It’s So Best
The Current’s Best of Washtenaw County list is out. As usual, it’s A2-centric and necessarily suffers from the one-of-everything syndrome - it’s hard to find a runner-up in categories where we’ve only got three or four of the thing in question. The vote-counters also had to deal with “several rashes of ballot-stuffing” this year. Anyhow, the rundown:
- Best New Restaurant: Eve - The Restaurant. Not to be confused with Eve - The Movie, this Kerrytown spot serves “port-macerated dried fruit.” Port-maceration just has to be an uncomfortable process.
- Best Outdoor Cafe: Dominick’s. We don’t get Dominick’s. It closes at 10 and it’s rundown and, for some reason, stiflingly crowded. Maybe it’s the festive lights.
- Best Hip-Hop Venue (runner-up): Leopold Brothers. Okay, wasn’t Leopold Brothers forced to stop being a venue for any kind of live music after complaints from the new condos across the street?
- Best Local Activist Group (tied): BAMN. Um. Yeah.
- Best Thing About Ann Arbor: people. And the people take it again! The Current writer gets in a dig, though: “Ann Arborites gave themselves the annual self-congratulatory slap on the back.”
- Best Thing About Ypsilanti: Depot Town. Seems like a pretty unremarkable choice, until you remember that just last year, the winner was “Ann Arbor.”
- Best Blog: annarborisoverrated.com. Oh, come on, this site has been phoning it in since the MichCon dowsing scandal of 2002.
Well, it’s not the closing-at-10 that makes Dominick’s the best - it’s the not-being-open-8-months-a-year. After all, who doesn’t love a bar that never opens?
Also, I’m curious what the runners-up were in the best-of-AA category. The social pathologies of the people are pretty cool, but nothing compared to the nightlife or the restaurants. Apparently my vote doesn’t matter . . .
posted by Nick on April 2nd, 2004 at 12:53 am“The University of Michigan” edged out last-year runner-up “diversity.”
posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 2nd, 2004 at 1:01 amCurrent’s “Best of AA” thing strikes me as primarily a money-maker generator of fawning response-advertisements (”we were voted best bla bla in 2004″) but since it’s mostly students responding to campus-area businesses (the questionable Dinersty being voted best Chinese restaurant in past polls shows how meaningless this poll is) it’s not very meaningful.
posted by Laura on April 2nd, 2004 at 1:01 amSo, how can I make money off this??
posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 2nd, 2004 at 1:03 amMy personal favorite: Best fries, runner up: McDonald’s.
posted by AA Hater on April 2nd, 2004 at 8:18 amDominick’s = Constant Buzz = most excellent outdoor cafe.
posted by colleen on April 2nd, 2004 at 8:44 amThe Best Of is primarily a money-maker operation. That’s why it took me two years of lobbying to get Best Vacuum Store removed (since there’s only one vacuum store, it always won, natch. It was only when they stopped taking out ads that I was able to boot them).
posted by js on April 2nd, 2004 at 8:56 amAnd, weirdly enough, the respondants aren’t mostly students. They’re mostly people that live out in subdivisions on the outskirts of town, who never seem to have come into the city. It’s weird, we know that from our distribution patters (where it gets picked up) that it’s mostly students that read it, yet we can’t ever seem to get them to respond in serious numbers to the survey (we try mostly by changing what type of prizes we offer). I keep saying that the best way is to make the survey online, but that would leave us open to more ballot stuffing (which really, and bizarely, does happen a lot. Especially with the haircuts category).
And the stupid answers on things like “Best thing about Ann Arbor” happen because there’s rarely any duplication on the clever answers. So we end up with a couple dumb ones that a lot of people write in, and then a slew of mildly amusing ones (”The East Coast Jews”, “The Marijuana Laws”, “My three-foot cock”) that have no duplicates. Believe me, the staff groans just as much as you do when we read them.
Surveys like this show the flaws in democracy.
js
I see no reason why the Current staff couldn’t stuff the ballot box. Nefarious, semi-legal doings for the “good of the city” are a Chicago tradition. Let’s make them an AA tradition too. Next up: get rid of the Link.
posted by AA Hater on April 2nd, 2004 at 9:07 amConstant Buzz is ok, but the sangria at Dominick’s is TERRIBLE.
And yes, I think people like it because it’s never open. You feel like a claim jumper when you’re there. You conquered this table and you’re going to stay till close, dammit, because another table may never open up again!
posted by RDS on April 2nd, 2004 at 9:27 amyeah, but for people who don’t know what good sangria is and think it’s just supposed to taste like juice, it’s perfect.
posted by Sara on April 2nd, 2004 at 10:12 amWhat!? The sangria at Dominik’s is bad? What’s wrong with Sangria made with Mad Dog 20/20?
