Timeless Charm And Uncommonly Good Buys

Michael Purleski whips up some of Drake’s luscious limeade.

Timeless charm and uncommonly good buys

Editor’s note: Cheap Eats explores area restaurants where one can spend $10 or under.

As trendy restaurants have come and gone in Ann Arbor, Drake’s Sandwich Shop has stayed true to itself. For 61 years it’s been an unpretentious place to go for sandwiches, old-fashioned cold drinks (ice cream sodas and floats, juices and lime/lemonades), one of the most extensive tea menus in Midwest and the best -- bar none -- selection of candy for miles.

What’s more, everything is uncommonly cheap: A tuna fish sandwich for $1.40. A pot of tea for 50 cents. A chocolate milk shake for $1.35. And two ounces of many of the candies for about $1. As my father rhetorically asked when he saw the menu, “At those prices, how can you go wrong?”

In fact, you can only go wrong at Drake’s if you’re expecting a more “modern” yuppified restaurant.

There are no waiters introducing themselves; in fact, there are no waiters at all, only behind-the-counter help. Diners write their own selections on an order form and then retrieve the food when it’s ready.

There are no ferns or modern light fixtures or exposed brick walls. Rather Drake’s interior is dark and done in shades of green and black; the booths are wooden with tables where steadies have carved their names over the years. And the main decor features memorabilia of the restaurant’s past: old menus, advertising signs, photographs and names of famous patrons.

There’s not much of a no-smoking section -- only a handful of booths. And there’s no restroom.

If you can stand all this deprivation, there’s one more thing. Drake’s doesn’t serve its sandwiches on croissants, and it doesn’t make its shakes out of frozen yogurt. Rye, white and whole wheat are the bread choices, and ice cream is the fountain favorite here.

The sandwich menu features the usual -- luncheon meat, peanut butter and tuna salad, as well as the more exotic bacon and peanut butter and chopped green olive nut (all under $2.00). And there are the Drake’s standbys, the unique double-deck combinations on toast, such as the Ohio (cream cheese, raspberry jam, lettuce and tomato); the Stanford (cream cheese, olive salad, lettuce and mayonnaise); and the most expensive item in the house at $3.25, the Dagwood (a four-deck double ham, American cheese, peanut butter and jam, sliced tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise). By comparison, the Michigan is rather pedestrian: chicken, sliced tomatoes, lettuce and mayonnaise for $2.25.

Desserts include pies, cakes and cookies, but we’re partial to the ice cream specialties. There’s something about sitting with friends in a Drake’s booth and sipping a milk shake that’s reminiscent of the malt shops of another era.

In fact, over the years and through overwhelming changes in society, tradition has played a large part in the restaurant’s appeal; no matter what, people have known what to expect from Drake’s, and they’ve gotten it.

Drake’s Sandwich Shop

709 N. University Ave.

668-8853

Hours: 10 a.m.-10:45 p.m. seven days a week. Take out available. Plastic: Cash only, personal checks accepted. Liquor: No. Wheelchair access: Difficult given set-up of booths.

ruth bayard smith