Zingerman's Delicatessen — Jewish Deli / American, Ann Arbor
Zingerman's Deli opened in 1982 in a small building in Kerrytown and became one of the most studied small businesses in American food history — a deli that never expanded beyond its original location while building an empire of affiliated food businesses around it. The corned beef sandwich and the Reuben are both still made on bread baked in the building next door.
The sandwiches are enormous, the ingredients are sourced with the same rigor that the Roadhouse applies to its proteins, and the cheese counter represents a genuine international selection maintained with the seriousness of a serious cheesemonger.
The mail-order operation has made Zingerman's national; the deli itself has remained resolutely local — a lunch-counter in Ann Arbor that happens to be one of the most celebrated food businesses in the country.
The wait on weekends is not a deterrent but a verification that the quality is real. Lines at genuinely good places are a feature.
Best Occasion: Perfect for Solo Dining
A Reuben on rye at a counter stool in the most famous deli outside New York. Solo dining's most validating Ann Arbor experience.
Best Occasion: Works for Team Dinners
Box lunches for the team, the full sandwich menu explored collectively, and the satisfaction of eating at the institution that made Ann Arbor a food city.