I enjoy hanging out a Dominik’s, but they do need about two or three more drink stations.
posted by James on April 2nd, 2004 at 11:07 amOnce more, AA should try comparing itself to the rest of Michigan. Try googling “Best of East Lansing” and you will get no hits.n (Incidentally, the Seattle Weekly did a “Best of our Advertisers” spoof of these “Best of” issues.)
posted by Lucky Jackson on April 2nd, 2004 at 11:09 amIt’s things like this that make me proud to be a loyal Ypsituckian.
They voted the best thing about Ann Arbor as “the People”?! Jeez-o-petes, these people need to get over themselves. I’ll stick with the company of my fellow unwashed heathens any day.
posted by beermaestro on April 2nd, 2004 at 1:09 pmDominick’s = nice weather, and drinking at 11AM. You can’t not appreciate that. And I like the run-down-ness of it; I find it strangely comforting.
posted by snickerdoodle on April 2nd, 2004 at 1:48 pmI was at Dominick’s last Friday where I got confused and accidentally ordered a quart–instead of a pint–of their mediocre fortified sangria. “How many glasses do you need?” the barkeep asked. “Glasses?” I said and wandered off.
The quart of sangria did wonderful things for my mood and I found myself staring at the old men–the owners, presumably–checking IDs at the door. The same old men that were checking IDs at the door 10 years ago. I think that’s what I like best about Domonick’s–old men idly smoking and checking IDs.
posted by Chris Herdt on April 2nd, 2004 at 3:02 pmThe sangria isn’t terrible, it’s just made with MD 20/20. And the signature drink of the best place to drink in the summer in Ann Arbor being bum wine? Well, that just says it all.
posted by colleen on April 2nd, 2004 at 5:55 pmfor those complaining about dominiks, well screw you. You complain ann arbor is being taken over by ‘corporations’ and then complain about a real ann arbor hang out. Drakes was the same way, very ann arbor, very old and a bit run down, but always homey. Drakes hosted the Best of Ann Arbor Bud competition at least a few times before it went outa business.
For those who don’t like Doms, what instead? Conner O’Neal II?
posted by Just a Voice on April 2nd, 2004 at 6:37 pmI loved Drakes, not to mention having a grilled cheese in the orange plastic benches of the Kresge’s on the corner. Thanks for the insider info on th poll js; that was interesting.
posted by Laura on April 2nd, 2004 at 7:59 pmChris- Are you thinking of Bill at the door of Dominicks? Old guy, short, with a moustache? He’s not an owner, he’s just been there forever. The guy who owns it is Rich DeVarti, the brother of Dave DeVarti (who owns Current).
posted by js on April 3rd, 2004 at 10:32 amjs
Ha ha. His name’s actually Silvio. But he responds to Bill.
posted by js on April 3rd, 2004 at 8:05 pmYeah, William Silvio!
posted by silvia on April 3rd, 2004 at 10:28 pmI, too, like the run-down-ness of Dominick’s, and I enjoy being there with friends in warm weather. Of course, the food is terrible, but you can find even worse food at some other places.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on April 4th, 2004 at 11:57 pmOk AAIO, let’s not leave out #2 in the “Best Blog Category”: goodspeedupdate.com
:-)
Rob
posted by Rob on April 5th, 2004 at 1:02 amThe food at Dominick’s is uniformly bad, with the exception of the eggplant pizza. And the sangria does indeed inspire happiness, not to mention the delightful spinning sensation you get when stadning up too quickly.
posted by snickerdoodle on April 5th, 2004 at 10:55 amthe main thing i like about dominicks is drinking while sitting outside (provided its warm — oh, maybe thats the catch). what other bar in ann arbor lets you do that?
posted by dan on April 10th, 2004 at 6:27 pmHi…I love this site! I saw an article in the April “AA Observor” about this site and I do think it serves a funny and needed purpose. I used to live in AA and I am not sorry I moved out to Manchester. The people there are so much nicer and not out to impress their neighbors with their new car and what gourmet food they buy and where. I work in the retail industry here in AA and I have seen things that boggle the mind and make your jaw drop in disbelief! AA people are really mean and petty and have broken arms from patting themselves on the backs. Oh yes and their kids are worse!
posted by Beatlegurl Number One on April 10th, 2004 at 10:29 pmThe Aut Bar has a lovely patio for drinkin’ outside
posted by stella on April 12th, 2004 at 12:03 amI second the Aut Bar. And not that I’d want to screw up the vibe, but more straight people should go there.
posted by Elwood on April 12th, 2004 at 9:38 amI am trying to find out when Dominick’s actually is open. What is the Aut Bar? I am trying to plan a get together of about 12 people - I would love to sit outside somewhere. Any ideas?
posted by sunshel on May 2nd, 2004 at 10:44 pm