This ‘quintessential college town' charms visitors with big-time sports and a bustling cultural scene

CNN

10-05-2025

Rodger Bowser has worked in kitchens in London, studied cooking in Ireland and been a private chef on houseboats in France.
But when it came time to plant his flag somewhere and build a lasting career in food, he always knew he'd return to Ann Arbor.
His decision goes back to Bowser's formative years as an aspiring chef, when he moved here from rural Michigan for a summer job and became enchanted with the place.
'Being in Ann Arbor, in a college town with multiple thoughts and viewpoints and diversity, and just the way people thought about things … it really opened my eyes up to a different world that I didn't know existed,' says Bowser, now head chef at Zingerman's Delicatessen, a beloved Ann Arbor eatery.
Such is the pull of this unassuming Midwestern city, where students, faculty, staffers and alumni migrate back and forth from the handsome University of Michigan campus to the nearby restaurants, shops and bars of Ann Arbor's bustling downtown. The planet around which the rest of the city orbits, the school boasts some 53,000 students and a vast menu of cultural happenings, lending Ann Arbor a casual sophistication.
A2, as it's known to locals, consistently ranks among the nation's top college towns. Most visitors to the city have ties to the university, but with a year-round calendar of events, a thriving food scene and big-time college sports, Ann Arbor offers plenty for other visitors as well.
'For a weekend getaway, it's a pretty cool place to be,' Bowser says. 'There's great entertainment — we have folk festivals, film festivals … we've got great museums and great restaurants. And if you're into the nature part of things there's some pretty cool stuff around town in terms of parks and stuff like that. I really like this town.'
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Most mentions of Ann Arbor start with the University of Michigan, the state school with its blue-and-maize (they don't call it yellow) color scheme and famous sports teams, perennial powerhouses in football and basketball.
Notable alumni include former President Gerald Ford, Google co-founder Larry Page, actor James Earl Jones, quarterback Tom Brady and CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, along with numerous members of Congress and foreign heads of state. One of the top public universities in the country, U of M attracts students from all 50 states and 99 countries, giving Ann Arbor an international flavor that complements its friendly Midwestern charm.
Its central campus sits in the heart of the city and offers many attractions, including a handful of free museums. Chief among them is the university's art museum, whose large collection includes 19th-century landscapes, portraits by Pablo Picasso and abstract works by Helen Frankenthaler.
From there it's a short walk to the school's museum of natural history, which offers kid-friendly exhibits on everything from microscopic organisms to dinosaurs, plus a planetarium hosting star shows and animations on black holes.
The U of M campus also is home to some striking 20th-century architecture, including an Art Deco bell tower and grand buildings by Albert Kahn and Eero Saarinen. But its most crowd-pleasing structure may be its Gothic law school library, whose gorgeous reading room looks like something from a Harry Potter set.
Stroll through the central campus's main pedestrian thoroughfare, called the Diag, on a warm day and you'll find hundreds of students lounging in the grass, playing music, hustling to class or passing out leaflets for events. And wow, are there a lot of events. On one recent spring day, posters around town heralded theatrical productions, jazz concerts, a comedy festival, a Zine Jamboree, a roundtable on human rights in Turkey and a Beyoncé-themed dance party.
No happening in Ann Arbor, however, can compete with Michigan football. Each home game draws thousands of visitors who turn the town into a sprawling street festival, complete with tailgate parties and throngs of raucous, blue-clad fans. Games are held in Michigan Stadium, nicknamed 'the Big House,' which holds 115,000 people and is the largest stadium in the country. Almost all of Ann Arbor's population can fit inside.
Residents rave about the town's game-day atmosphere, which reached a crescendo two seasons ago when Michigan won the national title.
'You should come here on a Saturday in the fall,' says Parker Kern, a U of M sophomore who is studying aerospace engineering, echoing a common refrain. 'There's a bunch of people in the streets and they're all migrating towards the Big House. Everyone's really excited. There's music everywhere. And usually we win.'
City resident Nate Hoard often hosts several dozen friends for pre-game festivities at his house near campus. Many of them park their cars on his front lawn.
'It's electric. They sell T-shirts that read, 'Saturdays in Ann Arbor,'' says Hoard, describing the scene. 'It doesn't matter if they (the football team) are good or bad. Even in the worst seasons, it's the best day.'
Don't worry: Non-football fans will find plenty of other diversions here — starting with places to eat.
Ann Arbor isn't known as a foodie destination. But for a mid-sized city it punches above its weight, buoyed by a mix of creative student hangouts and higher-end eateries serving everything from Afro-Caribbean food to Korean barbecue to award-winning cocktails.
