Ann Arbor Food Culture

The glowing entrance of Halal Bros 2 Go (11/04/2025). Photo by Jack Schreiner

Dynamic and Diverse: Ann Arbor Food Culture

By Jack Schreiner

It is an honor to have something named after you. For me that honor came from Hunter House Hamburgers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One brisk afternoon while eating lunch with my family, I mentally crafted a masterpiece milkshake. I ordered whatever chocolatey things I could think of for my chocolate-loving brother while he was using the bathroom—and the Jack’s Triple Chocolate Overload milkshake, complete with double chocolate syrup, a dollop of peanut butter, and swirled with Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, was born. Unfortunately, Hunter House Hamburgers closed its doors in 2019 (Lewis), but as the famous saying goes, when one door closes another door opens—and that is especially true for Ann Arbor’s dynamic food culture.

Growing up in Ann Arbor exposed me to cuisine from a variety of cultures, and returning as a student it seems to me that Ann Arbor food culture is more diverse than ever. In the four year period after I moved away from Ann Arbor, I would come back fairly often to visit friends. It seemed as though every time I came back there was a new restaurant somewhere in the city. At 609 E Williams Street in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor where Hunter House Hamburgers used to operate now stands Paris Bánh Mì cafe and bakery (Sourya). Paris Bánh Mì serves Bánh Mì sandwiches, which trace their origins to after the introduction of baguettes to Vietnam during French Colonialism (Sourya). This is just one example of the diverse and constantly changing landscape of Ann Arbor Food culture.

The sleek interior of Halal Bros 2 Go (11/04/2025). Photo by Jack Schreiner

Mix over Rice dish from Halal Bros 2 Go (11/04/2025). Photo by Jack Schreiner

This past August I moved into my dorm on campus at the University of Michigan. I achieved the dream of so many kids who grew up in Ann Arbor. The moment was bittersweet considering I had moved out of the city less than four years ago. Walking through town it hit me just how much the city had changed. Countless new highrises and restaurants that I didn’t recognize seemed to be on every corner. I took the role of navigator leading us through the city to one of my all time favorites, Mr. Spots. As we arrived I noticed a shop that I had never seen before right next door. A banner reading “Grand Opening” and glowing white letters spelling out “Halal Bros 2 Go” enticed me to take a closer look. I walked in the door and was immediately greeted by the smells of multiple powerful spices as well as cooked lamb and chicken. That night I had my first, of many, mix over rice dishes from Halal Bros. The mix over rice, which consists of halal lamb and halal chicken, lettuce, tomato, red sauce, green sauce, and white sauce, has quickly become a comfort meal for me. The chewy chicken, crunchy lettuce, savory lamb, and variety of spices all tingling my tongue always brightens my day.

Besides being one of my favorite places to get food, Halal Bros serves as one of many examples on how Ann Arbor is becoming a home for food from a wide variety of cultures. In the Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, Dr. Abdelhadi Halawa writes, “Halal food is described as the kind of food that is required not to encompass any constituent of food that Muslims are not permitted to consume as prescribed by the Quran” (Halawa). While I had known that halal food was related to Islam, I never knew the true story behind it. When I was in high school (the period of my life where I wasn’t living in Ann Arbor) I rarely encountered halal food and because of that I did not take time to look into its rich history. Eating in Ann Arbor has taught me more about other cultures than all my years of high school.

The ever changing food scene of Ann Arbor provides countless opportunities to unite as one people with a common language of food. As Dave Algase wrote in the Ann Arbor Observer, “The universal language of food reminds us that the things we share in common are essential in their capacity for both celebrating and transcending our differences”(Algase). I would like to challenge anyone reading this, the next time you are in Ann Arbor and are going out to eat, try to use it as an opportunity to learn about another culture through food.

Works Cited

Algase, Dave. “Around the World in Ann Arbor.” Ann Arbor Observer, 15 Sept. 2024, annarborobserver.com/around-the-world-in-ann-arbor/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

Halawa, Abdelhadi. “Acculturation of Halal Food to the American Food Culture through Immigration and Globalization: A Literature Review.” Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, 2018, pp. 53–63. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48710190?seq=1. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

Lewis, Kendell. “‘Mom-and-Pop’ Burger Shop Hunter House Closes Ann Arbor Location.” The Michigan Daily, 12 May. 2025. https://www.michigandaily.com/news/ann-arbor/mom-and-pop-burger-shop-hunter-house-closes-ann-arbor/ Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

Schreiner, Jack. Photo of entrance of Halal Bros 2 Go, 4 Nov. 2025. Author’s Personal Collection.

Schreiner, Jack. Photo of interior of Halal Bros 2 Go, 4 Nov. 2025. Author’s Personal Collection.

Schreiner, Jack. Photo of mix over rice dish from Halal Bros 2 Go, 4 Nov. 2025. Author’s Personal Collection.

Sourya, Kaelyn. “Paris Bánh Mì Introduces Authentic Vietnamese Food to Ann Arbor.” The Michigan Daily, 20 Mar. 2025, www.michigandaily.com/news/business/paris-banh-mi-chain-introduces-authentic-vietnamese-food-to-ann-arbor-at-grand-opening/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

The Michigan Daily, 20 Apr. 2021, www.michigandaily.com/news/ann-arbor/mom-and-pop-burger-shop-hunter-house-closes-ann-arbor/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.

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