OT: Favorite Local Businesses That No Longer Exist? (AA or Elsewhere)
Hey everyone! Figured the MGoBlog community is just the type of place that would love this...
I have a friend who recently opened a new branch of his t-shirt company exclusively dedicated to commemorating defunct local businesses, whether it be restaurants, stores, movie theaters, arcades, rinks, ballparks/arenas/stadiums — you name it.
So...curious to hear what everyone's favorites are? Whether it's a nostalgic place you remember from your hometown or a place you frequented in your college days, shout em out! He might even cook up some shirt designs for you to order.
NOTE: It MUST be a local business that is no longer in operation. There are already great ways to buy gear supporting current Ann Arbor businesses, including a sponsor of this site. Seth's Ann Arbor Institutions series from Fall of 2020 (and the shirts that came with it) was some of my favorite stuff the blog has ever produced. This is just for the ghosts of Ann Arbor business past!
Mountain Jack's. Loved their prime rib.
Szechuan West. Great Lakes.
Borders. When I got to A2 it was the first large bookstore I frequented (only mall or small stores prior). Then seemed to have books for any interest.
Mountain Jacks did have the best Prime Rib. Worked for that Company for 15 years including the Ann Arbor location. Still prepare the Prime Rib using that recipe every Christmas.
As a fan of prime rib myself... what's the recipe?
When I first moved to Chicago, I mean THE DAY I moved to Chicago, I suddenly realized at like 11pm that 1) I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and 2) that I was ravenously hungry.
I figured “hey, I’m in a big city now, surely something is open near me. Wrong. Oh so incredibly wrong. So there I was, wandering the streets desperately, looking for ANYTHING that looked open and serving edible food.
Come across a place called Duke’s. Walk in, at first glance it kinda looks like a dingy sports bar: a few TVs, wood paneled everything, a crowd of middle aged regulars - you can just TELL when someone is a regular - and lighting that is juuuust too low to call ‘adequate’.
Sit down at the bar, order a beer and ask for a menu. But then I start paying attention a bit more. It’s not a sports bar at all! The TV nearest to me is playing fucking JAWS. I’m instantly hooked.
So there I sat, my very first night in a new city, alone at a bar, watching Jaws and eating the best chicken wings I’ve been able to find in the city.
I miss Duke’s
Do you mean Duks on Ashland?
Nope. Duke’s was at Clark and Wrightwood. Lincoln Park
OK. I don't think I've ever been there, but I still miss it. Ha!
Don't know of that place, but my favorite bar in Chicago ca. 2010 is around the corner from there: Burwood Tap at Burling and Wrightwood
South U Pizza was a drunk food staple on the way home from the bars.
In order: Kaybee toys, major magics, Galaxy Arcade, 4 bears water park, Boblo Island. As a kid, parents never got any complaints taking us there.
Local bookstores in most communities. First blow came from Borders and Barnes & Noble, and then Amazon finished them off.
Prickly pear AA
A great, great place!
The Bagel Factory—The bagels were only so-so but Fragels are the food of the gods and the Smokin’ Bird was a sandwich for all occasions. Plus one morning there I made six Stanley Cups for a guy named Bo.
Pasquales on Woodward in Royal Oak was my favorite local pizza place forever. Shut down maybe 5 years ago.
I miss the old iteration of Pizza House, when it was just a frame house serving chipati's. I also miss Steve's Lunch. Drake's was novel but the food was pretty terrible and the booths were uncomfortable. But it was truly unique. In Chicago, I miss Scoozi and The Oak Tree, which was a coffee shop on the corner of Oak and Rush. Best patty melts.
We are up in Ann Arbor quite a bit (two kids there), and we invariably end up at Pizza House (so my wife can have a chipati)...and we inevitably regale our dining companions with stories about the old, rickety building. My wife will never ever forget their phone number...having used it so many times while we were students there!
My wife lived in Chicago for a few years after college, and we'd always go to Scoozi when I visited her there in the early '90's. She lived just a few houses from the Burwood Tap. (Burling & Wrightwood)
Hey the Wiener Circle is like a block from Burwood Tap. Was a decent go-to after stumbling out of Burwood several times, despite the shitty service there.
Went to the Wiener Circle many times when I visited my now-wife in Chicago!
Was just thinking about the Wiener Circle this morning. For some reason I got highlights in my hair as a young lad (c. 2001) and one of the girls behind the counter called out "And what do you want you N'Sync-lookin' motherf--?"
