Ann Arbor, MI (734)

I hate Ann Arbor (I think all MI natives either love it or hate it). However, the Blind Pig was always good for shows. It's been a long time since I've been there so I'm not sure on bars etc.

Do you actually live in A2 or Ypsi?

blind pig in a2

elbo room for punk in ypsi
sidetracks in depot town in ypsi has a chicken sandwich called "the sidecar" which at one point was the most delicious sandwich ever but it never was that good again. still a good bar though.

Oh oh oh, Zingerman's!

http://www.zingermansdeli.com/content/pages/home.php

i thought zingerman's was over rated. everybody kept talking about it and after visiting jen's folks in ann arbor for 5 years i finally went and was like "meh, it's a fucking deli."

Oh you east coaster snob

Bar suggestions from a UofM alum friend: Ashley's and the Old Town

I can't believe it's been nearly 10 years since I've lived there. I think any of my suggestions would be out of date.

I left AA in '04 after living there for 10 years.

Elbow room in Ypsi for the good shows, Blind Pig for the bigger ones,

Mlive and Craigslist should help, but I don't remember how prevalent CL is wrt hiring. If you want a tech job at chrysler, my bro now works there as a recruiter type.

Hopefully, the Fleetwood still exists. Go there for gyro omelets. 88.3 FM WCBN is a very good and very hit or miss station. My best friend still does the thursday night techno show.

Truth be told, the downtown area has been gentrifying rapidly for the last 7 years, so lots of the good stuff is gone or horribly mutated.

It’s been 7 years next month since I’ve lived there, but since I moved back to Michigan a few years ago, and don’t live too far away I end up visiting friends who are still there fairly often.

Usually we just hang out at their apartment, but the last few times we’ve gone out it’s been to the blind pig for a show, or to Baps underground which is on S. Ashley I think. Although I’ve not been to them in years you could also check out the Heidelberg, or Connor O’ Neil’s, both are on Main St.

Regarding food: Zingerman’s seconded, and if you enjoy eating greasy food in a mobile home then check out the Fleetwood diner. I also have a somewhat irrational love for Pizza house and Blimpy burger.

I don't know what you're looking for job wise but kingfish's advice is solid. Google has, or is in the process of opening up a satellite office there now for their adwords division.

I've been meaning to make it to Jungle Java.

Ypsi carpetbaggery has been a very bizarre phenomenon to witness.

dan: im in a2 proper, right off the campus

thanks for all the suggestions. seems like i might be showing up a lil bit behind the halcyon days tho?

surely everyone in ann arbor works for borders? this is what i was led to believe...

most of the professionals i met out there worked for pharma companies.

that and lawyers.

most of the professionals i met out there worked for pharma companies.

not anymore, not with mass layoffs at Pfizer.

Good record store: Encore Recordings, just a coupla blocks west of the Michigan Theater. Plenty of Ghostly Records types should still work there, but some of them have probably moved to Detroit by now.

Other good places: Yahoo Records, above the english pub on State & N. University, and the basement vinyl shop on E. Liberty, right by the post office and the comic shop and underneath the greasy chinese food place.

Yeah, Pfizer announced back in January that it's cutting somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 Pharmaceutical jobs in Ann Arbor, so now is probably not the best time to be looking for a bio-tech job in the area.

xpost.
I forgot about Borders, probably because my primary exposure to them in AA is via their shop on Liberty St. (which pretty much looks like every other Border’s) and not their headquarters building, which I think is situated off campus. I preferred their earlier incarnation on State st.

All Music Guide is there, which would probably be a cool place to work as well.

Oh and I might be wrong but I think it's Wazoo is the record store on state and N. University (above Ashley's pub that was mentioned above.)

Yeah, Wazoo, not Yahoo.

Wazoo and Encore are my two favorite record stores in Ann Arbor. I never really hit bars that much when I was there, though Old Town, Arbor Brewing, and Ashleys are nice.

The Fleetwood is good for filthy, greasy diner stuff, and for watching homeless people, crusty old guys who probably live in smelly apartments with hundreds of old newspapers, and, randomly, the occasional Juggalo.

Chia Shaing out on Packard toward Ypsi is my favorite Chinese place, bar none. The tofu skin rolls are insane. Though I have heard that ownership has changed recently, but this might just be a rumor.

Pizza House is good. I never "got" Blimpy Burger. Ann Arbor is full of crazy little restaurants that I never understood or visited but nonetheless are probably someone's best memory ever of college.

