Restaurants, coffee shops open in downtown Ann Arbor

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Downtown Ann Arbor has come so far as a city center that a new coffee shop or restaurant isn't exactly groundbreaking news. However, the recent openings of two new such businesses is the latest example of how the downtown has evolved into a vibrant destination.

The latest additions are a new restaurant from Eve Aronoff of "Top Chef" fame called Frita Batido in the old Café du Jour space at 117 W Washington. The new eatery adds some Cuban-inspired cuisine to downtown's diverse food offerings.

The second is a coffee shop called lab in the McKinley Town Centre on Liberty Street next to Google's AdWords headquarters. This latest addition is an independent coffee shop run by former University of Michigan students in an area where corporate coffee houses are becoming a bigger and bigger force in the local market.

It's part of what Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority executive director Susan Pollay describes as downtown's "healthy ecosystem" that is "always refreshing itself" a little bit at a time.

"There is always a new reason to come downtown, because you never know what you might find," Pollay says. "

She points out that a list of downtown businesses from 1954 shows only two businesses that are still in operation today – White Market and Van Boven Shoes. In those days, traditional retail options like department stores and other small stores dominated the 9-5 downtown. Today, it's sports a much more diverse portfolio of firms, including bars, restaurants, performance venues and retail options, creating a 24-7 vibrancy.

"It's slowly crept up on us," Pollay says. "The downtown is equally vibrant and active in the night as it is during the day."

Source: Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke