ann arbor is overrated. » Blog Archive » And Oz Would Be So Much Cooler If It Were Run By Seth Green

And Oz Would Be So Much Cooler If It Were Run By Seth Green

Over the weekend, we’ve noticed a curious phenomenon — long lines outside A2 nightspots like Studio 4 and Oz (which has dropped the “Cafe”, sort of like when Hammer dropped the “MC”.) Who would wait in a half-block line behind velvet ropes to get into an Ann Arbor club, in the middle of summer, no less? Even if you do make it in, you’re in an Ann Arbor club. A club in Ann Arbor.

77 Responses to “And Oz Would Be So Much Cooler If It Were Run By Seth Green”

No comment really, just wanted to mention that that was a great entry.
posted by Jen on June 6th, 2005 at 11:39 am
Why don’t you skewer Zingerman’s something? They are pretentious enough for some ridulcule.
posted by Anonymous on June 6th, 2005 at 11:48 am
“Who would wait in a half-block line behind velvet ropes to get into an Ann Arbor club, in the middle of summer?”

Someone who wants to get into said club, but finds that there are other people ahead of them in line.

That’s not a very witty retort, but I don’t feel that was a particularly witty blast against Ann Arbor nightlife, either. You’d do better to focus on the patrons who arrive in stretch SUVs or who pay for valet parking instead of parking themselves and walking one whole block.
posted by Chris on June 6th, 2005 at 11:53 am
Man, their sandwiches sure are expensive! Am I right, people! Whew!

How was that?

Because, really, that’s the worst thing about Ann Arbor. A deli’s expensive sandwiches. I mean, if they dropped the price on those, the militant greenway folks would go away, there’d be some useful density-friendly construction downtown, someone would open up a grocery store within walking distance, etc.
posted by rjwhite on June 6th, 2005 at 12:06 pm
I like Zingerman’s. They sell exactly what they claim to sell, and it’s often really good.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 6th, 2005 at 12:25 pm
and good to see you around, RJ.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 6th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
I don’t find Zingerman’s to be pretentious. Overpriced, yeah. Overrated, yeah. But not pretentious.
posted by mj on June 6th, 2005 at 1:40 pm
Why do people keep saying there are no walking distance grocery stores-
Knights Market 420 Miller
Whites Market william/Maynard
While Im not sure if it still functions, there was Stricklands Market at geddes/observatory
Food and drug should be open again soon at Stadium/packard and the food coop at 4th/Catherine
And no end of slightly higher priced but generally, high quality, foo-foo at Kerrytown, Zingermans, Main Street Market, Jefferson Market, VC and ACME mercantile.
If you dont want chains to take over, then you must support the locals, particularly the Mom and Pop style grocery store which, yes, is slightly higher priced because they dont get the same wholesale breaks the big stores or even the convenience store chains get, and pay higher rents and taxes to stay closer to you. (Look what happened to Bill’s partly because of lack of support).
And every kind of Korean, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, and Middle Eastern grocery are just short bus rides away.
Yah sure, it’d be nice to have a Safeway in every 2nd neighborhood like Chicago but some body still has to take the bus or train to get there. If I wanted Chicago, I’d live in Chicago. When I’ve walked places in the spring and summer in Chicago Id have to shower when I got back just to get the black grit and exhaust off. Whats so great about that?
To make decentralized neighborhood stores viable you have to shop there consistently, but they’re just not likely to be able to stock everything you want, it pays to adapt. And many will make the effort to get things in for you if they see that you’re in there a lot.
posted by Stella on June 6th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
Jesus Christ the night clubs in this town suck. I especiallty hate Oz. Why the fuck do they have those big fucking bouncers there? As if anything whatsoever would happen in an Ann Arbor night club except for everyone collectively wondering why the fuck they are hanging out at an Ann Arbor night club. But I’ll tell you why: What else, AAiO, is there to do for all the idiots that infest this town and this state? I mean, your average 20 something is so stupid that smoking a hookah and paying 7 dollars for a shitty martini by those whore bartenders is a fabulously good idea. And given that there isn’t much else to do with your fucking evening in this town, why not? But I’ve never met a Michigander with much taste, let alone sense, so that’s exactly the appeal: when you don’t know your ass from a hole in the ground - which describes the majority of students at the University of Michigan - why NOT wait around the corner to go to some dumb lame asinine meat-market club and smoke chives-flavored tobacco. It’s not like they have much better to do with their time. Go to Canton? Hang out in Saline? Study? Not with the IQs of the students I happen to know.

