The Original Cottage

My girlfriend moved to Ann Arbor 40 years ago and this year we are going to all the bars and restaurants in the Ann Arbor/​Ypsi are who have been around that long.
I remember when Cottage in was ¹⁄₃ the size it is now and had a counter and booths with ripped coverings. The place is now very comfortable. It is a very popular lunch spot for University workers but we decided to try their Restaurant Week specials. I had the spinach lasagna and she had chicken cacciatore. Both were good but not great. Of course their speciality is pizza. I have had some great pizza’s there but I have never thought the rest of their Italian dishes were able to meet that level of goodness.
The service was good, our waiter was attentive and very willing to explain the dishes and what was available for Restaurant Week and what changes we could make.
It is a good solid addition to the campus restaurant scene. No wonder it has been there over 40 years. See you there.

We went to Cottage Inn with our two children after picking up one from her last final the week of Christmas. We arrived less than an hour before closing and ordered our food and drinks. We ordered bottled beer. Then after food was delivered she came by and said it was «last call» for alcohol since they were closing. I was suprised they would have last call at 10pm while customers are still eating. Again, it’s not even 10pm! She said it to the table next to us too. I then told her how un-​customer friendly it is to tell guests it’s last call. Do you WANT to make more money? She could refill soda and water, but apparently can’t get a bottled beer or whatever else someone might ask for? People aren’t asking for Mai Tais in this place and she’s over 18 years old — serve your darn guests for the love of all that is good. She told me it was «management policy» to ‘serve’ guests like this. Management, out of principle, I won’t be returning due to your lack of customer service.

Enjoyed a very nice meal here during a recent visit to U-​Mich. The hostess was very welcoming and promptly seated us. Our server Chas did a great job, attentive and informative but didn’t hover over us. We liked the complimentary bread but was expecting it warm. We asked for parmesan to dip w/​the olive oil and it was very good. i had one of the evening’s specials. Chas asked for feedback because they were considering making it a regular menu item, so I happily obliged. Although the 10″ pizza was described as a personal pizza, we found that it was plenty for 2 people. All around very good experience.

In the mood for Italian on a cold wintery Friday night, we parked on the street and approached one of the oldest establishments in A-​Squared. The inside of the «Inn» has a certain warmth… plenty of exposed brick, subdued lighting and a nice selection of private booths. You gotta love this refuge on a cold winter eve.
With many C. I. outlets now spread around SE Michigan, this particular Cottage Inn is the flagship… the Original… nestled on south side of William Street just a half block down from State Street and the Heart of the UM campus.
After ordering a glass of Pino Noir and a glass of Bell’s Christmas Ale, we got down to the business of surveying the menu and the daily specials.
Despite the many tempting entrees, we’re here for one thing… Italian…bring on the pasta. My wife ordered the Meat Lasagna while I jumped on the Baked Spaghetti with sweet Italian Sausage.
I was surprised and a bit disappointed that this Ann Arbor institution didn’t have freshly grated Parmesan Cheese on request to top off our pasta dishes. When we requested some of this common accompaniment, our server brought over the pizza shaker of dry Parmesan as if I was about to adorn a pepperoni pie. Excuse me… but I didn’t order pizza…
Despite this minor shortfall vs. my expectations, we did receive generous portions of delicious pasta. Courteous and attentive service was also the watchword of the evening.
Summing it all up, our experience this night was thoroughly enjoyable but fell just short of 4 stars. Lesson learned: Small touches (like something as seemingly insignificant as fresh shaved Parmesan) can make a big difference in creating the overall experience and when one’s Unilocal rating is on the fence.

Pros: The food! The portions of very generous and each dish was well-​seasoned. Complimentary bread was served hot from the oven, and of such a delightful texture and subtle taste of sesame seeds that no oil or butter was needed. The mandarin chicken salad that I ordered was an entrée-​sized portion with a perfectly grilled chicken breast. And, finally, my thighs are already sorry that I crave the cheese bread, which is truly a «must.»
Cons: Service! We dined at the bar. The bartender/​manager was incredibly slow and distracted. Servers seemed equally disorganized. We watched as salads regularly languished on the counter for over five minutes. The apparent reason that our simple order turned into a 1.5 hr ordeal on a NOT busy night. I can only imagine the chaos that must ensue on a Saturday…
That said, I enjoyed the food enough to try the Original Cottage Inn again with the hope of updating this review. However, if the service stinks again, I think that I will opt for take-​out in the future.

