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Posted by  John, on February 22nd, 2010 I’m back with yet another report on an authentic Mexican joint in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area. If you know me well, then you know La Fuente is my favorite place in the entire world. Well, that may be an exaggeration but it’s certainly up there. Not only do they have the best chips and salsa guy in the entire world, but the best Mexican food in the area as well. My buddy Tommy has been arguing with me for some time, and trying to say that Los Amigos kills La Fuente. After my first trip, I completely disagreed with him. I wasn’t impressed at all. After a few months and multiple people telling me that Los Amigos has the best Mexican food in the area, I decided I didn’t have an open mind during my previous visit and it was time to give them another shot. Not that I was going to be unfaithful to my beautiful La Fuente. I’m what you could call a Mexican restaurant polygamist. It’s OK to have more than one favorite.
Los Amigos is a bit of a cruise down Michigan Ave into the middle of nowhere, but nothing ridiculous. It’s actually right past Gabriel’s Hoagies which almost lured me in and ruined Los Amigo’s second chance. They’re housed in a building that’s a little intimidating looking, but once you step inside you find yourself in a very friendly, clean atmosphere. The bar is right by the front door which is housed in a medium sized dining area where the smoking takes place. I got there at about 4:30 PM on a Tuesday and the bar was completely packed. More on this later. As you walk to the back section of the restaurant, you enter a very nice and should I say festive(?) dining room. I was surprised to see the area completely empty at this time, but that would change later.
 Chips and salsa guy got chips and salsa down before I could even take a picture. Impressive. After we sat down, about 5 seconds had elapsed before the chips and salsa were on the table. Los Amigos chips and salsa guy definitely has talent, but just isn’t quite a first ballot hall of famer like La Fuente chips and salsa guy. I don’t mean to take away from a very impressive effort, he’s just the early 90’s Buffalo Bills of chips and salsa guys. No shame in that.
The chips and salsa at this place are quite good. The chips are warm and obviously made in house, while the salsa is smooth, full of flavor and completely fresh tasting. I’m not a huge fan of chunky salsa so this was perfect. It looks a little like a picante sauce at first, but once you dive in there’s a few chunks of tomato, onion and other goodies.
I had heard rumors of drink specials that could make a grown man cry, so I asked the waitress what the current special was on margaritas. The answer I got? Half off all alcohol. Yes my friends, half off all alcoholic beverages. What she means by that is you take the price you would normally pay for what you’re drinking, divide it by two, and that’s what you’re actually paying. So for every two drinks you have, you’re really paying for one full priced drink. I know this doesn’t require that much explanation, but it sure is fun to explain how half off all alcohol works.
Naturally, I ordered a large margarita pitcher on the rocks which cost me $8.50. Happy hour is 7 days a week from 3-6pm at this place. This explains the full to capacity bar area on a Tuesday afternoon. Alcoholics.
This place was impressive so far. Talented chips and salsa guy delivering tasty chips and salsa and incredible drink specials? They couldn’t possibly screw this up, could they?
The menu at this place has a ridiculous amount of items. Usually I use the system of finding three things I want then picking one when the waitress puts the pressure on me, but I had to ask for more time TWICE. They have your standard Mexican categories, but so many varieties of each item. They have 26 combos, 14 specialties, 4 different types of fajitas, 11 burritos and much more. I ended up sticking with the burrito portion of the menu, even though the Enchiladas Poblanas were stuffed with BRRF. Yum.
I went with the Burritos Tampiqueno, which is two burritos – one steak, one grilled chicken, topped with green salsa and served up with black beans a rice. I was almost lured in by the Pollo Loco, but the burritos just sounded too good to pass up. What I got was a HUGE double burrito platter with plenty of beans and rice on the side. This was the perfect portion for me.