I agree with the assessment of Zingerman’s. It’s overpriced for sure, but not overrated. Best sandwich ever - and coming from me, that says a lot.
posted by DrMandrake on June 6th, 2005 at 2:56 pm
Mandrake, it sounds like you have been to Oz, which means I have better taste than you, since I can intuitively sense that the place sucks without having to step inside.
posted by is on June 6th, 2005 at 3:05 pm
“Knights Market 420 Miller”

That’s a grocery store? No shit. I walk past that place frequently and have never seen a sign advertising what it is. Strange.
posted by James on June 6th, 2005 at 3:09 pm
Yet again I knew it was a Mandy post before I finnished scrolling through that same tired rubbish.
posted by Anonymous on June 6th, 2005 at 3:11 pm
Knights is indeed a grocery store - not a super huge selection of grocery items, but it is a good meat market, and they supply meat to their old-time Ann Arbor restaurant (also called Knight’s) out Miller near Maple.
posted by Edward Vielmetti on June 6th, 2005 at 3:21 pm
I went to Oz once when it was still Cafe Oz - before it was cool. Well, before it served alcohol. Maybe it’s improved since then but I’m not sure how they get away with charging a $5 cover on a Thursday night.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 6th, 2005 at 3:29 pm
Yup, thats thats Knights (est. 1952) and they do NOT believe in advertising. Theres been a market on that spot for about a hundred years now.
The groceries are mostly the basics, same with the produce, but the meat is damn good. The chicken is phenomenal. And like I said, if they see you in there alot and you ask them to carrry something for you they’ll at least try.
posted by stella on June 6th, 2005 at 3:42 pm
I have some pertinent and relevant comments to make.

The only nightclubs I’ve been to in Ann Arbor have been the Bird of Paradise (where there was decidedly NOT a line) and Don Carlos, where I used to work. Many of you may not remember Don Carlos as a nightclub, more as an appallingly-run Mexican restaurant, but they had reggae nights every Thursday and karaoke on Friday. I usually worked the reggae nights and… dear God. I think the people who went there to hear “DJ Billy the Kid” (who pissed a lot of people off in an admittedly entertaining way) ended up at Oz by default. Towards the end, I kind of enjoyed it in a “last dance before the deluge” kind of way, but it was pretty awful. I can only imagine what Oz must be like.

And I really liked Knight’s. I used to live on Spring and stopped in there for a few groceries. It wasn’t noticeably overpriced and they had a small but very reasonably wine selection. The people there were really friendly, especially the woman with all the tattoos. Sometimes I miss it, especially since my new “corner store” is Village Corner.

Zingerman’s is cool. They’re overpriced, but barely, and their food is fucking awesome, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m sorry if I misspoke myself at the beginning.
posted by Lazaro on June 6th, 2005 at 3:48 pm
“Yup, thats thats Knights (est. 1952) and they do NOT believe in advertising.”

It’s not so much advertising, but having a sign on your store front letting people know what’s inside. I guess they’re not into that either. It might be a good idea too considering the place looks like a run down trailer. I always assumed it was just another crackhouse in the neighborhood.
posted by James on June 6th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
Well, since you read here I can assume you like to hear people rant’n'rage about the City of Ann Arbor, so asking Mr Knight why there is no sign is a really good way to hear a really good rant and get a blast of really good rage. You’ll have to catch him at the restaurant nowadays, hes the one with the black fedora, playing cards by the bar.
posted by stella on June 6th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Oh and the restaurant is on Dexter near Maple (not Miller easy to mistake)
posted by stella on June 6th, 2005 at 4:25 pm
Sweet. I’ll have to do that. Unfortunately, I rarely go to Knight’s Restaurant. However, I will check out their butcher shack now that I know it’s a legitimate operation.
posted by James on June 6th, 2005 at 4:28 pm
Zingerman’s sale bread, except in November and December, is only $3 a loaf, usually.

I love it. Some cheap tomatoes and mozarella from Trader Joe’s, some soup, and there’s my inexpensive eating for a good part of the summer.