With so many pizza options it’s hard to believe there’s room for more in the market. Like Domino’s Pizza, Cottage Inn is an Ann Arbor original. Unlike Domino’s, Cotton Inn wisely stayed local, expanding only to a few outlying towns with pickup and delivery. The heart of the empire though lies in this William Street location that has slowly been modified over the years. Greek owned, it represents the last of an era when the Greek and German immigrants dominated the downtown restaurant scene.
The signature dish to this day, however, is the deep-​dish Sicilian pizza with sesame seeds on the olive oil brushed crust. A six slice half tray does the trick to fill two or three people, or you can opt for the eight slice full tray and ensure pizza for breakfast. Don’t overlook the awesome Greek salad or antipasti salads either.
My buddy got his childhood favorite, manicotti, which apparently was delicious since he wiped it out quickly! I was stuffed after consuming three slices of the half tray. We washed it down with cocktails and Bell’s beer. However, the new cocktails sounded better than the execution, but I applaud them for the recent addition. I think they’ll get better in time. Being a college town means there are always new employees being trained, and service although well meant, isn’t always excellent. Nevertheless, the night before the first home game can be given leniency but I hope the service improves soon. I am glad I visited and that their pizza is still as good as it was sixteen years ago when I last tried it.

My son and I picked up my wife to take her to lunch. We were originally going to go to Hunter House for burgers but decided to go to the «pizza buffet» at The Original College Inn. We arrived at quarter to twelve, were seated and told the server that we would all behaving the «pizza buffet». We were informed that the «pizza buffet» wasn’t ready yet but that the salad bar was ready. My family all made themselves a salad, sat down and waited for at least fifteen minutes for the pizza to come out. When we came to the buffet, there were two pies… one pepperoni/​sausage and one with green peppers and onions. This is a buffet? I don’t think so! The pies were ok but nothing special. There was also a chicken dish on the side that was dried out from being in a chafing dish too long and a corn side dish that clearly was made with canned corn! All this costed around $ 35! Needless to say, my family and I have been there both times in one, first and last!

There were four of us in Ann Arbor for the Ann Arbor Art fair. Two of us are alumni, and often took out pizza from Cottage Inn more than 50 years ago. After having several excellent meals at expensive restaurants, we decided to go back to cottage inn so many years later. We had salads, soup and pizza. The cost was one third of the cost at the other restaurants we went to in Ann Arbor, but as good as, and in some ways even better, than the expensive places. The pizza was the best I’ve had in a long time, except for Genuine deep dish Chicago pizza, like Lou Malnati’s. Service was attentive and effective. The server even had time to share with us her educational experiences while being a student at a local community college.

We were looking for gluten-​free option. I can say we were pleasantly surprised by The assortment about missions day have on their menu. Just the fact they have a separate gluten-​free menu is a positive for us. We had an bruschetta which was delicious and two gluten-​free pizzas which were crispy and cooked to perfection. They have about 10 local beers on tap and a wide selection of bottled beers. I would highly recommend for casual environment.

I love pizza, and this place has good pizza! But, the service was far from good. First off, she didn’t even introduce herself. My family had to walk downstairs to the bar to get drinks because she was not getting us refills. I asked for a crème soda twice and finally got it 20 minutes later. She said they were under staffed because of the art show, but there were only 4 tables upstairs. Our gratuity was added on because we were a group of 9, but I wish it was not, because she did not deserve 20%.

Disappointed after we braved the rain and wind to get here. My group had deep dish and regular pepperoni pizza. There wasn’t enough sauce, and what was on the pizza had no flavor and very little meat. One pizza was supposed to have green peppers but you could barely see any. Two of our group had pasta and they said that was a lot better. I noticed there aren’t many recent reviews so thought I would add my two cents. When I’m in town it seems a tradition to come here but may think twice next time.

A friend and I tried to eat lunch here recently, and her child fell asleep on the walk there. They refused to let us park her stroller with her sleeping toddler in it next to a table — we were told the stroller had to be folder up and left at the front of the restaurant. It was a super compact travel stroller, would not have taken up more room than a standard restaurant chair. There were many empty tables and places to put said stroller where it would be completely out of the way, but we were told we could not remove a chair at our table and replace it with the stroller. The only choice we were offered was to remove the child from the stroller and lay her in a booth, which would have been awkward and probably would have woken her. We left and went elsewhere.

If it weren’t for the sign, it would be hard to know you were in a Cottage Inn. There is no orange-​and-​blue motif here. Instead it is decorated almost like a winery, with vines painted on the walls, and decorative wire hangings. There are plenty of tables, and even banquet rooms you can rent for events.
One major departure from your standard Cottage Inn is the menu. Of course there is great pizza, but this location has entrees, too. On our most recent visit, we tried pasta dishes instead of pizza, and they were tasty and traditional without being too acidic, something that doesn’t always happen in restaurant pasta sauce. This location also has a bar, with what appears to be a good list of beer and wine, but I know almost nothing about that, so don’t take my word for it. I do know a lot about cheese bread, and you need to try the cheese bread at the Original Cottage Inn at least once. It’s not like standard pizza place cheesy breadsticks, this one is more like cheesy toast. Delicious!
My favorite part of this Cottage Inn is their weekday lunch buffet. Working downtown, I can walk over at lunch time and fill my plate with salad, pizza, breadsticks, soup, and usually a choice between two entrée-​type items. Last time I went, I think there was macaroni and cheese and fish and chips. No matter what you get or how much you get from the buffet, it’s the same price, and with sodas it ends up around $ 20 for two. Not someplace to eat every day, but a good option for days when you’re very hungry, or need to eat a big lunch to power through staying late.
Even if you think you don’t like the standard orange-​and-​blue Cottage Inn chains, try out the Original Cottage Inn downtown. They were the first, and they do it the best.