The burritos were smothered in the delicious green salsa and were stuffed to capacity with fillings. The steak was perfectly cooked and very flavorful. The burrito consisted of nothing else to mess around with the flavor, just good ol’ salsa, tortilla, and steak. The chicken was surprisingly flavorful as well, although not as impressive as the steak. I have to say this is one of the more impressive burrito offerings I have ever received. The fact that it’s as simple as it is but still incredibly flavorful is a huge accomplishment in my book. Ahh, the beauty of Mexican cuisine.
Stephanie went with the Special Dinner, which had caught my eye as well. This Special Dinner, which is a perfect name, comes with one chalupa, one chile relleno, one taco, one tamale, and served with beans and rice. I’m pretty sure she assumed that it was mini portions of each, which I did as well, because her facial expression turned to horror when the waiter brought her out two completely full plates of food. This was like a Mexican combo for the Gods.
The special dinner turned out to be pretty so so, or to be really clever… not so special. The enchilada was just as good as my burrito and topped with an absolutely delicious sauce. Unfortunately, the taco was your normal every day taco, the tamale was very average, and we couldn’t even remember what the chile relleno was until we took another look at the menu. Chile rellenos are normally one of my favorite foods in the entire world, but this one just fell a little flat to me. Overall not an awful dish, but I would suggest wandering your eyes elsewhere.
 Special Dinner part 1: Chile rellano, guac, taco
 Special Dinner part 2: Tamale, enchilada, beans, and rice Completely stuffed after finishing mine and half of Stephanie’s dinner to go along with two baskets of chips, I sat back and let my stomach stretch out a bit. I couldn’t possibly eat any more food after what I just ate. The portions were perfect and that was a whole lot of lime juice and tequila that I had just taken down. Definitely couldn’t eat anything else even if I wanted to. Nope.
Oh wait, they have Fried Ice Cream. Yes, I ate more.
All in all, not a bad place at all. Drinks are cheap, portions are large and fairly priced, and the food was good. I would have to say they easily make my list of top 5 Mexican joints in the area, but no where close to #1, which is still reserved for my beautiful beautiful La Funete. Definitely worth a try if you’re a fan of good, authentic Mexican food like myself.
If you’re going to head over there, make sure you print out one of the many coupons on their website. Savings is always a good thing.
Posted by John, on February 15th, 2010 About a year ago, the old A&W location on Washtenaw that had been vacant for years had a sign out front advertising that a burrito joint called Pacific Beach Burritos would soon move in. This caught my eye because I am a burrito fanatic. They’re like beauty wrapped in a tortilla sleeping bag. It saddens me that I don’t have a place around here to get a quality burrito to go. Sure, we have Qdoba, Chipolte, Panchero’s, and Moe’s within a 15 mile radius, but no actual burrito joints. Big Ten Burrito is great and all, but it’s a ways to drive for me. About three months ago the place finally opened and I was there.
The following is a multiple part piece. I have been to Pacific Beach Burritos several different time and have had mixed feelings on the food I have received each time. The food given to me during one of my visits was enough to make me never go back again. I decided to return today to give them one final shot. They had one final opportunity to earn my love. This sounds like some sort of VH1 reality show, but hey.. I take my food seriously. Especially my burritos.
During my first visit to Pacific Beach Burritos , I noticed several things right away. First, there were several cars parked right out front, but no actual customers in the place. Apparently these first few spots out front are for the employees. One of them drives a Mercedes. Weird. Second, there is a salsa bar. To me, salsa bars = success. Give me the freedom to sample every kind of salsa you have and control how much goes on my food and you might have a loyal customer just because of that. Bland food? That’s OK. I’ll cover it in salsa and things should be alright between us. Third, the cooks in the back are wearing actual white chef coats. There’s not just one guy wearing a T-shirt in the back rolling up your burritos. There’s three or four guys in full chef attire making burritos and whatever else they do back there.
The menu consists of burritos, tacos, tortas, combo platters, and salads. The menu is simple but the few options that they have are very diverse. There are 13 different types of burritos, 7 different types of tacos, 3 different tortas, 6 combination platters, and 4 salads. There’s a side section where you can add quesadillas, nachos and other items to your meal for only a few dollars more. You can also add items from the “extras” menu, such as mexican carrots, tortilla chips, jalapenos, pico de gallo, or guacamole. Most of the items are available with Carne Asada steak, chicken, or pork. The menu is very impressive and is available on their website.
I ordered the Macho Ypsilanti Burrito which consists of Carne Asada Steak, pico de gallo, rice, and beans. I figured this was the best burrito for me to try because it consisted of ingredients that I was most familiar with. If this standard issue burrito was good, I figured I would return and sample some of their other menu items. I stopped by the salsa bar and picked up some of the spicy and mild salsas, as well as their green salsa verde. I was impressed so far.
 Macho Ypsilanti Burrito The burrito I got was good, but nothing great. The size was large, but nothing close to the burritos I had heard stories about on the West Coast. The steak was very tender and juicy, but really lacked flavor. The fillings were light, and most of the burrito consisted of tortilla. The most disappointing part was that the salsas completely lacked flavor, as well. Not only was the spicy salsa not spicy, but it really didn’t taste like anything at all. The mild had a little flavor, but was almost as bland as the spicy. The salsa verde was the same story. The meal ended up being rather bland and I was not impressed. I was actually rather disappointed. I figured I would have to give them another shot at a later date.
About a week later, I returned to give Pacific Beach Burritos another shot to earn my love. I decided to switch it up and order the Chorizo Burrito, Enchildas Combo Platter and a Shredded Pork Burrito. This may seem like a lot of food for one person, but I wanted to give them every chance to impress me. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera so you’ll just have to trust me. The Chorizo Burrito consists of chorizo, of course, and eggs. Pretty simple. What I got was a gigantic burrito stuffed with about 99.85% chorizo with the rest being egg. It was completely overwhelming and I couldn’t even get through a quarter of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some chorizo but as the only component in a burrito? It just seemed completely ridiculous to me. The Enchiladas Platter was/were ONE ENCHILADA that was the size of a frozen taquito that one might purchase at the grocery store, and topped with a flavorless red sauce and a drizzle of sour cream. It was horrible. Somehow, the pork burrito topped each of them. The Pork Burrito was the same as the Chorizo Burrito, in that it was all pork. This would be excusable if the pork is flavorful and juicy, but it wasn’t. It was tough and lacked any flavor whatsoever. I ended up taking two bites and throwing it away. I immediately wished I had brought my camera, because Pacific Beach Burritos would have felt a Tio’s like wrath on Epic Portions. I swore this would be my last visit.
Recently, I decided to give the place one more shot. I’m not sure why, but I wanted to like Pacific Beach Burritos. The place the kind of charm that I look for in a joint and I had been waiting forever for it to open. It couldn’t be that bad, could it? We would find out…
This particular visit, I decided to order the San Diego Burrito, which consists of Carne Asada steak, french fries, cheese and sour cream, and three Rolled Tacos with chicken and guacamole on the side. I asked for several cups of the hot sauce hoping they had adjusted their recipe due to massive amounts of customer complaints.
 San Diego Burrito
 San Diego Burrito The burrito was a little better, but it still shared that bland taste with the other burritos I had tried. The steak was once again juicy and tender, the fries were crunchy and made a nice addition, the cheese was a little heavy(and yellow), and the sour scream was a pretty scarce. It was filling and tasted pretty good, but it just wasn’t what I had expected when I first saw the place. The salsa was once again tasteless and not impressive at all.
 Rolled Tacos The rolled tacos weren’t too impressive either. Actually, they were rather terrible. They resembled the same microwave style taquitos that came with the enchiladas. They were tiny and sprinkled with what looked like just a bunch of random toppings(tomatoes, onions, ect.). I ordered mine with chicken because I had stuck to the Carne Asada in every other item I had ordered and was horribly disappointed by it. I guess it’s rare that you actually get chicken that’s anything special at a Mexican or Southwest joint, but this chicken just wasn’t good. The beef made up for a lack of flavor with juiciness and the chicken completely lacked that. It was dry and tasteless. I will say that the guacamole was good stuff, which made the tacos edible.