Ha! Sounds just like them.
One night there, the lady behind the counter felt especially spicy and ripped into me. She said I was the ugliest and whitest person she ever saw. She called me Powder (from the movie Powder). So yea, I have fair Irish skin, but I had a full head of hair, so I don't know where she got that from. She also said she wasn't going to put salt on my fries because it might be too spicy for me. It was absolutely hilarious!
I was a big fan. Pretty much ate everything there except the pizza.
Here's one of those (already done above)...
STEVE'S LUNCH, AA: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/steve-s-lunch-ann-arbor-mi?fbclid=IwAR0RlkWc3RIPBcnaj-gWk7gYg2NwvabIcgb3IxKQaVA5_1Zc7Qai4qRrU7U
And I can assure you its shirt will be more comfortable than the booths...
DRAKE'S SANDWICH SHOP, AA: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/drake-s-sandwich-shop-ann-arbor-mi?fbclid=IwAR39hcbiN8V09wsVk0kBVaRvYNQpl6rQVSvVv_wu4a6pglNtcZ9sSGcFM2E
bimbo's pizza
Top of my list too.
I did stumble upon a still active location in Side Lake, Minnesota several years ago.
Same pizza, same signs...even had the old song sheets.
Did it have the peanut shells on the floor?
They sponsored my youth hockey team one year, then I got switched to the ACE Hardware team.
Middle Kingdom. The best American Chinese food ever.
In my opinion finding a great Chinese restaurant based on reviews is much more difficult than most cuisines. Some people want American-style dishes and some want “authentic” fare, so a certain percentage of customers almost always leaves disappointed.
The Old China on Cross St in Ypsilanti.
Across the street from one another on South U.: The Bagel Factory (reincarnations at other locations don't count) and Steve's Lunch (The Bibimbap at Steve's was Ann Arbor's most unexpected good dish).
I first went into Steve’s Lunch for a char-broiled steak (as advertised on the sign) and stepped into the wonderful world of bibimbop.
The Bagel Factory image brings back a lot of memories to an old Factory worker like myself. Used to get the night bakers to open up for me after I rolled out of Mitch’s and would make a sandwich that would make Shaggy proud.
The Steve’s Lunch link going to the wiki page on the Igbo people is a very meta commentary on the fact that Steve’s signage gave no clue to the cuisine contained inside.
Ha! Oh I messed that up (was citing a figure from that page for a project), but I won't change it now. Posterity is posterity.
But here's the Steve's Lunch link: https://localwiki.org/ann-arbor/Steve%27s_Lunch
Fragels were the best. I haven't had anything like them since my years in Ann Arbor.
Those WERE great! They were right down the road from our fraternity and on the way to class. You can still get them in Ann Arbor actually. There's this place called MD Bagel Fragel at 3500 Washtenaw Ave. I'm not sure how they relate to the original place on South U, if at all. When the original closed, they moved up to North Campus area where they were in a few different spots. I haven't gone in there to try them out though - trying to keep my blood sugar lower!
I posted it elsewhere in this thread, but reiterating here too...
STEVE'S LUNCH: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/steve-s-lunch-ann-arbor-mi
Del Rio
Del Rio was so Ann Arbor!
Mitch’s Place
Wish I could have one more Friday happy hour at Mitch’s listening to Jerry Sprague, himself an A2 institution.
Blimpy Burgers. Ahead of their time; but no smashburger is quite as good. A quint and onion rings.
One of my best friends lived in an apt right next door to Blimpy Burgers. Very affordable, delicious, the breaded freid vegetables were awesome and unique. Ate there so many times. That and big ten burrito (lines out the door every night) were staples.
Did you know they’re still open? New location on Ashley, same grill and everything.
It’s the same grill etc. But for some reason it’s not the same. For me it’s RIP Blimpy’s
I think the hiatus changed it for the worse. From the time I came to Ann Arbor in 1984 until the original location closed, there was always at least one person on the staff who had worked with someone who had worked with the founder. But when it came back on Ashley, none of the old staff were there. Something was lost. My favorite staff member was Devi; she was always so nice to my kids.
Blimpy still exists, they had to relocate.
My neighborhood hardware store. Every one of them. Everywhere I've lived.
RIP Spring Glen Hardware (Hamden, CT)