farewell to eve & the new frita batidos

Last week eve-the restaurant in Ann Arbor held it's last dinner service and closed their doors. Despite what caused the restaurant to close, and there are many rumors, I am shocked to hear about such a sudden decision despite the place's seeming success. Eve Aranoff, the chef owner of eve, has opened a new venture "frita batidos" on w. washington st. downtown Ann Arbor in the former location of "Cafe du Jour". Even though our dining experiences at eve had their ups and downs we decided to try out her AmeriCuban take on informal dining.
The shared seating is the first thing I noticed about the all-white dining room- and I was not bothered by this because of my outgoing personality. I even tried my neighbor's discarded conch fritters ($0 free score!) while we waited for our beverages. Despite being cold, the fritters had a good texture, and came with a variety of sauces (always a good thing). Side note, if you didn't want to meet or talk to anyone, you might want to sit next to the napkins.
My date ordered a double espresso ($6) and a ginger lime juice ($2.5) served in a plastic sandwich bag tied around a straw. I think the bag was a really authentic street food touch, but it wouldn't stay upright and spilled a bit on to my date. I stayed tried and true with a mexican coca cola, real sugar, glass bottle, the best ($2). The alcoholic drinks menu was a fake out- they haven't secured their liquor license yet.
We ordered from the counter: one pulled pork sandwich ($8) and one chorizo frita ($7). Both were flavorful and has well matched accompaniments. The pulled pork was tender and the sweet chili mayo the came along top was at the right level of gluttony without being too much.
The chorizo could have been spicier, in fact, everything could have been spicier.
The best thing about this place is it is open until midnight, and most places in town close by 10, and maybe you'll meet someone new at your table (but you probably already know everyone who lives here, this is Ann Arbor).