I only lived in Ann Arbor for 3 months, but I lived in Ypsi for a year. Plus, my then-girlfriend, current-wife went to school there so there was lots of visiting and crashing at her place over the course of three years. I moved away 9 years ago though, and have been back three or four times since. Like people said, it seems to be gentrifying pretty drastically.

I still love it, though, mainly because I never once worked a day or went to school there - it was always totally a vacation for me, which probably put a shiny happy glare over my thoughts on the place.

Also, the 734 is weird for me - I remember distinctly moving out of Ypsi to head to AZ on the day that my 313 number stopped working and became a 734.

hah I lived in Ann Arbor 1976-80 and the Fleetwood Diner, Blimpy Burgers and the Blind Pig were all going strong then, amazing that they're still there. one of my neighbors in nyc is a big foodie, when he heard I went to college at UofM he said "oh you must know about Zingerman's--the Zabar's of the midwest" but actually I'd never heard of it, how long has Zingerman's been around? Probably would have been better off eating stuff from there rather than Pizza Bob's.

when I returned to A2 a couple years ago the town proper seemed pretty much the same albeit with newer stores but the univ campus looked really different, lotsa new buildings etc. the classic college town. I was sorely tempted to stay there after graduation but didn't.

i moved to ypsi about half a year ago... lived in hamtramck for two years before that, then in the UP for all of my life prior. work in belleville. lurk on ilx occasionally, post pretty rarely.

bars
i'm totally a beer snob.

arbor brewing company is great if you're into bigger beers. they're a brewpub that's all over the board -- lots of german and belgian inspired beers alongside of interesting takes on some of the more traditional styles. you'll find a pretty decent grouping of people hanging out there -- everything from random hippies to local musicians to drunken CEOs. check out the red snapper or sacred cow if you're a fan of hoppy beers, the alt if you dig something dark but don't want to get completely knocked on your ass, or the blonde if you're into lighter beer and you're planning on drinking for a while. they've got shuffleboard!

the blind pig is pretty good for music. the bar in the basement, the eight ball, is the closest that you'll get to a dive in a2. smokey as all hell with a great jukebox, cheap pitchers of old style, and a bunch of weirdos playing darts and pool. yay!

the basement of the heidelberg can be pretty low-key early in the night, though the fratmosphere picks up as the night goes on. tip: $2 bottles of arcadia beer is probably the best good beer deal you'll find at a bar in ann arbor.

babs underground lounge is a pretty chill place and worth checking out if you're into the whole cocktail thing. lots of oddball ann arbor hipsters. prices aren't great but could be worse.

2x ashley's, though it can get pretty fratty at times as well.

ypsi is pretty much full of dives, though a lot of fun. the elbow room has shows (and, therefore, a cover charge) most every night, but they have a surprisingly awesome beer selection. right around the corner is the tap room -- great beer selection, good mix of people, rarely crowded. the corner brewery is where arbor bottles there beer -- great environment with an awesome beer garden, though the beer menu is significantly lighter than arbor's.

music
detroit : hundreds of interchangeable garage rock bands :: ypsi/a2 : uninspired dude with an acoustic guitar coffee shop rock.

the blind pig is good for bigger touring and local bands, the elbow room for smaller touring and bigger local bands, the halfass (a/k/a east quad music co-op) and the dreamland (ypsi) and the corn dog/banana tina (ypsi) for local stuff of all sorts.

if you're around next weekend and want to get a decent taste of local music check out totally awesome fest. friday and sunday nights at the dreamland are probably the best nights to check out for the curious uninitiated, though the whole thing should be pretty fun. http://www.weretwins.com for more info. full disclosure: friends of mine booked it and my girlfriend is playing saturday afternoon.

food
kevin is totally OTM regarding sidetrack. good food, good beer, decent prices. their gumbo rules.

vietnamese: DALAT, 100 WEST MICHIGAN AVENUE, YPSILANTI, 48197. SO. VERY. GOOD.

chinese: i'm especially fond of sze-chuan on stadium boulevard. chia shang is pretty tasty, too.

breakfast/lunch: the broken egg on main street. the fleetwood. a lot of folks that i know hold angelo's in high regard, though it didn't really impressed me. holiday's restaurant on stadium is very much a traditional family restaurant -- excellent breakfasts and salads, good lunches and dinners. abe's coney is the only place we've grabbed breakfast in ypsi, as i generally prefer to cook on weekend mornings.

