Disclaimer: These are neither complete nor professional reviews. These are notes to ourselves that I thought might be useful to publish somewhere in advance of motss.con. Also, Josh points out that one of the biggest challenges around here is consistency. Quality can vary widely at the same place, so what's good one day may not still be a month later (or vice versa).
There's a definite trend of successful food carts opening storefronts. We haven't been to the storefronts with their expanded menus yet, but we really should. Soon.
| Amadeus |  We were really excited to try this place. And sadly wound up disappointed. The pierogi variety platter is great, and recommended. But it felt like either the prices needed to be lower, or the entrees needed to be stepped up a notch. The food was good, but way overpriced for what you got. For nineteen bucks, you get a plate of goulash. But that's it - plain, simple goulash. For almost twenty dollars. And I like goulash. But while it's a hearty meal, it doesn't merit the price. For twenty dollars, I can go somewhere with a foodie goulash of slightly smaller portion with a lovely side for variety with it. I dunno' - usually when I order food like this, even in D.C. or Manhattan, I pay less. |
| Angelo's |  Josh nominated Angelo's for brunch when Jess came to town. It was an extensive brunch menu, the food was good, and they're flexible about substitutions (for those of us with allergies). The only concern is that they're very popular, so the line can be rather long. |
Arbor Brewing Company | Very popular around here due to its generous Happy Hour. Very popular with me because I can get vegan cheese on my chicken nachos without anyone batting an eye. I am darned easy to please sometimes. We've been there several times with various groups, but I'm not sure I've ever had food beyond the nachos. It's such a generous portion, and the booze is cheap. Arthur is even learning to enjoy beer, thanks to them. |
| Aut Bar | We've been here for brunch a couple of times as part of a group. Extensive brunch menu, with great prices. Funky decor. Fun alcoholic beverages ;) |
| Aventura | When we were looking for somewhere to go for Arthur's birthday, we were very excited to learn about a brand-new tapas place. Sadly, we were mildly disappointed again. The dishes on the menu sounded fantastic, and while none of them were bad, many of them still felt like they missed the mark. They're trying to be hip and trendy, but the food execution fell short. It was an okay meal. A couple of dishes were good, but the only thing that merited a "great" was the wine. |
| Ayse's Turkish Cafe | The food was fine (and the menu delightfully full of dishes you can't find anywhere else), but the prices felt inflated about $4-6 each. Especially since there were no sides included (although the portions were fine), and no table service. Not sure if we'll go back. What was nice to see is that most of the patrons were locals, rather than students. |
| Bona Sera |  We've been here a couple of times as part of a larger group. Mixed experiences. I've had some really good food there (especially when some dishes use sheep cheese instead of traditional cow cheese!), but others in the group have been disappointed. It really seems to depend on what you order. There was a feeling that most dishes were overpriced (but not all). Especially since Ypsi is traditionally less expensive than Ann Arbor. |
| Cafe Marie | This was actually the place where we grabbed a quick bite for the road when we first visited for the Taubman open house in 2011. It's within walking distance of where we now live, and where we went to eat while waiting for the moving truck to show up (and thus had no kitchen). It's solid. It looks a little pricey at first glance, but is on par with the neighborhood. Decent variety, and the food is fine. Upscale diner. The only reason we don't go there more often (especially since it's so convenient) is that we just don't eat out often. |
| Cafe Zola |  Arthur threw a virtual pin at the dartboard of downtown restaurants to celebrate the last night before school started. One final night to eat out in style. And we lucked out; it was a wonderful meal with plenty of things that appealed to us.Everything was great - especially having a goat cheese appetizer that I could take advantage of! Our only criticism is that we were too full to have any dessert. (The bread pudding at the time looked phenomenal, and we were very sad to have to pass.) |
| Casey's Tavern | Went because some people on Yelp called this the best burger in town. It was cardboard. We were both unhappy (although we got to watch some baseball, quietly rooting for the non-home team). |