And they give you sample tastes there for nearly everything, including gelato. Zingerman’s, I can’t bash.
posted by Jen on June 6th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
and by “summer”, I mean “winter”. At any rate, it’s fun to take the friends-of-family out-of-towners to Zingerman’s, since they inevitably enjoy it and inevitably pick up my tab.
posted by Jen on June 6th, 2005 at 5:13 pm
Maybe those clubs run some kind of deal on certain nights like another club does on Mondays and Thursdays.

Or perhaps they don’t like techno-only clubs and want to go to one that plays top 40 stuff.

Maybe they want to try to get drunk and hookup at a club that’s within walking distance of their house or apartment.

I’m sure there’s a couple more reasons that are unknown to me at this time. However, I would be more than happy to share them if I can get some funding for a “Why do people stand in line at Ann Arbor clubs?” survey.
posted by Sticks on June 6th, 2005 at 5:28 pm
Dexter and Miller are easy to confuse?? Uhh yeah … one is next to the big park - merges into Huron at one end and Main (in the Village of Dexter) at the other … and the other one starts from Catherine at one end … runs in basically the same direction as Dexter and terminates AT Dexter, just past Zeeb …

yep easy to confuse ….

just the same … Knights is an excellent market .. and a damn good restaurant …

and I could care about nightclugs in Ann Arbor … not my scene anyway … I have got much better things to do.

sorry … crappy day and in the mood to rage.

any
posted by any on June 6th, 2005 at 5:40 pm
It actually is an easy mistake to make if you don’t have a car, live in downtown Ann Arbor, and are not an expert at distinguishing among various types of midwestern strip mall sprawl.
posted by Anna on June 6th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
Anna: concur.
posted by Murph on June 6th, 2005 at 7:39 pm
Can someone please tell me how the constant swankity-food love-fest on this blog fits-in with the constant bashing of everything else “upscale”?

…off to Big 10 Burrito
posted by Brandon on June 6th, 2005 at 10:43 pm
I’m not against nice expensive things, I’m against crappy, pretentious expensive things.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on June 6th, 2005 at 11:07 pm
There’s Real™ upscale and Sears™ upscale…the latter being perfectly appropriate to mock.
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 7th, 2005 at 8:19 am
Oh, I still check the ann arbor weblogs. The whole friends of the greenway parking lot thing is so nuts. It makes for very entertaining reading.
posted by rjwhite on June 7th, 2005 at 9:07 am
hmmm … midwest strip mall sprawl … hehe like that one …

Except … both of these roads have been here for quite a long time - as has knights market and the building the restaurant is in — and the park. Not quite midwest strip mall sprawl candidates.

But that is OK. The roads here must be pretentious as well. Then again, maybe it is just the downtown residents …
posted by any on June 7th, 2005 at 10:32 am
There’s a downtown Ann Arbor? I knew I must have been missing something in this city.
posted by Anonymous on June 7th, 2005 at 11:11 am
Knights - restaurant and store are great!!!!!!

I thought now that the `kids’ are gone, the
lines at Oz and Studio 4 and Necto would die down.
that’s why i go to Leopolds and Frasers….
posted by Anonymous on June 7th, 2005 at 12:44 pm
“It actually is an easy mistake to make if you don’t have a car, live in downtown Ann Arbor, and are not an expert at distinguishing among various types of midwestern strip mall sprawl.”

Posted like a true out-of-towner. Maybe you need to visit sometime and update your critic credentials.

No strip malls on either Dexter or Miller (unless you count the tiny two-unit thing at Dexter/Huron/Jackson). Dexter Rd. actually has seen several in-fill houses recently built between Maple and M-14–which is considered the opposite of sprawl.

Maybe you’re thinking of Jackson Rd.?

