OMG! Zingerman's Deli serves some of the world's best sandwiches
The scene: You’ll probably see the line before the actual building, spilling out the front door, running around the corner and down the block. That’s the wildly popular way it has been at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Mich., since the mini-empire first opened its doors as a deli in 1982. More than 30 years later it has grown into a group of related food businesses and eateries, but the deli remains the heart and soul. The original building on a triangular corner near the heart of the college town is now the anchor of the “deli campus,” which has been expanded many times. If you have not visited in the past two years, since the biggest renovation in its history, you will not recognize the sandwich area. The campus now seats about 600 inside and out, downstairs and up, yet demand has kept pace with capacity — it’s pretty much always bustling.
Still serving as the front door and looking deceptively small and homey from outside, the original corner space was tiny, just over 800 square feet. Now this front room is all counters for meats, cheeses and delicacies sliced to order, a gourmet market of sorts, with an incredible selection of cured hams from around the world. It looks like a mini-version of New York’s Zabar’s, and one wall is a bread counter, since Zingerman’s has its own bakery and famously makes all its own breads for sale, restaurant use and for its multi-million-dollar catalog mail-order business. The first expansion was enclosing an adjacent outdoor space for the sandwich counter, but this is now an extension of retail, shelves piled high with one of the nation’s best selections of real olive oils, vinegars and other carefully sourced jarred, boxed and canned artisan foodstuffs. The latest expansion blew out the back, so sandwich eaters now continue up a ramp from the oils into the heart of the deli, an ordering counter surrounded by four large aerial menu boards and flanked by an array of sides and salads, behind which is an open kitchen — huge and bustling for a place that mainly serves sandwiches, albeit it 113 different ones.
While the line averages 30 minutes and can stretch as long as 90-120 minutes, the goal — usually successful — is for food to be served within 5-10 minutes. After ordering, you head to a separate checkout room, grab a drink and pay at one of the registers, telling them whether you will be sitting inside or out. Runners bring your food, so waiting in the line is the only hard part.
A separate house across the courtyard contains Zingerman’s Next Door, part of the deli campus, where you can buy pastries, from-scratch gelato and fancy coffee drinks using their own roasted and micro-sourced beans. This is not to be confused with several other offsite, standalone Ann Arbor members of the “Zingerman’s Community of Businesses,” including a separate bakery, the Bakeshop; a coffee-roasting and retail spot, the Coffee Company; the cheese- and gelato-making center, the Creamery; and another full-service restaurant, the Roadhouse.
Reason to visit: Sandwiches, especially with corned beef, brisket or pastrami; seasonal side salads.
The food: Zingerman’s is a legend, consistently ranked among the world’s best sandwich joints, and deservedly so. If you ask any Ann Arbor resident or Michigan alum, they will likely know the name and number of their favorite sandwich, even ten years later. Passions run so high that they keep a list of “retired” less popular sandwiches that have been discontinued, just so they can still make them when a fan returns. And return they do, as Zingerman’s is an integral part of the collegiate experience in Ann Arbor. Even fans of rival football teams make it a point to come wait in the line. It is quite likely the most famous eatery in Michigan.
The secret to their success is very simple, yet one you will have trouble finding at many other places: using only the very best ingredients in every respect, from start to finish, controlling as much in-house as possible. At Zingerman’s it all starts with the bread and meat. The company’s bakery is among the most acclaimed in the country, and their mail-order bread club, even frozen and shipped, puts most “artisanal” bakeries to shame. The breads are mostly twice-baked for extra-crisp crusts, and the rye is intentionally a bit salty to pair better with corned beef and pastrami. In short, they make killer bread, and sandwiches are by definition all about bread. It is hand-sliced to order for every single sandwich, about a thousand loaves a day. While the kitchen behind the counter is huge and state-of-the-art, the real action is in a second kitchen downstairs, where the pastrami is cured, the corned beef corned, the briskets slow-cooked, and an army of whole chickens are roasted then de-boned. Like the bread, all meats are sliced to order — generously — for every sandwich.
Meats and breads are mostly made in-house, and everything else is carefully curated, especially the high-quality cheeses. They use many different mustards, each for a specific purpose, and the sauerkraut, one of the most used and vital toppings, is made locally by the Brinery, a specialty producer — and all from local Michigan cabbage.
The ingredients and consistency cannot be beat, and the fillings are perfectly paired using the precisely right cheeses and condiments, which is why the sandwiches are so great — though many regulars do customize them, swapping out cheeses or changing breads. With 113 choices, all numbered and named — plus seasonal specials — it is daunting to choose, but Zingerman’s is best loved for its grilled sandwiches, and some 70% of all sold are made this way. The top four sellers are all grilled: the signature Reuben #2 (house corned beef, Swiss cheese from Switzerland, local sauerkraut and Russian dressing on grilled hand-cut rye); the Brooklyn Reuben #48 (pastrami instead of corned beef on grilled pumpernickel); the Cuban #00 (pulled pork, peppered ham, Swiss, dill pickle slices and hot mustard on a grilled paesano roll); and Pat & Dick’s Honeymooner #27 (smoked turkey, muenster and Kream mustard on grilled challah). To make things easier the menu also includes a top 10 list. The least popular sandwich, because while it is loved by fans most people just don’t get it, is the Davey’s Deep Purple #212 (Cajun tasso ham with mix of pickled cabbage, beets and ginger root, with Swiss and mayo on a grilled roll).
Because Zingerman’s has a huge focus on seasonal and fresh ingredients, sides change all the time, with recurring summer favorites like fresh peach and jalapeño salad, a weird but delicious juxtaposition of spicy and sweet, soft and crunchy, and not something you expect as a side to sandwiches. The one perennial side and a huge favorite is the macaroni and cheese, dispensed from trays right where you order. Every sandwich comes with a whole pickle, your choice of Old or New style, and both are delicious. By the checkout counter is a self-serve fountain from Puck’s Soda of New Jersey. The old-fashioned craft soda maker uses 1891 recipes such as vanilla orange cream, all made with natural flavors and cane sugar, no corn syrup.
Sandwiches are big, excellent and expensive, with most offered in two sizes, and even the small packs in over a 1/4-pound of meat. The best sellers weigh in at around $17 for a large, and almost all are north of $13. It is not uncommon for two people to split a large and a side or two, but if you haven’t been before there are just so many tempting choices you should splurge and split two larges to try more. It is one of those rare places where it is practically impossible to go wrong, but I have to say, of the many sandwiches I tried, the Cuban #00 was the standout. A non-traditional take on the genre with pulled instead of roasted pork and a different bread, it was completely and hopelessly addictive. I couldn’t stop eating it well past the point where I should have.
What regulars say: “I’ve been here like ten times in the past two weeks,” said University of Michigan freshman Harrison Shiels, enjoying a Reuben. His father added, “I always get the turkey, #27” (Pat & Dick’s Honeymooner).
Pilgrimage-worthy?: Yes — some of the best sandwiches anyplace, and a place fans return to on pilgrimages year after year — or after many years’ absence.
Rating: OMG! (Scale: Blah, OK, Mmmm, Yum!, OMG!)
Price: $$-$$$ ($ cheap, $$ moderate, $$$ expensive)
Details: 422 Detroit Street, Ann Arbor, Mich.; 734-663-3354; zingermansdeli.com
Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a barbecue contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an email at travel@usatoday.com. Some of the venues reviewed by this column provided complimentary services.