 Dry chicken tacos It’s been a pretty disappointing few visits to Pacific Beach Burritos. I had very high hopes for this local burrito joint, but every thing I’ve eaten has either been very average or fallen completely fat. I can’t decide whether or not I will give them another chance, but the fact that they’re about to start offering delivery will probably mean I’ll give them a chance for redemption for the simple fact that it will be convenient. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not terrible and I would recommend that you give them an opportunity. I just wasn’t horribly impressed by them.
Posted by John, on February 10th, 2010 Ahhh, the cheese steak hoagie. Quite possibly the perfect sandwich. Thinly sliced steak surrounded by a long hoagie roll and covered in peppers, onions, mushrooms, and of course cheese. It makes my eyes water just thinking about it. Since I don’t live in Philadelphia, it always has seemed like I get short changed on these delicious sandwiches. We don’t have a Geno’s or a Leo’s that is featured daily on some sort of television network. We do, however, have Gabriel’s Hoagies, which for my money competes with the best cheese steak hoagies anywhere in the country.
Gabriel’s Hoagies is a little hole in the wall joint in the middle of nowhere that began serving hoagies to the residents of Ypsilanti in 1959. The inside is tiny with only a few tables, but expect to see 10-15 people come and go while you’re eating. You walk up to the counter and order your food, and it is brought to you within minutes. The service is very friendly, and your food comes very fast. You’re not even expected to throw away your empty styrofoam plates or cups, because the staff will collect them for you. You get a little bit of that southern hospitality hole in the wall joint feel from this place.
They’re still there, in the same location, serving up incredibly delicious eats off of one of the most basic menus you can find. There is no real variety at Gabriel’s. You can have a cheese steak hoagie, a plain steak hoagie, a lunch meat special or a ham and cheese. They also have a garden salad or a ham and cheese salad. You can also buy assorted bags of chips and Pepsi products. That is it. I’m sure everything is delicious, but I’ll never personally find that out. The only option for me is the cheese steak hoagie with peppers, onions, and extra cheese.
There’s nothing incredibly special or fancy about this sandwich, which is exactly how a cheese steak hoagie should be. Upon ordering your hoagie, you can hear the chef in the back throw your steak on the grill and start chopping it up. The bread comes slightly toasted and makes for a good container for the rest of the ingredients. The cheese is melted throughout the meat, which adds a nice gooey component that holds everything together. The thing that really makes the sandwich for me are the cherry peppers. They are soaked in vinegar, and contain the perfect amount of sweet and spicy to balance out the sandwich. I get them on top of my hoagie and also a bit on the side just in case they went light that particular visit. They sell them in jars, and I’m telling you they could be eaten by themselves with a spoon right out of the jar.
If you’re a fan of cheese steak hoagies and are within driving distance, I urge you to immediately get into your car and drive to Gabriels. It’s in the middle of nowhere and you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled, but once you find the location I promise it will not be your last visit.
Posted by Jeremy, on January 14th, 2010  Aubree's Ypsilanti Township Location Aubree’s is a long time institution in Ypsilanti, my adopted hometown. The original establishment graces Depot Town, a wonderful little strip of restaurants and bars just a mile down the road from Eastern Michigan University. Eventually Aubree’s added other locations, two in the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor area and one in Marquette in the Upper Peninsula, near Northern Michigan University. This review will focus on their Ypsilanti Township/Whittaker Road location.
Built a few years ago, Aubree’s Pizzeria and Saloon fits nicely into the strip mall a mile from my house. Their pizza was rated top 25 in the Metro Detroit area, and while I would dispute that I would agree that they make a serviceable pie that they should be proud of.
