{"id":2178,"date":"2015-08-08T16:00:02","date_gmt":"2015-08-08T21:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/?p=2178"},"modified":"2015-08-08T17:03:52","modified_gmt":"2015-08-08T22:03:52","slug":"local-restaurants-the-ann-arbor-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/2015\/08\/local-restaurants-the-ann-arbor-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Restaurants: The Ann Arbor Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Polaroid<\/a>

Polaroid Shots of Ann Arbor<\/p><\/div>\n

Ann Arbor is known for its\u00a0exceptional selection of local restaurants, but picking a place to try can be overwhelming. Here is a short list of my favorite places to eat in town that you won’t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Frita Batidos<\/h4>\n

The creation of Chef Eve Aronoff, Frita Batidos serves Cuban-inspired street food, which can be enjoyed\u00a0at communal-style picnic tables inside the restaurant. Fritas are essentially burgers made from spicy chorizo\u00a0with fries on top in an egg bun, and batidos are just\u00a0fruit-based milkshakes (served with or without rum), which makes the restaurant\u00a0more or less\u00a0a tropical\u00a0version of Steak-n-Shake. Despite the\u00a0casual atmosphere\u00a0and relatively low menu prices, the food is very high quality\u00a0with an emphasis on\u00a0locally sourced ingredients. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.<\/p>\n

2. Grange Kitchen & Bar<\/h4>\n
\"Grange<\/a>

Grange Kitchen & Bar<\/p><\/div>\n

This local farm-to-table restaurant is nothing short of amazing. Chef Brandon Johns works tirelessly to create a seasonal menu that is constantly changing to take advantage\u00a0of each crop at the\u00a0peak of its\u00a0harvest. He also butchers animals in-house and employs a technique called “nose-to-tail” which uses every part of the\u00a0animal to minimize waste. To top it all off, the rustic-but-classy atmosphere sets the mood for a farm-fresh meal, and the staff are knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive.<\/p>\n

3. MANI Osteria & Bar<\/h4>\n

The name MANI\u00a0means\u00a0\u2018hand-made\u2019 in Italian, and\u00a0an Osteria is an Italian\u00a0eatery much like a tavern. It’s no surprise then, that inside MANI Osteria you can find authentic Italian dishes and\u00a0artisanal pizzas prepared in wood-burning ovens. Although everything is good at MANI, the pizza is easily the hottest attraction. But with offerings such as\u00a0Cipollini – made with mozzarella, roasted arugula, bacon, and balsamic – or\u00a0Tartufo – featuring\u00a0fontina, black truffles, and\u00a0egg – don’t be expecting your average greasy, saucy, cheesy,\u00a0American pizza.<\/p>\n

4. Blank Slate Creamery<\/h4>\n

There’s nothing better than deliciously creamy, homemade ice cream on a hot summer day, and there’s no one better than\u00a0Blank Slate to make that dream come true.\u00a0Their menu is overflowing with\u00a0original and inventive\u00a0ice cream flavors – all made in-house with local ingredients. These creative flavors include:\u00a0Salty Caramel Coffee made with coffee from Mighty Good right down the street, Fresh Basil drizzled\u00a0with olive oil and lemon zest, and Blueberry Pancake which includes real pieces of pancake.\u00a0Don’t be deterred by the long lines – this ice cream is worth the wait.<\/p>\n

5. RoosRoast Coffee<\/h4>\n
\"Roos<\/a>

RoosRoast Coffee<\/p><\/div>\n

According to John Roos,\u00a0“Coffee is a commitment. It’s a commitment to the quality of the purchasing of the coffee, it’s a commitment to roasting, it’s a commitment to who you buy it from,\u00a0it’s a commitment to the people you sell it to.” And\u00a0Roos has brought this philosophy\u00a0to life\u00a0at\u00a0RoosRoast. This small bohemian coffee shop, tucked away off the beaten path in Ann Arbor, specializes in espresso made with\u00a0ethically sourced beans.\u00a0Many would consider it a coffee Mecca of sorts, and come from all around to try the\u00a0famous\u00a0triple-shot long-pull coffee made with their signature blend, Lobster Butter Love.<\/p>\n

Also check out:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Sava’s<\/strong> – Another delicious farm-to-table restaurant serving locally sourced seasonal\u00a0dishes in a classy atmosphere.<\/li>\n
  • Jolly Pumpkin Cafe & Brewery<\/strong> – Known across the country for their sour beer,\u00a0if you’re into that sort of thing. And their food is pretty decent too!<\/li>\n
  • lab<\/strong> – Downtown coffee shop with\u00a0especially good cold brew.<\/li>\n
  • Afternoon Delight<\/strong> – Classic breakfast caf\u00e9 known for their Eggs Benedict.<\/li>\n
  • Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger<\/strong> –\u00a0You\u00a0must follow\u00a0a strict set of rules while ordering at this burger joint to avoid angering the chef and losing your\u00a0chance to taste a\u00a0legendary Blimpy Burger.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    I’m sure there are some Ann Arborites who would throw a fit\u00a0if I didn’t mention Zingerman’s Delicatessen, but it’s always seemed a bit over-hyped to me.\u00a0Anyways,\u00a0there you go\u00a0–\u00a0it’s been mentioned.<\/p>\n

    No matter where you go in Ann Arbor, you’re sure to find some delicious food in an enjoyable setting. I hope this list is helpful in selecting a new place to add to your Ann Arbor experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ann Arbor is known for its\u00a0exceptional selection of local restaurants, but picking a place to try can be overwhelming. Here is a short list of my favorite places to eat in town that you won’t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[248],"tags":[132,246,245,242,239,50,243,237,240,244,241,238,247],"class_list":["post-2178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","tag-ann-arbor","tag-breakfast","tag-burger","tag-cafe","tag-coffee","tag-espresso","tag-farm-to-table","tag-food","tag-ice-cream","tag-locally-sourced-food","tag-michigan","tag-restaurant","tag-sour-beer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pNjAs-z8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2178"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2238,"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2178\/revisions\/2238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/protofusion.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}