Tag: ypsilanti

Gabriel’s Hoagies – Ypsilanti, MI

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.

February 10, 2010
Aubree’s Pizzeria and Tavern – Ypsilanti Township

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.

January 14, 2010
Bomber Breakfast. FTW.

On February 21st, 2009 I attempted the Bomber Breakfast for the first time and failed miserably. It was an embarrassing moment for me. The waitresses laughed at me, and the bus boy made me bus my own table. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, customers began throwing eggs at my car. I required many hours of intense therapy to get over the pain, and three car washes to clean the eggs off.

After my rehabilitation period, I began training for the moment when I was ready to go back and prove to these people that I am not the “skinny little bitch” that they claimed I was. That breakfast could fit in my stomach, I just went about it wrong! I should have eaten the hash browns first! With this in mind, I decided to go full Rocky 4 style and travel to Russia for some old school training. This included jumping rope, running through the snow, doing sit-ups in a barn, and other activities that don’t involve performance enhancing drugs or running on a treadmill on a ridiculous incline.

With my mind, body and spirit in the right place I returned to the Bomber to reclaim my self respect. I ordered my breakfast and the waitress brought it to me with a giant smirk on her face. Little did she know, I was about to blow her mind.

If you’re not familiar with the bomber breakfast, it is one pound of hash browns, ten strips of bacon, four eggs, and two slices of toast. Observe:

My plan going in was to smother the hash browns with ketchup and Red Hot so they would go down easier. The first time I attempted this I ate the bacon first then moved onto the hash browns. This ended up being a terrible idea. The real challenge of getting through this breakfast is the hash browns. The taste gets old real fast and your stomach becomes full if you don’t get them down fast enough. My plan worked beautifully, and the potatoes were gone from the plate within five minutes. It was a moral victory me just to get those things down.

After getting through the hash browns, it was all down hill from there. Bacon and over easy eggs are two of my favorite things in the entire world, so this wasn’t even much of a challenge anymore. The bacon was a little crispy, but it went down fast. No problems here. I did see the waitress walk by a few times with a worried look on here face. Boom.

With the bacon and hash browns gone, victory was in sight. All I had to do was smash through four eggs and a couple pieces of toast. I considered this more of a victory lap than a final stretch. I broke the yolks with my first two pieces of toast and used the dip method, ate the whites with my fork, then cleaned the plate with my final two pieces of toast. Victory was mine.

If you will notice, I decided to devour that stupid orange garnish just to prove a point. After finishing, I threw my plate across the restaurant and walked out without paying my bill. Who’s laughing now?

I would like to point out that everything written above is false. No one made any ill comments towards me, threw eggs at my car, or made any faces at me. I also did not travel to Russia. I did, however, destroy the Bomber Breakfast and the orange that came with it. Boo yah, bitches.

January 6, 2010