Living in D.C. for a while made me realize that some cities just don't have very good delis.
D.C. didn't. I was also disappointed when I visited Chicago and got a corned beef sandwich at Manny's, David Axelrod's favorite deli.
Conversely, Detroit has a wealth of first-rate delis. The proof is always in the corned beef. You simply can't be a good deli if your corned beef is subpar.
Sylvia Rector of the Detroit Free Press weighs in on the subject, writing that "Detroit comes as close to corned-beef-sandwich heaven as any place in America."
I concur. I grew up dining at some of the best delis in Metro Detroit including the Stage and Katz's in Oak Park.
Rector lists five places to get a great sandwich. They include:
Bread Basket, which has 12 stores; Louie's Ham and Corned Beef, 3570 Riopelle St., Detroit: Hygrade Restaurant & Deli, 3640 Michigan, Detroit; Stage Deli, 6873 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield and Somerset North, 2800 W. Big Beaver, Troy; and Bronx Deli, 247 S. Telegraph, Pontiac and 37580 W. Twelve Mile, Farmington Hills.
Of course, there's a few others that weren't on the list I certainly think deserve a mention.
There's Plaza Deli on Northwestern Highway in Southield: The Star Deli on 12 Mile Road in Southield; Zingerman's in Ann Arbor; Steve's Deli in Bloomfield Hills and Siegel's Deli in Commerce Township.