Scott H.'s Profile

I love the concept to its core, a little oasis of street food in Ann Arbor. and I am very excited for the effect It can have on maybe starting a street food culture in A2. I went twice once on the opening monday, then again on the thursday afterwards .

I have a few gripes, but I think they can be addressed. The first is seating, I know its food carts, but I thought one of the points of collecting them in a food court of sorts was they could share resources like a seating area. This isn't a huge deal just an observation. A bigger deal for me is that not all the carts were open, San Street wasn't open both times, and Heavenly Hogs wasn't open the second time I went there. this could just be a fluke, starting jitters or whatever, but if it becomes a trend, its a problem. The third one is either A. Price or B. portion size. I think they are actually planning that you spend 10-15 bucks maybe get a couple of mains from multiple carts or a main find a side or two, which I like. but I feel like for what you get 6-8 bucks is a bit much. last gripe: They ran out of a LOT of stuff, again most chances a first week jitters thing.

On the positive side, The food was good, quite good. The first time I had the braise of the day from heavenly hogs, which was pork cheeks. It was delicious and served over toast. The second time I got Debajo Del Sol's garlic chicken, also very tasty with a quite nice sauce and sautéed mushrooms. Overall the people were friendly, if not a tad shellshocked from the massive opening.

So Ill give them the benefit of doubt for now as I am sure that they will work out some of my above gripes, and I think the idea is quite awesome.

This review is definitely going to change though over time.

Just fantastic. My friend had moved in up Rockwell a bit and, based on the recommendation of Yelp, I just had to go here. And holy crap did it live up to the hype and more. The sandwiches toppings are delicious, and the baguette roll is fantastically crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It's my current favorite sandwich anywhere.
Its of course fantastic that I get to have one when I get out that way to see my friend and I can even use my friend as an excuse when I get a banh mi craving. Here is the rub: I live in Ann Arbor, MI, so its about 5 hour drive.

Sigh.

Its all oversize and delicious. The selection is overwhelming, the donuts are huge. and they are open 24 hours.

I figured there would be more to say about this, but thats about it. Way better than any big chain. Coffee is a bit limited, but its a donut place first and coffee seems to be there just for needing something warm to drink with a donut, and I like that the energy is put into the one thing they do right.

It used to be the case that they did not take credit cards, and that saved me while going to school in Kalamazoo, but now they do.

So don't get me wrong. I like Dibella's the Everything bread and they make their sandwiches well. The portions are very big, and I have never really felt that I needed any more than a small. The cookies are pretty good.
It's a little pricey, and I wish that they had more interesting veggie options, or at least a little more non meat-based variety. Also, the peppers are just not that tasty in my opinion, which is too bad. Also on a recent visit one of our subs had under baked bread - it was still doughy in the middle.
It could gain back stars, and I will definitely go back.

It's a small place and sometimes you can't find a table, especially with 4 or more people. It's usually a bit hot in there. It's pricey. Service can be slow at times.

But it's worth it.

The crust is really good. its firm enough to stand up to toppings, thin but with just the right chewy/crispy balance, and really good flavor. The toppings are unique and tasty so its hard to get bored. They (as indicated in the name) stick to high quality organic ingredients when possible and I think it comes out in the final product.

I just cant let it stand.
Denny's is just not in any way shape or form a good place to eat. The food is the same as any other Denny's: acceptable but not what one would call great. 24 hour availability earns it two stars, but honestly its nothing to write home about.

No Thai! is good for something slightly different for lunch, its fast (kinda americanized) Thai style dishes. There are fairly few tables so its not great to go with a large groups, but with 4 or less people its usually doable. Portions are quite large so you might have some left over for a snack or tomorrows lunch. My favorites are the Pad Thai and Drunken noodles, and I like selecting the tofu as my protein, because its usually well prepared, but the beef and shrimp are good too.

The Local NPR news station, and it scores high just because of that. there is not much else to say actually. Most programing is in fact national but local news, the environment report, and some other segments are produced there.

Disclaimer: I am a UM employee, and "Michigan Radio is a service of Michigan Public Media, the public broadcasting company at the University of Michigan."

Border's #01 is first and foremost a Border's Store, with all the same offerings as its younger siblings, but it somehow feels a little different being that its #01 and just down the street from where the whole chain started. It's fun to walk around when you have some time to kill downtown  and there is always a good number of customers walking around the store.

The store still feels like a corporate store but it does have tiny patches of personality like the telltale inclines on the floor resulting from merging several older buildings together, or the seemingly out of place hutch behind the checkout counter. Otherwise, the features are run of the mill, one can find sections for books, dvds, music, also a Seattle's Best Coffee, and a big waste of space called Paperchase. The bathrooms are usually not the cleanest in the world (something I notice at many big bookstores)

Panchero's plays in the ever growing field of high end fast food burrito joints, and I honestly think that it has achieved mediocrity in that field. On the plus side they have fresh pressed and cooked flower tortillas, but to counter that point they do not make their corn based sibling, and to me  things like tacos should be on corn.

As for what to get, the burritos are a strong point but are not overly innovative, and the salads are pretty tasty.
For what to avoid the Gourmet Club hit the nail on the head, the Quesadilla is not worth getting. Its just cheese and whatever meat you pick with no extra flavor, except for some salsa on the side.

On the up-side its clean and there is a good amount of seating, and its recently been remodeled inside, despite not really needing it in the first place. Its quick and convenient. In addition to the tortilla being made fresh when you order, the other ingredients are fresh too, and in this case that moves it from what would be a 1 star review to a 3.