Plenty of factual issues to pick on here in Ann Arbor without making any up.
posted by Delgado on June 7th, 2005 at 7:02 pm
Yeah, Anna, get with the program - the best description of that part of town would be “lifeless midwestern suburbia”.
posted by Nick on June 7th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
I’ve never heard of Oz or Studio 4. SO I decided to check out their respective websites. Pretty much they both remind me of the typical college meatmarket though maybe trying to be more upscale(let’s pretend that this is a club Paris Hilton would come to!)
I get a laugh out of the fact that the website has techno playing but advertises the club as playing top 40 music. Cooler on the web then in real life.
posted by echodharma on June 7th, 2005 at 10:40 pm
Nick’s right — I guess my piddly ten years as an Ann Arbor resident weren’t enough to get it right.
posted by Anna on June 8th, 2005 at 8:25 am
grocery stores i don’t complain about - knight’s (which i’ve actually never been to, but i’ve always meant to check out), the co-op, and sparrow market are all within walking distance from my house. but there’s only two places to get toilet paper within walking distance - the co-op and acme (that only sells toilet paper as a kitschy item along with their gift-type stuff). i just want to have some place close so i’m not stuck with newspaper or worse to wipe my ass.
posted by mark on June 9th, 2005 at 10:38 am
the gas station and any party store have tp which comes in handy in a pinch (ick, bad pun)….I think even Sparrow has some now too…it’s just that they don’t carry the 48-roll-mega-supply.
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 9th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
On the topic of markets, corned beef purchased today in Washington DC’s Eastern Market came in at 6.49/lb. That’s more than a dollar less than Sparrow’s charges. Just about what Meijer charges. Most other meats there were less than anything seen at Sparrow’s or White Market. FYI.
posted by Dale on June 9th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
The lines outside of OZ? to check ID’s; $7 shit martinis? 8-9pm $2, 9-10pm $3, 10-11pm $4, 11pm-12am $5, never shitty and if you don’t like the one you ordered the bartender will make you something different.
Sometimes i don’t understand you all, complaining all the time about chains and cheesy festivals around ann arbor, but then also bashing a local bussiness. Especially a bussiness that is owned by a recently graduated, politically active, arab american and that is one of the few places in town where the clientle is actually diverse and that gives a shit to be inclusive to as many communities as possible.

OZ isn’t as awful as some of you make it seem. It is what it is–a nightclub. Come on, guys.
posted by i guess that makes me a "whore bartender" on June 9th, 2005 at 6:03 pm
Don’t take it personally, whore. Think of Mandrake sitting alone at the bar at Oz, a half dozen shitty martinis into it, long ash dangling from an unfiltered cigarette charring thick yellow calluses, angrily, wearily grunting curses at stupid posers pretending to have fun, face down when not glaring with tight-lipped frustration at you, the cute bartender who won’t give such a vile and sullen prick the time of day, trudging home to blog his dark, unhappy, horrifying world.
posted by Anonymous on June 9th, 2005 at 8:02 pm
Whore Bartender, I think I will go to Oz due to your awesome post.

Dale, you can always find something cheaper when you look around (especially in a larger city, comparing DC to Ann Arbor isn’t particulary fair) if that is your end goal.

If you want a local market, you support a local market. Bob Sparrow works his ass off every day. He doesn’t use huge factory distributors who give him a price break due to his massive volume. If you get to know him as a customer he will get you whatever you want (though I am still waiting for beef cheeks and guanciali). You want cheap, go to fucking walmart and live in a walmart world.
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 9th, 2005 at 8:48 pm
OFWi, normally I like your comments. This one was bullshit. Given that I know how much things cost at Sparrow’s, it should be clear that I shop there.

Eastern Market is not a chain. It is what Kerrytown Shops wishes it was. A marketplace from the 1870s with local vendors, some of whom have been there for decades. It’s on Capitol Hill. And the prices were better than a “comparable” place in Ann Arbor. That was my point. What was yours, exactly? Shop at Wal-Mart if you don’t want inexplicably high prices?

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc85.htm
posted by Dale on June 9th, 2005 at 10:24 pm
DC is NOT comparable to Ann Arbor. Maybe the corned beef is cheaper because Eastern Market sells a greater volume. Ann Arbor is a small town, Sparrow probably serves a market a fraction of the size of Eastern Market’s. That’s economics, not bullshit. Or perhaps the quality of corned beef at Sparrow is higher, thus costing more. Dale, you should know this. Besides, why did you even bring up the price of corned beef in DC? From what I’ve read most people who regularly visit AAiO live in Ann Arbor and not in DC so what good is it to bring up the price of sandwich meat there? Especially when the price difference is a buck a pound. Can’t wait to escape Ann Arbor? Move to DC the bologna is cheaper!
posted by E on June 9th, 2005 at 11:18 pm
‘Sometimes i don’t understand you all, complaining all the time about chains and cheesy festivals around ann arbor, but then also bashing a local bussiness.’

