A2 Rock – Ann Arbor Revealed

The long awaited 5 Guys is at the former site of Shaman Drum on State Street, a location well known to locals. Its a popular chain with a great reputation. It offers a simple menu – burgers, fries – copious amounts of tasty fries and drinks. We’ve given it only one shot since it opened earlier this year but it was not as awesome as we were led to believe.  The burgers were mediocre but a step up from regular fast food. If you like fries, you’re in for a treat. Burgers are served in a brown paper bag with a “shovel” of fries thrown in.  What’s more, free peanuts while you wait!!

Bar Louie seems to draw a crowd in this convenient “central campus” location. We have yet to eat there but the happy hour is popular with year-round porch (heated in winter) and bar seating in addition to restaurant style seating.

There is a nice selection of beers on tap but cocktails were on the very sweet side. Oh wait, we did have the dollar burgers! Yup that’s $1 burgers on Tuesdays. One dollar gets you decent size mediocre burger  on a bun but additions are extra.  You can expect a lively atmosphere, big screen TVs, and waitresses in short skirts…I’ll let you decide.

The Chop House, of all places, offers $4 cocktails, wines by the glass at $5, and a few small meals – plus an elegant ambience and some savory snacks to keep you drinking. We’ve been told that cigar bar downstairs has been reopened, but we need to confirm. The Chop House happy hour is 5pm to 7pm, Monday through Friday.

Check out their happy hour menu for all the details!

Located in the Kensington Court hotel near Briarwood Mall on the south side of Ann Arbor, Graham’s offers an interesting enough selection of appetizers, and a few small plates could easily make a full meal.

Quite an adventurous menu, with appetizer options such as sweetbreads which we have not seen on other menus in Ann Arbor. – We found the sweetbreads rather average and not nearly as delicate as we’ve had elsewhere. Still there were multiple items that sounded appealing enough to sample. We have yet to return and actually attempt any of the entrees and those too sound deliciously paired.

The Polenta with Gorgonzola with sliced fresh strawberries and pear made for a subtle dessert-like finish to the meal. We’ll have to go back to figure out if anything on the menu tastes as great as it sounds so stay tuned for an update.

When it comes to indian buffets, our pick for the best in Ann Arbor is Suvai Taste of India. Newly opened at a location on State street near the State theater and convenient to the campus – this buffet features a nice selection of south indian fare including Tandoori chicken, chicken biryani, tamarind rice, muttar paneer, dhal, naan and a nice selection of chutneys, as well as a salad bar. In general, the dishes are a cut above the usual for buffets – spicier and more flavorful. It is also priced a little cheaper than local competitors like Madras Masala and Raja Rani.

Despite being fairly new to the area, the lunch buffet has already proved quite popular, thanks to good prices, a great location and many tasty options. Suvai also features a full a la carte menu as well as their lunch buffet, any fan of Indian food should be sure to check out Suvai for their curry fix. Suvai’s buffet hours are 11.30 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. on weekdays and 12.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. on the weekend (Friday/Saturday). A la carte dining hours are 5.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. (weekdays) and 5.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. (Friday/Saturday). Suvai is closed on Sundays.

Location: 217 B. South State St., Ann Arbor MI (map)
Phone: 734-327-6500

Located just off Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor, The Earle has been a fixture of the local restaurant scene for years. Featuring a very French menu and a unique underground ambience featuring live music five nights a week. We consider the Earle to be one of the best restaurants in Ann Arbor. The Earle offers a fine dining atmosphere, as well as a more casual bar area which features a popular happy hour menu with affordable appetizers (including steamed mussels at $2.75 for the first plate) and drink specials. Fine dining prices tend to run in the $20-$30 range for entrees – so a meal for two will typically approach $90 or more including beverages and tip.

We have sampled many of the dishes on the Earle’s menu and one of our favorites is the Sea Scallops which are sautéed with mushrooms and garlic, then pan-sauced with sherry and cream. We also enjoyed the Sautéed Beef Tenderloin with Roquefort which is deglazed with Madeira and pan-sauced with cream and Roquefort, then topped with walnuts and pine nuts.

