Local Dishes: Jim Brady’s adds stunning apps, new pastas and salads at Ann Arbor Restaurant

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Jim Brady restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor made a few changes when the restaurants reopened.

During the government-ordered restaurant closings, Tom Brady, owner of the restaurant at 209 S. Main Street, and his team gathered to get “stronger” out of the pandemic by revising menus and switching 15 items out of 25.

“We had good food beforehand, don’t get me wrong. But we went in a more culinary creative direction. A little more seasonal, a little more hand-making, ”said Brady.

Some new “show-stop” entrees, Brady said, include Spanish squid with romesco, arugula salad, and garlic aioli. He also recommends the Korean short ribs, which are grilled to order and served on a hot pan with calbi sauce and kimchi.

Some new salads are the dirty martini with gin and vermouth vinaigrette, gorgonzola cheese and roasted peppers, and the roasted carrot and avocado salad with coriander, rocket, pumpkin seeds, grilled feta and onions.

For starters, Brady recommends the 16-ounce market steak and the new noodles.

“There’s a grilled mushroom pappardelle pasta with wild mushrooms that we cooked and made a mushroom broth with,” Brady said.

The dish is also topped with goat cheese, balsamic-braised red onions, arugula, and garlic breadcrumbs.

Rigatoni pasta with homemade Italian sausage is another dish, Brady said. It is topped with pepper ragout, oven-roasted tomatoes, charred red onions, and garlic ricotta.

Staples like mahi fish tacos, Charlie Brown burgers, and original Bad Ax burgers are still on the menu. Others, like Jim Brady’s chilli and carrot cake, have also stayed on the menu.

Jim Brady’s, 209 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, is open Monday through Friday from 4pm to 10pm, Saturday from 12pm to 10pm, and Sunday from 12pm to 9pm. Call 734-562-1954. More information is available at http://www.jimbradysdetroit.com/. The restaurant is relocated at 1214 S. Main St. in Royal Oak.

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