They are easy to understand. They hate their lives, probably spent whimpering in some obscure humanities field and decide to blame Ann Arbor instead of themselves. The idea of people enjoying themselves causes them physical pain, so they lash out at ‘whore bartenders.’

I lash out at NBA referees. Motherfuckers.
posted by mgoblog on June 9th, 2005 at 11:57 pm
Hee.

It was a comparison of perishable goods at comparable settings between two cities, one large and growing on the east coast, the other small and not growing (or trying not to) in the rust belt.

I could elaborate and point out the obvious factor of land economics (I thought they were obvious; people have heard of Capitol Hill and know where it is, right?), but I doubt it would do any good. And I have a seemingly trivial question — for whom isn’t a ~15% price difference a big deal?

I could also point out the cost for bikes at a shop on Capitol Hill is comparable to Ann Arbor. Those are called “durable goods,” as economists will tell you. Bikes of the same brand have no “Ann Arbor’s got a better quality” fudge factor. “Wow, bikes,” you might say. “That dude at the Student Bike Shop works his ass off rolling those bikes out every day.”

The underlying point was not that I hate Ann Arbor or that Bob Sparrow doesn’t work hard. The point is that, given a larger city with growing in-migration and an expensive, in-demand location (property here is zooming crazy sky-high), DC STILL beats Ann Arbor. I think there’s a problem with cost of living in Tree Town, and always have. When the things I want to buy are less expensive in a bigger town with more to do, it makes me question living in Ann Arbor.
posted by Dale on June 10th, 2005 at 7:17 am
Well it happens that other than a couple of items, Sparrows lamb f’rinstance which he gets from a relatively local source,
both Knights and Sparrow use the same distributor who gets his meat at Eastern Market and the abattoirs in that area. This explains why the same meat is more expensive here than at Eastern Market. It also must get cut after it arrives, Knights trims better IMO, they also dry hang 14 days, I dont know about Sparrows.
Did you know that there is a goat to lead the sheep into the killing pen and they call that goat the Judas goat?
posted by stella on June 10th, 2005 at 9:36 am
Corned beef at Zingerman’s? $11.99/lb.

Admittedly, a 15% price difference is a big deal. That is if the consumer can choose between the competitors. Eastern Market in DC and Sparrow do not compete for the same market. The comparison is irrelevant.
posted by E on June 10th, 2005 at 9:53 am
E — I do appreciate that Sparrow’s is less expensive than Zingerman’s on the perishable goods that I buy, which is why I generally shop there. However, I think it is shortsighted to say that the comparison is irrelevant, as Ann Arbor and DC (and many other cities) are competing as cities for well-educated young professionals. I could name hundreds of people — literally nearly every student at the U. — who are shopping around for where to live after they get their undergrad and grad degrees (it’s pretty much what this Web site is about, in fact). On affordability, Ann Arbor has the cost of a big city [actually, they outdo many big cities] with little of the other benefits. Does this not concern you? It does me. I would love to live in a Michigan city when I graduate (some crazy state pride) but there are few candidates that can stack up to the bigger out-of-state cities. Ann Arbor seemed to be able to compete in the past, but it’s losing its advantages — not only in major features like major entertainment venues (music, sports, art, etc. [never really had ‘em besides the Big House and sort of Hill]) but in minor items like the affordability of food from a neighborhood market. But that’s just the view of a grad student who still watches his budget and thinks about where he’d like to live once he graduates.
posted by Dale on June 10th, 2005 at 10:49 am
All of this would be irrelevant if Ann Arbor didn’t pretend to be a city — or a town with everything that a city has to offer — but, in fact, it does (just pick up the AA News). All this while residents in various neighborhood groups fight tooth and nail to stifle any plan that might make it more city-like instead of more sprawl-like.
posted by Anna on June 10th, 2005 at 12:09 pm
Dale, I would never slam anyone for their opinion that one town is better than another town…I am a fan of Fairway on the Upper West Side in Manhattan and wish to hell we had something like it in Ann Arbor. But truth be told, this is a dinky midwestern town and I feel lucky that there are a handful of people like Bob Sparrow, the Knights, Jefferson Market, Mike Monahan and others who still stick to a business model that doesn’t sell out to the principle that a low price is everything. They simply can’t compete in that arena, but they are still staying in business in my neighborhood, despite the high rent and parking issues.