pizza: aubree's if you want something fancy and tasty, college inn (NOT cottage inn) or stack's if you want something more traditional and also tasty. all three are in ypsi. i dug pizza house the one time i had it, though i was pretty drunk.

sushi: kaya, which is located in a strip mall on ellsworth in ypsi, is totally amazing and well worth checking out. totoro was pretty tasty, too.

indian: temptations on washtenaw between ypsi and ann arbor. a little pricy -- i'd say check their lunch buffet out and if you dig it then keep it in mind for special dinners.

i've yet to find anything that compares to my favorite haunts in mexicantown for mexican food, though i know there's a senor lopez on stadium and the senior lopez in detroit is my favorite taqueria.

places recommended to me in ann arbor that i've yet to check out include the earthen jar for vegetarian indian food, palio for italian and wine, hello faz for pizza, zingerman's.

records
encore for used stuff, wazoo for new. if you want to go for a drive, check out stormy records in dearborn -- run by windy and carl of windy and carl fame. all three carry a pretty broad variety of music.

thrift
the salvation army on state street in ann arbor has taught me that rich people give away some pretty great stuff. value world is a local chain that's pretty hit or miss.

one thing nuILX needs is an edit post function, by the way. "didn't really impressed me?" d'oh!

heh, the east quad music co-op still exists? I was involved as an alumni and they effectively shut us down in early 2002. I always remember hearing that one of the direct assertions made by the students in explaining why it needed to be reopened in the late 90s was that G.G. Allin was dead and no longer a threat to anyone.

Really.

heh, awesome. think EQMC was revived within the last two years, mostly as an alternative to house shows. they haven't done much with touring acts these days, though.

i caught his name is alive there in march and i'd say maybe a hundred people came out, most of which were college kids.

Hi Brad!

hi dan!

kingfish -- myspace says eqmc restarted january 2004.

OMG FORGOT ABOUT HASH BASH U GUYZ

haha oh hash bash, home to bikers, burn-outs, and dumb suburban detroit kids invading ann arbor for 20+ years.

boo to hash bash, ann arbor art fair.
yay to shadow art fair.

Hello Dan & Brad.

Fucking Hash Bash. I witnessed it once, never again. Twirling hippies in drum circles, dude in bong costume, dudes pointing at guy in bong costume and saying, slowly, "that guy's dreessed like a bong!", crusty old dudes yelling about food! and fuel! with huge cloud of smoke rising in front of them. It was worth seeing jut to remember why weed is still illegal, because these are the spokespeople.

Kingfish, you were involved with the half-ass in 2002? You might well know my brother-in-law. He lived in east quad and seemed to frequent the place, I think even in a working-there capacity. His name is @dam @r0la.

Hi brad, jeff and dan. I whole heartedly endorse Palio's. At least, I was pretty fond of it when in college and looking for relatively affordable ways to splurge. And the half-ass spanjo. Ach, that was a delicious sandwich of tasty goodness. Grilled cheese, cream cheese, apples and sprouts. Yum.

I know that name, and I probably worked with him. I can't remember his face, tho.

the Half-ass still has my red lamp, too. It was used to illuminate the board before everything got mothballed years ago.

katie! you were the person who originally told me about palio!

also: hi jeff and katie! has anyone started a 906 thread yet?

DONE

(oh wait, catchy title needed)

brad and everyone else you are amazing. im so pumped to check some of these places out!!

Chia Shaing out on Packard toward Ypsi is my favorite Chinese place, bar none.

DING! DING! DING!

indian: temptations on washtenaw between ypsi and ann arbor.

They are often good but kind of inconsistent. When they are bad, they are horrible.

If someone had told me ten years ago that an Indian restaurant would one day go up east of Carpenter, I probably would've laughed. (Yes, I am from Ypsi.)

All Music Guide is there, which would probably be a cool place to work as well.

That is a question for kingfish and Aaron W, but not Ned. Does Aaron W ever post here anymore?

Also: Working on State Street the day of Hash Bash = super fucking massive total dud in excelsis.

AMG moved out of downtown, out to the suburbs. The people were cool, the suits and increasing corporate vibe were not.

Then again, I haven't worked there in 6 years.

party tonight!!!

Working on State Street the day of Hash Bash = super fucking massive total dud in excelsis.

the more things change...the bash was totally "bogue" even in the 70s