Indigestion Hits Ann Arbor

Indigestion Hits Ann Arbor

A series of blows to the midriff have struck the Ann Arbor food scene. The fast food epidemic has hit Maynard Street with the opening last week of a new Burger King at the corner of Liberty and Maynard. The Burger King was inaugurated with a massive advertising and PR campaign.

Across the street, a new McDonalds restaurant is nearing completion. Despite opposition from residents of the neighborhood, culminating in a "stop McDonalds" petition drive which gathered over 6,500 signatures, City Council Republicans approved the new development in February 1974.

The inauguration of these fast food outlets will make a total of three such restaurants in a two block area. In addition to concerns about the lack of nutritional balance in the fare that they offer, many people are concerned about the blight, litter and traffic problems which these developments will cause in an already congested area. It is also feared that the low wages and high volume of McDonalds and Burger King will help to drive other restaurants in the area out of business, thus decreasing the variety of eating in the area.

One small consolation is that last Monday's election has apparently broken Republican control of City Hall. This should mean that, in the future, similar developments will meet with more resistance from City Council.

The final blow was the loss of the Old German restaurant to an early morning fire Tuesday, April 1. Old German, which offered reasonably priced ethnic cuisine, was completely gutted by the blaze, as was the vacant building next door. Fortunately, the Del Rio, one of Ann Arbor's fine watering holes escaped any significant damage, although located on the corner next to the Old German. The A2 School of Creative Music was also destroyed in the blaze.