I respect them for that, so forgive me for giving you shit for bitching that the corn beef is $1 more there than at Meijer’s. One of the reasons this area of the country is so challenged in providing authentic markets such as the one you extoll in DC is because of that attitude (”I can get a box of macaroni and cheese and a 48-pack of toilet paper across town and save 10 cents! Yipee!). It sucks.
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 10th, 2005 at 12:13 pm
anna, i don’t get your comment about ann arbor’s pretensions. what do you think the city of ann arbor should pretend to be, if not a city?

dale and e, a 15% difference in the price of corned beef is significant in proportion to the amount of corned beef bought. (i like corned beef, but i don’t luuuuuuuuv corned beef …)

so .. to get back on topic … how does the meat compare at oz and studio 4? how’s the quality? the price?
posted by peter honeyman on June 10th, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Anna likes to hurl her sanctimonious insults from an undisclosed, out-of-state location (she doesn’t live here anymore). I am seriously thinking of writing a macro to replace her posts with a simple ***bitter gobbletygook*** graphic.
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 10th, 2005 at 1:26 pm
I think there are subtelties to the pricing of sandwich meat that we have only briefly begun to unearth. I’m living in Memphis, TN for the summer and the least expensive turkey breast (TURKEY!!) costs between $6-7/lb. at the larger stores and between $1/1.50 more at smaller delicatessens. This is between a 40-50% markup on the cheapest found in AA (specifically, Meijer Jennie-o when it goes on sale). All other sandwich meat is likewise inflated. Perhaps there are some political fortunes being made on the excessive taxation of certain sliced-meat commodities in various markets. I’m open to suggestions.
posted by Heidi on June 10th, 2005 at 2:32 pm
ahem. Subtleties. whoops. I think it also pertinent to note that rent is relatively cheap in the Mid-South, but utilities are ridiculously monopolized and Time-Warner Cable blows goats for money. Every place has its pitfalls.
posted by Heidi on June 10th, 2005 at 2:34 pm
Judas-goats?
posted by Anonymous on June 10th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
OFWi — the Sparrow’s-Meijer comparison isn’t what I found suprising: of course suburban big box is going to cost less than downtown. It’s that *DC* downtown is less than Ann Arbor downtown. I like Sparrow’s (within the context of Ann Arbor) because I can walk or bike there and they’ve got some good stuff. WM is ok because it’s in a walkable location though the selection (on everything) is crappy. But when a comparable place on Capitol Hill can beat Ann Arbor’s prices, it seems to me there is a structural economic problem.

Before I come back, I think I will put together a broad “shopping list” of durable and perishable goods and make a price comparison between DC and Ann Arbor just for the sake of argument.

Peter — it went not just for corned beef (which I love and bought), it went for every deli product I looked at.
posted by Dale on June 10th, 2005 at 2:43 pm
Dale, you also hav to keep in mind the proximity of other major cities to DC vs. Ann Arbor’s. In the time it takes to drive DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC, Boston (all on rail as well), you could go from here to Pittsburgh with only Cleveland in between. Even less going west, so I think that would affect price as well.

Again, I don’t want to be the defender of high prices, it’s just that you have to put it in perspective.
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 10th, 2005 at 3:10 pm
OK, if distance from major cities is a reason for higher prices, why could I buy meat and produce for something like 15% less in Bozeman, Montana? I shopped at a local employee-owned grocery store, not Wal-Mart.

Closest city over 300,000 was Salt Lake - 6 hours away. And local produce was very, very hard to get - the growing season was so short, so most stuff was trucked in.

Midwest grocery prices are out of control, in my opinion.
posted by Anonymous on June 10th, 2005 at 5:04 pm
Several points here: 1) Ann Arbor is overrated! 2) Zingerman’s Deli is one of the best delis this side of Zabar’s in NYC. 3) You don’t even have to go as far as the east coast to find a large and growing city with more nightlife than this place, try Chicago. 4) Big surprise! The nightclubs are filled with posers, possibly 80-90% of the population fits into this category. 5) Leopold’s beer sucks ass and I hate the atmosphere! They do make a pretty good martini though. 6) Lastly, if someplace really cool were to open in this city how long do you think it would stay open or remain cool? I’d give it a month.
posted by Andrew on June 10th, 2005 at 6:23 pm
Zabar’s?!?! Damn, Zabar’s is like the Ann Arbor of delis in New York. Try 2nd Avenue. Try Katz’s!