Visited here last night for the first time. I had wanted to come here for awhile, and it was surely worth the wait. Our server was very busy (had about 4 other tables during an understaffed point in the day) and got the job done well.
The cheese bread appetizer, while a simple dish, was a very tasty start to the meal. My girlfriend and I ordered «The Best of Cottage Inn» (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, Parmesan, brick and mozzarella cheeses with olive oil and herbs). It was a large square pizza that divided up into 8 triangular slices. We could only finish half! The pizza itself was very good. Toppings were fresh and the sesame crust is a nice accent. For more pizza than we could ever eat along with the appetizer it was only $ 25. We will definitely be coming back to try other things on the menu! Pictures of our dinner are attached.

This meal was absolutely horrific. Chicken marsala came with a sauce that was as thick as paste and tasted as if it had been simmering for weeks. The plate had enough pasta mixed with carrots and green onion to feed a family of four. I couldn’t eat more than 2 bites before sending it back. Lasagna was hidden under a massive blob of tomato sauce so that you couldn’t tell right away that it had likely been sitting for more than a week. It had a sour smell and taste. We sent both plates back expecting to be able to leave without trouble and they insisted on charging $ 5 for two half drunk club sodas.

So, traveling to the Mid-​west is always scary for me with a Gluten Allergy. A serious Gluten Allergy. They love their gluten in the mid-​west, or so it seems.
What a surprise to find The Cottage Inn has a Gluten free pizza that they cook in a separate dish to avoid cross contamination! It was great! I also have to nix the cheese, and the BBQ chicken still tastes great!
The fact that they also deliver in the middle of the night is awesome (although thinking about it, the delivery might have come from a different location? I’m not familiar with Ann Arbor and also didn’t call the order in.)
Fantastic Pizza, allergy free. Win!

Recent visit here was with 8 other family members. Pizza all around — all looked and tasted wonderful. The eggplant Parmesan looked amazing, burgers looked good. Waiter was around enough to do refills, but didn’t hover and annoy.
Poor Ben had my pizza order wrong — but pineapple vs pepperoni — maybe the kitchen missed the pineapple or Ben’s handwriting is bad. Not upset enough to send it back as it still tasted great!
It had been 30 years since I was at Cottage Inn as I don’t get to Ann Arbor often. I’ll be going back soon.

I’ve been here twice now. Once for a banquet for which food was pre-​determined and ordered beforehand, so I wasn’t presented with a menu. I don’t remember disliking anything about my first experience.
Today, I ordered the Pesto Primavera 10″ pizza with artichokes and no cheese on a thin crust. The thin crust was extremely crunchy, like a cracker. I would have preferred somewhere in between bread texture and cracker, but it was still good. They put a lot of toppings on it, which is definitely a plus. However, I wish the pesto had more basil. It tasted a little plain to me.
I tried my friend’s zucchini fries, which came as part of the Hot Trio Sampler. They were thinly sliced pieces breaded and fried. I thought they were too greasy and too salty. I would recommend the zucchini fries over at Pizza House, which are thicker and definitely less oily.
The waiter, although seemingly frustrated with our large party by the end of our dinner, was overall pretty receptive and patient. The hosts are very welcoming. The atmosphere is great. They’ve got a bar and a couple TVs for those who don’t want to have a sit-​down dining experience.

The original Cottage Inn! It is so good! I haven’t been in a little while, but if they still have the intense chocolate mousse torte on the dessert menu… and you like chocolate… get it. It might be my favorite dessert of all time.
Naturally the pizza is a staple and is great (I like it better than Pizza House). Their other menu items are also worth a taste, though. The lasagna and manicotti are personal favorites. This is a great location for dinner with friends, or for a date, or for when he ‘rents come to visit you at college.

Went here with friends for the Happy Hour specials… well, it wasn’t a happy ending. So we got seated and looked at the happy hour menu and ordered from there… but we forgot to read the fine print above the hours (happy hour at the bar)… so yeah… we ended up paying regular prices for the appetizers rather then the $ 5’s per plate… so when we got our bill and inquire why we were charged regular prices. the waitress informed us that the happy hour specials are only at the bar… I wish she would have told us this when we were ordering the food from the happy hour menu! URG!
So be aware… if you go for happy hour, stay in the bar area for the specials… also, check in on Unilocal and you’ll get 10% off on your food bill.