Well I have to disagree somewhat from pcdiva's proclamation for Ann Arbor Michigan. She said "Ann Arbor, MI - Zingerman's Deli and The Blue Nile. Mile high sandwiches in a funky little shop with a great mail order business as well at Zingerman's. Or you can sit on the floor sharing communal plates of African/Moroccan cuisine at the Blue Nile (vegitarian or carnivore)! That's us!"
That is a view from someone who probably has not lived in Ann Arbor that long. I have lived here for almost 25 years.Ann Arbor used to be a cool place to eat, drink and be merry until all the flipping posers came and of course the damn yuppies!(who want to do away with any roadside food places!) Here are MY two places that represent my town...the real Ann Arbor! ( I do like those other restaurants...I like these places better!)
Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger
Link:
http://www.leeandkristin.net/AnnArbor/Downtown/Blimpy1.html Ann Arbor's original sliders!! Eat a Blimpyburger, and one way or
another, it'll stay with you all day. It starts with a walnut-sized
ball of ground chuck, cooked to order on the grill. This is no place
for the indecisive; you have your choice of a single, double, triple
or quad, served on a variety of bread, topped with any number of
cheeses, PLUS an overwhelming wealth of extras like grilled onion,
bacon, eggs, hot peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and black olives.
According to one local mathematician, there are over 240,000
possible combinations. Oof. Don't try 'em all at one sitting.
Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger, is at the corner of Packard and Division.
Their popular tagline says it all: "Cheaper than food since 1953."
This tiny diner-style burger joint offers up tasty, custom-made
burgers, deep fried veggies, and loads of attitude. Not for the weak
at heart (or anyone with cholesterol concerns), Blimpy's is
nevertheless Ann Arbor's favorite greasy spoon, and well worth
visiting.
551 S. Division (at Packard), Ann Arbor, MI
734 663 4590
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-10pm. Sun. 12pm-8pm.
The Fleetwood Diner
A photo Link...http://jim.rees.org/fleet/
Hippie Hash
It's true. The sheer, boundless possibility that is dining in
downtown Ann Arbor can be daunting sometimes. Within a few city
blocks one can take a world-tour of cuisines, and explore a span of
epicurean styles from fancy to plain and back again. But when it's
three in the morning and you want some eggs or a burger, the choice
is clear: you go to the Fleetwood.
The cooks at the Fleetwood Diner have been slinging hash at the
corner of Ashley and Liberty Streets since 1949, when construction
was completed on this steel and porcelain "kit" diner trucked in
from Ohio. Back then it was called the Dagwood Diner and it's easy
to picture the farmers in their overalls staring furtively at the
bobby-soxed U-M coeds and their athletic dates as they all tucked
into their restorative all-American greasy spoon fare. The good
thing is that over 50 years later, not much appears to have changed
at the Fleetwood (the name was changed in 1971).
A meal at the Fleet is a quintessential diner experience-something
that's increasingly difficult to come by. Open 24 hours a day, every
day (with the exception of the occasional holiday), this is more
than a restaurant, it's a social hub for a huge variety of people.
Go there on a Saturday morning and it'll be packed with couples
reading the paper, families, budding or grizzled hippies, academic
types sitting up at the counter reading Nietzsche, and everyone
doing some serious eating. Go there on a Saturday night, late, and
the age bracket drops considerably as students and the elite of Ann
Arbor's black-clad, spike-haired artist-ocracy put in their orders,
chatting with the occasional trucker.
Food at the Fleetwood Diner is, as one might expect, is no-frills,
hot as blazes and delicately flavored with whatever else has been on
the grill all day. This is a good thing. Come here for all manner of
eggs, bacon, sausage, etc., burgers the way you want them, greasy
fries, BLTs, tuna sandwiches and more. Don't miss the Fleet's most
famous meal, Hippie Hash, a dizzying fry-up of shredded potatoes,
onions, tomatoes, and broccoli all bound together with feta cheese
and some kind of meat if you want it.
Have we mentioned that this place is tiny? This makes for some great
eavesdropping opportunities and a chance to strike up a conversation
with some of Ann Arbor's most colorful people. If cigarette smoke
gets to you, then (weather permitting) get a seat outside under the
awning-the service is just as good. The waitstaff will even bring a
bowl of ice for your dog on a hot day.
History:
The Fleetwood was manufactured by the Dagwood Diner Company of
Toledo, Ohio in 1948. Unlike most classic diners, it was shipped as
a kit, not as a complete ready-to-cook unit.
The Fleetwood was bought and built by Donald Reid. He petitioned the
city for a change in the building code, which at that time did not
allow porcelain and steel construction. Construction was started in
the fall of 1948 and was complicated by the closing of the Dagwood
Diner Company before the diner was finished. Costs totaled $14,000,
and the diner opened in March of 1949 as the Dagwood Diner. Two
months later Reid placed tables on the sidewalk and opened Ann
Arbor's first sidewalk cafe.
There is another Dagwood diner located in Erie, Michigan, but has
been remodeled beyond recognition. A Dagwood near the corner of
Monroe and Secor in Toledo closed in 1963. There may have been as
many as a half dozen Dagwoods. There is more about Dagwood at the
Lake Erie Region Dining Car Companies page.
Reid sold the diner to Robert Brown in 1966 and died in 1978. Mark
Hodesh bought the Dagwood in 1971 and renamed it the Fleetwood.
Hodesh later returned to Ann Arbor and now owns Downtown Home &
Garden, across the street. Former cooks Chris Andrews and Bill Close
owned the place in the mid-1980s. The Fleetwood is currently owned
by George Fotiadis and Adi Demiri, who bought it in 1992. It is
always open, except for occasional holidays. (Smoking is allowed)
The Fleetwood Diner is located at 300 South Ashley, at Liberty, 734-
995-5502. It's always open.