| Curry Up | This opened up the week we moved here. Since we didn't have a fully operational kitchen yet, and Curry Up is across the street, it was opportune. The menu is small and simple, but it works when you just want quick, simple snacks or take-out. When I'm out and about on foot running errands, it's great to just stop in and grab a samosa if I get hungry. |
| Debajo del Sol |  Had their duck confit paella at the Homegrown Festival, and am in luuuuurve. I almost waited through their line a second time just to have more, but decided to behave and try the tamale booth next. |
| The Earle | A Restaurant Week visit, it was quite generous with its portions for RW options. Both Arthur and I had a summary that we thought two of our courses were excellent, and the third merely okay (we ordered very different things). They're normally very expensive, so not sure we would go back, but it was lovely to have a fancy meal out and be able to afford it. |
| Exotic Cuisine and Bakeries | Becca had mentioned this was her favorite place in this neck of the woods, and we finally got there a few months ago. I really like it for the nights when we're tired of what we have in the kitchen, but don't want to splurge on a meal out. We swing through their takeout section and pick up a few items to bring home and have alongside the same old same old. Their prices are great, and the variety is good. It can turn a humdrum dinner at home into a treat. However, we were not impressed with the felafel. We'll try it again in case it was an off night, but it was the one thing that wasn't worth it. |
| Frita Batidos |  A recent stop on our let's-find-the-best-burger-in-town tour, Frita Batidos was a lovely meal. Arthur fell in love with the loaded plantains and the ginger lime juice. Bitty ate way more of the garlic cilantro fries than she should have because they contained dairy, but has no regrets whatsoever.Only negatives: It's crazy popular, so you can wait in line just to order for almost an hour on a weekend night. Also, even though they specified verbally that their burgers are medium rare and what medium rare should be, the burger was definitely not medium rare. |
The Grange | My brother got us a gift card to this localvore restaurant downtown for Christmas. And it's exactly the menu that we typically love (so it was a great gift) - very Ten Tables-ish. It has our names writ large. We were eagerly looking forward to a night out there, so we saved it to mark the end of the schoolyear. Sadly, while it wasn't bad, it just wasn't what it could have been. The homemade spicy potato chips weren't spicy at all - just over salty. The garlic potato soup was good, but a tad more garlic and it would have been phenomenal. Everything felt like that - just slightly off. Frustratingly off. The concepts and passion were there, but the execution just kept falling short. And not by much. |
| Jazzy Veggie | Mixed. I ordered the quesadilla, which was lovely. The only complaint was that the guac and salsa that came with it didn't actually fit with the flavor of the fillings. Some of the other dishes ordered by our group got positive reviews. Several got a wrinkled nose. It depends on what you order. They were sorely lacking in the coconut-milk milkshakes, so I will still likely bring my business to Seva in general. |
| Jolly Pumpkin | This has been on my radar for a few months, because they have both vegan pizza and vegan desserts, without actually being a vegan restaurant. This makes me delighted. I can order pizza - with meat - and have soy mozzarella. I can order dessert - with ice cream - and not worry about getting sick. I've now been there once (Arthur has been there with classmates before), and liked it. It was pretty loud, so it's only appropriate for certain situations. But if those circumstances are "Bitty really wants to eat ice cream out in lieu of the ScooperBowl," well, it's Jolly Pumpkin to the rescue! The vegan chocolate cake was better than a lot of restaurant vegan cakes tend to be. And when served with dark chocolate coconut milk ice cream? We have a winner. I had pizza AND ice cream. A banner night. And Arthur really enjoyed his sandwich. The salad was generous, and enough for the two of us to split.Only criticism is that the service was slow. It was crazy busy, and we were tucked into a corner making googoo eyes at each other, so we were easy to put off. But still. ETA: Some things are hit-or-miss. The dishes they're most known for are actually meh. Whereas what I'm looking for (dairy alternative) is perfectly fine. |
