Slim Chickens To Open First Location In Ann Arbor

Morning, Ann Arbor! And welcome to 2025! Hope your New Year’s Resolution wasn’t to eat out less - this morning’s newsletter has four new restaurants in it. Ope.

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🐔 Slim Chickens: Slim Chickens, a popular fast-casual, fried chicken restaurant, is opening today (January 6th) at 5505 Arbor Chase Drive. The new building will be just under 3,000-square-feet and feature a double drive-thru. The new location is owned by two brothers who currently operate 10 Jimmy Johns throughout the state.

🛎️ The Hotel Earle: Doug Allen, a local commercial real estate developer, is looking for a hotelier to help create a boutique hotel above the ground floors of 115-123 W. Washington Street and 207 S. Ashley Street (Earle Restaurant, Frita Batidos, One One Nine Salon, Sweetwaters, and Ann Arbor Running Company). Allen says he has the funding, but is looking for someone with hotel knowledge to partner with him on the project. If he can find a partner, the new hotel will have 31 rooms, a lobby bar, a meeting and event space, a common kitchen, and a rooftop bar.

🥢 Asian Fusion: Tabe, an Asian fusion restaurant, will be opening at 209 S. Main Street (the old Jim Brady’s location). The restaurant will have Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Filipino dishes, with a different experience on each of the 3 floors. It is set to open sometime in February.

TODAY’S SPONSOR: TheRide

🎟️ go!passes: Take TheRide to work! Leave the stress of parking behind, sit back, relax, and prepare for your day ahead without having to focus on traffic. Work in downtown Ann Arbor? Ask your employer to see if they are eligible for go!passes through the getDowntown program! Learn more at www.GetDowntown.org/gopass

🍳 New Address: Avalon is moving from the Pretzel Bell Building to the Pretzel Bell event space. That’s probably the most confusing way I could word it. I’ll try again.

Avalon is moving from 120 E. Liberty Street to 224 S. Main Street. Avalon’s old location was within the Pretzel Bell Building (as it was home to the original Pretzel Bell that was open from 1934 to 1985) and Avalon’s new location is the next-door event space of the new Pretzel Bell.

Avalon’s new location will open next Monday (January 13th).

 🍜 Late Night Thai: Eat Thai is opening at 332 S. Main Street (the old KouZina location). The restaurant, with operating hours of 11 AM to 5 AM every day (yes, you read that right), is planning on opening in the next few months.

⛄️ Snow Match Program: Sign-ups are open for Ann Arbor’s Snow Match program (a city-run program that connects volunteers with locals in need of snow removal services).

To qualify as a volunteer recipient, Ann Arbor residents must be “55+ years of age or older OR who self-identify as having a disability AND who do not have access to resources — neither finances to hire a service nor nearby family members or friends to help out with snow removal tasks.”

ON THE MARKET

3 Bed | 1 Bath | 831 Sqft | $420,000

4 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,714 | $450,000

5 Bed | 7 Bath | 5,237 Sqft | $2,950,000

ADOPTABLE HUMANE SOCIETY PETS

Sampson | 5 years | Retriever Mix

Sparty | 8 years | Domestic Shorthair

That's all for now! Have a great week in Tree Town!

- Andrew

P. P. S. - An interior rendering of Echelon Kitchen & Bar (the new restaurant opening on the corner of Main and Washington)

P. P. P. S. - When A Frank Lloyd Wright house hits the market, I feel obligated to hyperlink it

P. P. P. P. S. - A Redditor mapped out every Kroger, Meijer, Walmart, and Family Fare in the state. SE Michigan is Kroger country.

P. P. P. P. S. - Thanks to the TheRide for sponsoring this week’s Michigander.

Interested in advertising in the Michigander? Click here for pricing. Bulk discounting available.