Frankly, I’m shocked that Mandrake points to Zingerman’s as the best sandwhich ever. That is just further proof that these sorts of judgments should be left to the jews.
posted by Alex(andra) on June 10th, 2005 at 11:22 pm
Montana DOES have cheap meat. But i think it’s because cows grow there.
posted by Heidi on June 11th, 2005 at 12:55 am
Dale, how does rent or real estate by the square foot compare between Ann Arbor and Bozeman? There’s your answer on that one.
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 11th, 2005 at 10:24 am
Stella –

Does this mean that Judas Priest is really trying to lead us to Satan?
posted by A Different Jon on June 11th, 2005 at 1:10 pm
Dale, I can’t explain why corned beef costs less in DC than Ann Arbor, but you can’t really compare the overall cost of living between Ann Arbor and DC. It’s my understanding that a condo under 1000 sq. feet costs $400k-$500k in in Capitol Hill, Adams Morgan, etc. Housing in Ann Arbor (albeit expensive in Michigan terms) is nowhere close in price.
posted by PeteM on June 11th, 2005 at 11:07 pm
The issue is not exactly, or specifically, corned beef. It’s not at all surprising that people are not willing to look beyond the opening comment. However…EVERYTHING should cost more in DC (way more) — it is a bigger, better city with more people and more amenities. That ANYTHING in Ann Arbor is in the same ballpark as DC is testament to how overpriced Ann Arbor is.
posted by Dale on June 12th, 2005 at 1:39 pm
Gosh, OFW insurgent, I’d have thought you’d just be glad that I wasn’t competing with you for sailing dates with Mandrake.
posted by Anna on June 12th, 2005 at 6:21 pm
I’ll take anybody sailing who wants to go. I need the rail meat (ballast).
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 12th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
Dale- Not everything should cost more in cities. You’re forgetting economies of scale. No matter how many east coast jews live in Ann Arbor, the demand for corned beef is still going to be nowhere near the demand in a city. More customers=more volume=lower margins.
As far as Oz, I remember going in when they had just opened up and telling them that they needed to do two things if they wanted to stay in business: get a liquor license and get rid of the employee-breakroom furniture. They did the first, I don’t know if they’ve done the second.
(The only thing that annoys me about them is the bullshit about a dress code. But hey, I just don’t go there. That does remind me to go to Dearborn to price out hookahs…)
posted by js on June 13th, 2005 at 9:52 am
On an unrelated note, did anyone notice the Riots are no more? I’m crushed, they were a GREAT local band.

www.theriots.com
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 13th, 2005 at 6:26 pm
Y’know, I wanted to like ‘em, after being kind of unfairly mean to them, and even bought their album with my own money (rather than trying to get a copy for free). Never liked ‘em.
posted by js on June 13th, 2005 at 9:38 pm
js, I hear Aladin’s market on Packard has reasonably priced hookahs, starting around $20 for (reportedly) quality better than the $50+ hookah’s the headshops usually sell…
posted by Scott T. on June 14th, 2005 at 12:27 pm
js, I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but was having trouble, can you send me an e-mail?
posted by OFWinsurgent on June 14th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
Scott: The last time I looked at Aladins was when I was doing a story on ethnic groceries. While they had better selection and prices than head shops, they still wanted between $45 and $65 for a hookah, while I had seen the same models in Dearborn for $25.
But maybe their prices have dropped. It was wild seeing them asking $65 for a hookah that went for $125 at 42º. I keep vacillating over whether I need a lot of shisha in my life. On the one hand, it’s tobacco and addictive. On the other hand, it’s tasty and awesome…
posted by js on June 14th, 2005 at 9:48 pm
General agreement on the Riots, js–I thought they played well but I just didn’t like the songs they played. Never bought the album.
posted by Lazaro on June 15th, 2005 at 4:54 pm
Fuck. I really enjoyed The Riots, actually.
posted by Brandon on June 21st, 2005 at 2:13 am