Ali Baba in Ann Arbor, MI

Ali Baba
601 Packard Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3313
(734) 998-0131‎

Starving Auctioneers Rating: 4 Gavels out of 5

Our most recent pottery pick up saw Peter traveling to rural Michigan just north of the Ohio-Michigan boarder to pick some outstanding examples of Rookwood, Weller and middle period Roseville. After the pickup Peter travelled to meet up with friend and fellow auctioneer David Helmer in Ann Arbor and he filed this review.

David Helmer and I’s friendship is a product of the often cited ‘conversations in the hallway’ of an NAA event. We meet at the Certified Estate Specialist (CES) designations course held in Ft. Wayne, Indiana in November of 2006. Over the last three years we have partnered on auctions large and small. We often partner on lunch.

We entered lunch with great expectations of all the ‘work’ we would discuss. That didn’t happen and never does. We returned to one of Ann Arbor’s finest Middle Eastern establishments: Ali Baba. The restaurant is billed as Iraqi food but our waiter was from Morocco so I was a little disappointed. We both ordered a dish that consisted of chicken, beef and hummus. Basically meat and potatoes for those without potatoes. However you can get a side of fries, which we did so we still got us some potato action. The food was good and the service on point if not ethnically consistent. The price was right and the portion size was good. The place was clean if not a little worn, but what hole in the wall place isn't...that's what makes them great.

After lunch we sampled the styling’s PJ's Records & Used CD's just a few feet away and up a flight of stairs. Every college town seems to have one of these outfits and Ann Arbor’s holds a special charm because once the two shopkeepers, David and I were in the store there was little room for anyone else. I might be tempted to say I have never seen that many LP’s in one place before but I have: an estate auction in Columbus where it was our job to move them all from the basement in milk crates. We lost a lot of good men that day and gained great appreciation for the iPod

We went there looking for original Larry Norman LP’s. We didn’t find any but David did find and purchase enough to earn him a place in the PJ’s Hall of Fame. They have a strange and inexplicably long check out procedure made worse by David’s attempts to stump our hosts with 1970's music trivia. The shop keepers are examples of what happens when you are into sex, drugs and Rock’n’Roll…professionally. At least they have their music.