Ann Arbor Restaurants

The Cupcake Station is exactly as the title describes it; a store filled with cupcakes. Miniature, regular, chocolate, and much much more. They also have coffee. Totally awesome.

I had the following interaction with the guy at the counter.

Me: What’s your favorite cupcake?
Guy at Counter: They all are.
Me: That’s a copout answer.
Guy at Counter: It’s like children, you can’t have a favorite.
Me: I’m not going to frost and eat your children.

Chop House serves prime steak and is well known for this. I ate filet mignon topped with crab and served on mashed potatoes, soup of Lobster bisque, and chocolate cake dessert.  It was delicious.

The service at Chop House is a bit intense. I prefer the European style of service where a waiter is available, but not overly obtrusive. I think workers visited our table about 20 times during the course of the night to do menial things such as removing a spoon, adding a soup spoon, etc. The friendly waiter also adopted some weird word usages. For example, he would say “Are you done enjoying your steak?” It didn’t feel natural, especially as he was about 20 years old. They should import British workers, they might be able to pull it off.

I don’t have a photo of the dinner, so I included a picture from my 2 week mustache challenge.

I entered Real Seafood Company with my brother and a friend. They led us directly to the back, which was filled with crying babies and teenagers. I think they looked at our scrubby appearance and banished us to the kids section. Anyway…

I ordered paella and a Bell’s Oberon beer. I love Oberon. I consider myself an experienced paella eater, having eaten paella in 4 continents. It contained a wide assortment of shrimp, crab, and about ten other creatures from the sea. All tasted great. I would definitely return for more.

I love Champion House. It’s a great place to go for entertainment. The chef cooks on a grill at the table and does a little show. They call it Hibachi. A few of the highlights included a volcano created from an onion,  shrimp flipping, and some spatula tricks. I wanted to have him fling the food in the air into my mouth, but I realized that it would be really hot. Champion House is also well known among students for having the Sake Bomb (a drink involving sake, beer, chopsticks, and chugging)

Romanoffs is awesome, totally awesome. A few people from work headed here on a sunny Friday afternoon. We drove for about 15 minutes northwest of downtown A2 and arrived at an unassuming building. Inside, the chalkboard menu listed every assortment of bbq and comfort food I could imagine. I had the BBQ ribs and ate like Kobayashi (the eating champion) on July 4th at Coney Island.

Location: 5850 Pontiac Trail

Yogo Bliss is futuristic and seems like a place I would find in Tokyo, minus funny English expressions.I wonder if their shiny, bowl shaped seats will accommodate the American waistline?

They serve frozen yogurt with various toppings. I’m a fan.

Location: 1229 S University Ave

I was walking through central campus and did a double take as I saw a hot dog stand. I’ve been fascinated with hot dog stands lately. Particularly how much somebody will pay for a hot dog after going to the bar. My brother recently paid $5 in Seattle. My record is $7 in an airport. This one cost $2. I asked the girl working there my routine questions like:

How many hot dogs do you sell? Who ate the most? Has anybody ever had a hot dog eating contest there? etc. She played clueless. I think if I sold hot dogs all day I would know exactly how many I sold and the characteristics of the buyers. But, I digress.

The hot dog tasted good and it was cheap. Booya.

Location: Corner of South University and East University

Potbelly is like a Quiznos but has a better atmosphere. They blend being a chain restaurant with a unique independent feel. It feels like a charming Irish pub but with assembly line style sandwich making. I ate a meatball sub. It cost about $5 and tasted good. The girl working the cash register was nice, a little too nice, so I was suspicious:)

Location: 300 S State St

Comet Coffee is in Nickels Arcade just off State Street. They have specialty coffee in a cozy shop.

I’ve spent the past few years studying coffee shops. Independent places face 2 issues:

1. They want to be charming
2. They want to make money

The best way to make money in a coffee shop is to give fast service and have your customers take their coffee with them. This is usually the opposite of charming.

Comet Coffee is charming but encourages people to leave with a coffee in hand by having only 2 tables and 4 chairs. It seems to be working for them, but I don’t see the point of paying a little extra for coffee only to drink it on the go.

Location: 16 Nickels Arcade

Pizza Pino is just a block from my house, so it’s a natural choice to go there. They have slices, delivery, and eat in. They had friendly service and the owners work in the restaurant. The owners said that they bought Pizza Pino last year.

Location: 221 W Liberty St