| Madras Masala | Probably the largest Indian buffet spread I've ever seen. And mostly dishes I've never seen in a buffet before. Tons of variety. So we've been here a few times now; cheap Indian buffet is a great way to fend off a cold. And to feed hungry hungry Arthurs. However, because it's a buffet, and a large horde of non-Indian students, the buffet dishes are often not particularly spicy. We went for dinner once and ordered off the regular menu and spice levels were exactly as one would expect. |
| No Thai! | Grown into a local chain, we've tried it a couple of times. Not impressed, but it's not like it's terrible, either. Although meat dishes often taste as if they're day-old reheated leftovers. |
| Pho House | We went looking for a large bowl of hot pho to fight off a cold, and this was exactly what we wanted. We will happily go back next time we need pho. |
| Pilar's Tamales |  Another restaurant that I've only experienced via food cart at the Homegrown Festival. They had some fun, creative-sounding tamales. Many were dairy-free. The tamales we tried at the festival were yummy. I should check out their brick-and-mortar cafe - it has pupusas :) |
| Roger Monk's | This was on our list of places to try for a good burger when I'm anemic. Better than Casey's Tavern, but only because its toppings had flavor. Not worth going back. |
Sabor Latino | This is a pan-Latin restaurant we went to when Lisa and Ulrich were in town. The menu looked good - there were even some Puerto Rican dishes! - and I needed a fix.  Mixed reviews. OTOH, it was great to actually have Latino waiters and hear a Spanish accent again. That made me very happy. And my empanadillas tasted just like empanadillas should. Arthur liked his molé. But my arepas had no flavor, and Lisa's dish was pretty bland, too. I think Ulrich liked his pupusas, but not the rest of the stuff they dumped on the plate.So, yes, mixed. It's good to know I have somewhere to go when I need a couple of Puerto Rican dishes. But I need to learn which things are okay to order and which to skip. (And yes, definitely pan-Latin - I think our meal encompassed at least 4 different countries :) |
| Seva | Seva is an all-vegetarian restaurant that we took advantage of for winter Restaurant Week. We loved it. There was certainly room for improvement (like many other above restaurants, for some entrees the portion is large but all of a same with no variety on the plate), but the quality and price were great - prices are exactly what I would expect for what you get. AND they have coconut-milk frappes :) We definitely have plans to go back, and may even skip some of our other queued first-time restaurants in order to return sooner. |
| Silvio's Organic | Mixed feelings. The food was good, but really expensive for the quantity. And I was excited to order pizza with goat cheese (so's I could have real cheese), but they only drizzled a little on for decoration. So it tasted good, but not necessarily like pizza. They are big into gluten-free, if that's helpful to some of you. |
| Songbird Cafe | Another place within walking distance. I really like the dining area - bright and sunny, with wide, solid tables. I've grabbed a snack there a couple of times, but haven't really used it as a place to dine. Menu is standard soup and sandwiches and pastries. Their daily breakfast specials sound wonderful. Update: Went there for brunch and loved it. Cookie-butter stuffed french toast is my new true love. |
| Weber's | Just Say No. |
| Zamaan Cafe | Situated right next to Con Central (it's in the same block as the hotel), I stumbled across Zamaan accidentally one day as I was out running errands that took longer than expected, and I was starving. So I pulled into the first parking lot when I hopped off of 23, and voila - quick, yummy wraps. I've gone back intentionally a couple of times because their Zamaan Chicken wrap has to be my favorite sandwich currently. |
| Zingerman's Roadhouse |  Part of the Zingerman's Empire, it's one of the few places we've been to more than once. It has a family-friendly menu (and oh boy is their staff patient and great with kids!), but foodie-level quality. I personally sometimes feel a bit frustrated because I can't eat a lot of the dishes (or any of the desserts). The barbecue section is easily dairy-free, but if I'm not in the mood for BBQ, there are some rotations of the menu that leave me flat. (Alton Brown declared the mac'n'cheese the best in the U.S., but I can't even try it! *sob*)However, that being said, everything we've eaten there is great. It's a reliable place to bring guests - options to please foodies, and options to keep the non-foodies content as well. (And even options for fussy 3-year-olds.) But it is pricey (say, South End range). |
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