When Tips Are Not Enough

by Sara Bonisteel, Posted Mar 11th 2009 @ 3:30PM

How far are you willing to go to save your favorite restaurant?

In Ann Arbor, Mich., the owners of a popular and longtime Mexican eatery, Tios, are selling "memberships" to help the restaurant move after the city bought the building it's called home for more than 20 years. Ann Arbor is expected to use the property to expand city hall.

Owner Tim Seaver hopes to raise $50,000 with the $50 to $5,000 memberships in the "Campaign to Save Tios." Those who join will get "one-year supply of extra hot salsa, monthly discounts or getting your name etched on a bar stool or booth," the Ann Arbor News reports.

Over the last two decades, Ann Arbor has lost many of its dining institutions, including the beloved Drake's Sandwich Shop with its homemade limeades as well as the dark and Gothic wursthaus known as the Old German.

Seaver told the paper he's already raised $20,000 from two fans of the smothered burrito, and is considering a new storefront in which to display the eatery's blazing collection of hot sauces. Tios' lease expires in June.

"People have been very generous and people want to help us keep going," Seaver said.

[Via: The Ann Arbor News]

Filed Under: Business, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants, News
Tags: ann arbor, tios