Mike's Famous Ham Place
Sandwich shop · Core City
3700 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI 48216
Highlights
Old-school landmark serving thick, juicy ham sandwiches & soup
Old-school landmark serving thick, juicy ham sandwiches & soup
"Many of Detroit’s old diners serve sliced ham sandwiches, but Mike’s Famous has one of the best. The ham is sliced thick and served on a poppy seed roll with pickles, mustard, and maybe a little ham garnish on top." - Serena Maria Daniels
"Steamed ham hocks are front and center in the shop window at Mike’s Famous Ham Place, a diner-style restaurant specializing in ham sandwiches, ham and eggs, and pea soup. Customers can sit at the counter and watch their meat carved right from the bone and onto a fluffy poppy seed roll. Take cash." - Serena Maria Daniels
"A decades-old lunch counter on Michigan Avenue has been purchased by a former Detroit police officer, Kimberly Lambert, and her husband, John, after earlier this year going on the market. Outgoing owners Mike Muftari and his wife, Yvet, will wrap up their final shifts on November 27, according to BridgeDetroit, while the new ownership has been gearing up for the change of hands since October by working at the diner. “When I saw the article I went to bed thinking about it, woke up thinking about it, this constant thing, something was telling me, make sure that this iconic staple stays,” Lambert said, according to BridgeDetroit. The Lamberts will keep things as they are at the counter aside from eventually accepting credit card payments. The spot was formerly the original location for Lile’s Ham Sandwich Shop, which flung open its doors in 1965; Lile’s moved to its Dearborn location and shuttered in June 2023 after nearly 60 years in operation, according to the Freep. Mike Muftari went on to take over the spot and renamed it after himself. Detroit was once a ham sandwich haven, with modest lunch counters, often Albanian immigrant-owned, that specialized in stacked ham sandwiches, split pea soup with chunks of pork, and affordable breakfasts for generations of working-class Detroiters; this diner is now among the region’s few remaining such establishments." - Serena Maria Daniels
"This southwest Detroit ham-sandwich counter is one of the region's few remaining old-school lunch spots, known for stacked ham sandwiches, split pea soup studded with pork, and affordable breakfasts. After roughly 50 years in service the owner is retiring and the business/property have been listed for sale (asking $545,000) and on the market since September 11, 2023; local food figures have publicly urged that any buyer preserve the shop rather than redevelop the site, and the sales agent is available for viewings at 313-506-2230." - Serena Maria Daniels
"I keep classic staples like Mike's Ham among my go-to spots." - Serena Maria Daniels
