The Lunch Room is our favorite place to eat in Ann Arbor and I’m not the only one who thinks so. It was voted “Best Food Cart” in Current Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards in October 2012, in 2013 “Best New Restaurant” and in 2014 “Best New Business.”
What? How?
Ann Arbor is jammed with great restaurants. Zingerman’s is within spitting distance and Main Street is brimming with fantastic options, yet co-owners Phillis Engelbert and Joel Panozzo are serving delicious vegan food that keeps the restaurant packed and customers happy. Their mission is really pretty simple “to prepare high-quality, nutritious vegan food, and to demonstrate the breadth and versatility of plant-based whole foods.”
The waitstaff are polite, helpful and charming. The furnishings are beautiful, but if the food wasn’t always delicious we wouldn’t keep coming back. We eat here at least once a week, sometimes twice. (There may have been a week when we ate there three times but who is counting.) We even have our favorite seats. I think they should paint our names on the back of these cute red chairs.
I’d like to know who created their order tickets. Our favorite is the goat.
There is outdoor seating too, but we prefer the red chairs at the counter.
Our Favorites
We have our favorite menu items and Chuck’s favorite breakfast item is the burrito.
I like to shake things up and usually order something different. On Saturday, I ordered “Josh’s Bagel Sandwich.” It has a cashew-cheese spread that is insanely tasty plus the bagel is made in house. I couldn’t wait for Chuck to take a picture and started eating it before he could snap a picture. It was picture perfect before I smashed it. It still looks yummy.
I try to ignore the baked goods and sometimes I leave without something sweet to eat, but seriously life is just too short. The baked goods are to die for and yes, these are VEGAN, which means no dairy or eggs. Their bakers are magical.
The Bar
The icing on the cake is the Michigan Craft Beer that is available. They have an assortment of cocktails and wine too, but there is nothing like a Bells Two Hearted with dinner.
There is a second location inside the Huron Towers on Fuller Court. We’ve yet to visit, but I’m sure we will soon. We have more pictures in our gallery.
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Have you eaten at The Lunch Room? What is your favorite menu item? Leave us a comment and share your story.
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