Budget Eats in Ann Arbor: Nine Great Meals Under $15

Ann Arbor has a problem. Dozens of restaurants have closed in recent years, and the places opening in their wake tend to cost more. The mid-range spots, the ones where you could eat a real meal for $15 and leave satisfied, are the ones disappearing fastest. The replacement cycle trades accessibility for higher check averages, because that's what the rent demands.

This guide is about the places that haven't given in. Nine restaurants where you can eat well for under $15, sometimes well under. Not fast food. Not sad desk lunches. Actual meals made by people who care, at prices that don't require a conversation about the budget beforehand.

The Under-$10 Club

Dos Hermanos Express (25 Jackson Industrial Dr) is the best value in the Ann Arbor area, and it's not particularly close. Alex and Hiram Arreola make everything from scratch daily. Tortillas, salsas, meats. The al pastor tacos are $3 to $4 each, and two of them with a side constitute a lunch that competes with restaurants charging three times as much. The burritos are built tight and heavy, and two people can eat well for under $25. The location on Jackson Industrial Drive filters for intent. Nobody ends up there by accident, which keeps the overhead low and the prices honest. We've written about the Arreola brothers before. Go.

Frita Batidos (117 W Washington St) sells a Cuban-style frita for around $10 that has won the Michigan Daily's Best Burger award every year since 2014. Chorizo-beef patty, shoestring fries piled on top, soft egg bun, a drizzle of sauce. The batido shakes are thick and cold and made from real fruit. You can eat a frita and a batido for under $15, and you'll walk out feeling like you ate at a place that cares about food, because you did. The room is small, loud, and built for eating, not lingering. Order at the counter.

The Fleetwood Diner (300 S Ashley St) is open 24 hours and has been feeding this town for decades. The Hippie Hash is the famous order: hash browns loaded with mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, green peppers, and onions, topped with feta and sour cream. It runs around $10. The counter seats maybe fifteen people, the booths are tight, and everything is cooked on the flattop right in front of you. This is the kind of place that doesn't have a website and doesn't need one. Bring cash.

BTB Burrito (1140 S University Ave) does exactly what the name says, and does it for under $10. The burritos are big, customizable, and fast. It's a college-town burrito shop in the most honest sense: you're in, you've ordered, you're eating, and you spent less than a cocktail costs at the new place downtown. BTB isn't going to change your life. It's going to feed you well on a day when $10 is the budget, and that is a function this city needs more of, not less.

The Under-$15 Crew

No Thai! (1300 S University Ave) has been serving Thai food to the campus crowd long enough that some of its original customers now bring their kids. Pad thai, green curry, and fried rice all land under $14. The portions are calibrated for people who are actually hungry, not for people who plan to photograph their lunch. The drunken noodles have enough wok char and chili heat to remind you that this kitchen knows what it's doing. The space on South University is no-frills, and the name is a joke you either get or you don't.

Jerusalem Garden (314 E Liberty St) serves falafel, shawarma, and kebab plates that consistently come in under $12, and the falafel plate might be the best per-dollar meal downtown. The falafel is made fresh, the tahini is house-made, and the portions are generous enough that I've never finished the plate in one sitting. The room is narrow and functional. There is hummus, there are pickles, there is pita bread, and there is very little else to say except that it's been here for years for a reason.

Pita Kabob Grill (529 E Liberty St) operates a few blocks east and offers a similar proposition: Middle Eastern food, generous portions, under $14. The chicken shawarma wrap is tightly rolled and well-seasoned. Rice plates come piled enough that leftovers are likely. The kabobs have char and flavor and arrive faster than you'd expect from a kitchen working with an open flame. Pita Kabob and Jerusalem Garden occupy similar territory on the same street, which means East Liberty is quietly one of the better affordable food corridors in the city.

Blimpy Burger (304 S Ashley St) is a counter-service institution where you build your burger from a list of toppings and the patties are fried on a flat grill while you watch. The process has its own rhythm: you state your order, you don't hold up the line, and you get a burger that tastes like it was designed by someone who understood that cheap beef cooked hard on a flat top is its own kind of perfect. Doubles and triples are available for people with ambition. The price depends on what you pile on, but a solid burger with toppings and a side runs well under $15.

Tomukun Noodle Bar (505 E Liberty St) is the most expensive entry on this list, and it scrapes in under the $15 ceiling with its lunch ramen. The tonkotsu broth is not a thirty-minute stock. It's rich, developed, and worth the few extra dollars over a fast-casual bowl. The spicy miso has enough heat to open your sinuses without overwhelming the pork. On a cold day in Ann Arbor, which is most days from November through April, a $14 bowl of ramen that somebody actually spent time on is not a budget compromise. It's the right call.

Every restaurant on this list is in Ann Arbor. Most are walkable from downtown or campus. Dos Hermanos Express is the exception: you'll need to drive to Jackson Industrial. The Fleetwood is cash-heavy. BTB and Frita Batidos move fast at lunch. Go slightly off-peak if you want a seat.