This particular location has a couple flaws that are evident right away. The bar is ringed with 32” tv’s and while this may at first seem like a good thing it is just too busy. Your eyes are drawn to them and cannot look away. If they brought in a designer from Vegas or Atlantic City, they would tell them to tone it down, it is overwhelming. If this wasn’t bad enough, several booths contain small tv’s as well. From where I was sitting, I could see no less than seven tvs on a quick glance to the left. All of which were showing different content, from ESPN, to poker, to NTN and even cartoons. The smaller tv on the other side of the restaurant has keno playing on it, and I can tell you from experience that it is impossible for a six year old to look away. The art of conversation is lost at this place. You may as well go there prepared to watch tv while you eat, and save conversation for later. As far as ambiance is concerned, Aubree’s misses the mark.
The second flaw, although a minor one, is the choice of music. Every time I go there they are playing the same “best of the 80’s” satellite radio channel. Look, I grew up in the 80’s and know all the songs they play but I can tell you that while fun on occasion 80’s music is not what any restaurant should be playing exclusively. If you like listening to Def Leppard or REO Speedwagon while you eat, dive in, you have found your home. If anyone from Aubree’s reads this, please, expand the musical horizons.
Fortunately the food helps take your mind off the overstimulation and overdose of Bananarama.
Beginning with appetizers, I usually go for the hummus as it is quite delicious and my six year old son likes it as well. Served with pita bread, carrots, and celery, their hummus is a little heavy on the cumin, a little light on the garlic; a perfect interpretation if you ask me. Overall a great prep for the gastronomic olympics that are to follow.
Let’s begin with the pizza. This particular evening we ordered a thin crust (which I am partial to) and I also ordered a Chicken Caesar Wrap with their specialty salt-thyme fries and ‘bayou sauce” which I will get into later. First, the pie:
 Aubree's Thin Crust For starters, they got the crust just right. Perfect thickness (or thinness, as it were) for a thin crust, crunchy and delicious. No special flavoring, but that is ok if they are going to cook it to a perfect crunch. The tomato sauce lacks any real robust flavor, there is nothing wrong with it, but it lacks pizzaz. I would prefer a hint of oregano or basil, but it is pretty conservative fare. As for cheese and toppings, again, this is an operation that knows its pizza and is not going to make amateurish mistakes. Perfect amount of both and a pleasing flavor but again, nothing that screams best pizza in the area. Overall a workman-like effort, a well constructed pizza that while tasty fails to aspire to boldness.
The Chicken Caesar wrap, pictured below was another story. Their Caesar dressing was outstanding, not too garlicky with a nice tang. It comes in a whole wheat wrap which looks suspiciously like a whole wheat tortilla, but I’m not complaining. Too often a caesar wrap will come in a flatbread that overwhelms the whole sandwich.
 Chicken Caesar Wrap with Salt-Thyme Fries Along side the wrap comes Aubree’s own salt-thyme fries. While the use of thyme and potato is a solid combo, I felt they used too much and needed to ease up a bit. On the side I ordered their bayou sauce. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was overall a disappointment. While it came strong with the heat, it lacked flavor. While I appreciate the effort and am glad that it is legit as far as the spicy quotient is concerned, I will say that in the future I will probably pass on paying the extra $2.99 for the bayou sauce.
The saving grace for this particular location is the friendly and attentive service. From management to the waitstaff, I have always found Aubree’s to be top notch. I suppose that if listening to 80’s music helps foster this, I’ll put my collar up, wear my ripped jeans and rock out to Asia.
Overall, Aubree’s stature as an Ypsi institution is well founded. Their Ypsi Township location, while bombarding the senses with busy tv’s and 80’s music, still holds its own with a pretty solid pizza and better than average sandwiches and burgers. La Fuente, which is located in the same strip mall, is a far better culinary experience but if you are not in the mood for Mexican, Aubree’s will certainly suffice.
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