolks than ice cream, the result
each bun is hot-branded being a much richer flavor).
BurgerFi logo. Super I tried the red velvet frozen
custard shake and have no ill
' report.
But let us remember: This
ler the Urban is a new restaurant. While
BurgerFi may knock it out of
ies from the the park right now, the joint
could - like so many burger
ret mnenu for places before it - fall into a
downward spiral of poor ser-
insider treat. vice. This is how fries become
overcooked, orders inaccurate,
tables dirty and presenta-
tion sloppy. But as long as its
f burgers aren't your employees stay on point, as
here's also a number of they are now, BurgerFi is here
ural hot dogs to choose to stay.
0
0
MONKEYWRENCH
"Lightning Bolt" "Shake"
Let's just face it: The Pearl Jam ofbygone years
has disappeared, replaced with the new version
where Eddie Vedder reads soldiers' obituaries
in the morning paper. Just so, "Lightning Bolt"
bears a lot more resemblance to "World Wide
Suicide" than anything from Ten - but hey, out
with the old, in with the new. "Lightning Bolt"
definitely has its moments, at least - it's upbeat
and fun, and you're more likely than not to catch
yourself humming along before the song ends.
Just don't expect some classic grunge magnum
opus. Pearl Jam keeps on keeping on, but those
face-melting days might be over.
What's that you're hearing? Could it - could I
it be? An electric guitar? In a The Head and
the Heart song? In the words of the insmortal
Kenan Thompson: What up with that? All in
all though, don't let the soft touch of technol-
ogy fool you - this is the classic folksiness you
came for in the new HatH album. So what if
there's a touch of raw amp? In an album called
Let's Be Still, maybe you should be grateful that
a song even exists where lead singer Josiah'
Johnson croons, "You won't forget the man
who's making you shake." Don't be afraid of a
little electricity.
ol
from. I haven't tried any simply
because I'm averse to ordering a
dog at a burger joint, but if you
must, I'm sure the Wagyu Kobe
Wood is chowing down
on some BurgerFi. To join,
e-mail nisaacw@umich.edu
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Under the stage name, Tycho, producer and
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Stuck on writing the thesis for an essay that's
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drug you wish you had a prescription for, and
then once it's effects have subsided, make sure
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Breathe it in: Birdy's new EP is sure to waft"
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