The granddaddy of the city's culinary scene isn't some starchy, white-tablecloth restaurant, though. It's a deli.
Zingerman's opened in 1982 and has grown into a regional institution, serving more than three dozen varieties of sandwiches from its handsome brick storefront in the Kerrytown neighborhood just north of downtown. Its specialty is the Reuben, but the exhaustive menu also includes barbecued brisket, Italian subs and a handful of vegetarian options — many named for the staffers who created them.
Even Bowser, now a Zingerman's managing partner, has a difficult time deciding what to order.
'What's my favorite sandwich? The one in front of me,' he says. 'It's hard to pick.'
Over the years the deli has expanded into a Zingerman's empire with a bakery, a creamery, a coffee purveyor and catering business — all in Ann Arbor — along with a mail-order service. Their growing domain also includes Miss Kim, a lively Korean restaurant serving such innovative small plates as lotus roots with toasted cashews in a doenjang pepper sauce. Its chef, Ji Hye Kim, is a four-time James Beard Award semifinalist.
Students also flock to Frita Batidos, a Cuban-inspired, casual eatery in an airy downtown space that's locally famous for their deliciously messy burgers, customizable with such toppings as tropical slaw, cilantro-lime salsa or a fried egg. For a savory-sweet combo, pair your burger with a batido, a Cuban fruit milkshake.
And if you want a nearby nightcap, consider The Last Word, a handsome basement bar with live music, a full kitchen and a speakeasy vibe.
Ann Arbor's density of bars, eateries and events is one of the things that appealed to Hoard when he moved here 11 years ago.
'I park my car Friday night when I get home and I don't have to drive again 'til Monday morning,' says the 43-year-old, who runs a distribution company and lives downtown. 'I can walk to a Big Ten game … I can walk to a 5-star restaurant. Whatever I want is within walking distance. All these things add up to a great atmosphere.'
Further afield is York Food + Drink, a spacious hangout south of downtown with a deli counter, a wine store, a bar and a recent pop-up serving barbecue. York has been a community gathering spot for decades; on a recent weekday afternoon a group of senior citizens shared a table, writing postcards to Congress to lobby for preserving Social Security.
Owner Tommy York drifts from table to table, chatting with customers. He greets an arriving woman by name and asks about her new hip.
'I know everybody (in town). Not because I'm special, but because I've been working in retail food for a long time,' says York, who bikes to work. He came to Ann Arbor for grad school in the '80s and never left, buying the business in 2001 because he wanted a casual place where people could bring their kids.
'One of the things I like about the Midwest is that you don't have to get dressed up to go out,' he says. 'You come as you are.'
Founded as a frontier outpost in 1824, Ann Arbor got a huge boost when the fledgling University of Michigan relocated here 13 years later from Detroit. According to legend, the village was named for the wives of its two founders, both named Ann, and the area's towering bur oaks. Ann Arbor celebrated its bicentennial with much fanfare last year.
The city's arboreal heritage lives on at the Nichols Arboretum — affectionately known as the 'Arb' — a park-like expanse along the Huron River with walking paths, grassy fields and more than 100 species of trees. It also has a reputation as a romantic spot. Playwright Arthur Miller, a Michigan alum, famously recalled the Arb as 'good for anatomical studies, especially in spring under a moon.'
Other city attractions include a botanical garden, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, a 106-year-old farmer's market each Saturday and miles of walking trails along the winding Huron River, where residents go kayaking and tubing in the summer.
Visitors also can easily spend a day browsing the streets of Ann Arbor's compact downtown, home to eclectic shops selling everything from vinyl records to macarons. There's also an outpost of Shinola, the Detroit maker of wristwatches, leather bags and other luxury goods. Many local merchants know one another and are quick to recommend each other's stores and restaurants.
This home-grown, community feel is an Ann Arbor trademark, says Hilary Gustafson, co-owner of Literati Bookstore, a downtown mainstay that hosts author readings, panels and a handful of book clubs. Gustafson and her husband Michael opened the store in 2013, filling a void left by Borders, the Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain that had closed its original store here two years earlier.
'Sure, we are a retail business — we sell books. But our role as we see it is kind of a community-building space,' she says. 'A lot of other businesses here are like-minded … we're not just a collection of stores selling goods — we're a collection of stores that support each other and try to build community.'
Indeed, Ann Arbor hums with a distinct blend of civic spirit and school pride. People like it here, and it shows. It's one reason why University of Michigan alums return over and over.
Asked what he enjoys most about Ann Arbor, Tommy York doesn't hesitate.
'There's something here for everybody,' he says. 'And the people — the people are great. I'm a small-town person in a city that has big stuff.'