The wine menu is extensive and combined with expert service makes for a very pleasing dining experience!

A renovated a la carte and chinese buffet restaurant meets you with a decorative exterior, dramatic water feature, buddha and live water creatures. The buffet is extensive including soups, appetizers, seafood, various meats and noodles with a few vegetarian dishes. Some delicacies vary like crab legs, mussels and frog legs. The surprise was a spread of oysters, sushi and sashimi prepared on the spot! The sushi is not the best we’ve had, but the variety keeps us coming back. The other dishes include both typical “american chinese” fare as well as more traditional, to our understanding. The buffet even features some non-asian foods for the more conventional diner – including garlic bread. If none of the desserts satisfy, there’s always soft serve ice cream and toppings. With this kind of variety, you are sure to find something delectable. They recently added alcohol to the offerings, featuring a range of eastern beers and sake, as well as mixed drinks at the bar.

Asia City stands at the same location as the older “Chinese Buffet II” which was torn down to make way for this much larger and more upscale restaurant. If you visited the old buffet, many of the items will be familiar – however many are new. The restaurant is quite popular with a broad range of clientele, and sometimes the service suffers. Wait staff are always polite and on the go, but a few more would be nice. But in general we’re big fans of this buffet – the huge range of options ensures that any palette will find something to enjoy!

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Vinology is a bit of a new-comer to the Ann Arbor restaurant scene, being just a few years old. The menu is even newer with great new options since late 2010 but don’t go here for the regular filet mignon. The new eclectic menu offers a unique taste experience to downtown Ann Arbor.  It’s located on Main Street, just a bit South of the Huron Street intersection. The location is great, with handy parking in the structures around the main street area.

Wine and Dine…

Of course, with a name like “Vinology” it’s little surprise that the restaurant is heavily focused on wine. The meals on the menu are arranged by wine pairing, i.e. “For Earthy Reds”, “For Crisp Whites”. The wine menu is categorized by flavor characteristic, encouraging tasting and comparison. Whether “Luscious Fruit-driven” or “smooth elegant, easy drinking” wines are your preference, there are many options and we found the staff to be personable and quite knowledgeable about the wines on the menu. There’s also a few good beers on tap.

The menu features distinctive dishes.  Some of their unique offerings include “No Goose” – smoked duck breast, a crispy duck egg and duck crostini and the “Rib Eye Cap Steak” bathed in duck fat topped with marrow butter and bordelaise sauce. These are not menu items typical of other area restaurants and preparations may need explanation – but staff are happy to oblige and  the variety adds another dimension to dining in Ann Arbor.

The dessert menu does not fall behind with extraordinary combinations again paired with appropriate wine offerings. Opt for Traditional cider and doughnuts,  something more exotic  such as banana french toast pudding with candied bacon ice cream and michigan maple anglaise, or even a spectacle prepared at your table, nitrogen milk shakes for which you may want to make a special trip!

Elvis lives at the Broken Egg! So does breakfast… any time of day. Located on North Main Street, the menu includes traditional English breakfasts from eggs, bacon, sausage etc to a variety of omelets, pancakes and breakfast stews,  in addition to some unusual specials. Try the Elvis themed grilled sandwich (with peanut butter, bananas and rich egg custard!)  or the spicy egg scramble made with jalapeno bacon. Portions are plentiful and the menu is quite extensive. Prices  are affordable – in the $8-10 range for food with a beverage

Service is quick and friendy. On weekends  you may have to wait in line. If you are a fan of breakfast food, it may be worth the wait. On weekdays, there was a lunch crowd but we were seated without delay.

It’s that time of year, time for the heavy dark beers to come out and get some attention. Ashley’s is having a Porter and Stout Party on Tuesday, December 14th at their Ann Arbor location:

Great and, in some cases, rare draughts will be featured from Kuhnhenn, Darkhorse, Rogue, Bell’s Meantime, Stone, and Short’s breweries. Come celebrate the last day of classes and the start of another great holiday season! Stay tuned for an upcoming email detailing this great event.

Check out their site for more info!