Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

62 | JANUARY 5 • 2023 

I 

ask you — who doesn’t like a good corned beef on rye? Of 
course, one’s choice of corned beef is much like one’s choice of 
wine. We all have our favorites. Personally, along with thousands 
and thousands of other aficionados, I prefer that my sandwich be 
made with Detroit’s own Sy Ginsberg Corned Beef (disclaimer: No 
offense intended to any other corned beef).
My catalyst for this Looking Back is a recent interview with 
Ginsberg from the Times of Israel. Inspired to learn 
more, I also did my research in the William Davidson 
Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History to see what I 
could find on Ginsberg. The conclusions drawn from 
all the sources about Sy Ginsberg are these: He is a 
consummate deli man, and a lot of people consider 
his corned beef to be most tasty.
One might say that Ginsberg’s career began when 
his Orthodox Russian immigrant father met his moth-
er from Kentucky. She was working in a deli. Sy attended Yeshiva 
Beth Yehudah in Metro Detroit and began his own professional deli 
training in 1960 when, at age 15, he obtained a part-time job at Leo’s 
Deli in Downtown Detroit.
Ginsberg was an ambitious deli entrepreneur. He and a partner 
opened “Mister Deli” in 1968. It soon became a tremendously popu-
lar deli, even if it only had 35 seats. Ginsberg then opened the larger, 
locally famous Pickle Barrel Deli in Southfield in 1975. 
However, Ginsberg was still not satisfied, especially with the meats 
and corned beef that he desired. So, he sold the Pickle Barrel in 
1981 and began curing meats in the backroom of a butcher shop in 
Pontiac. 
Ginsberg then founded United Meat and Deli in 1982 and con-
centrated on wholesale distribution of his prepared meats. It began 
as a one-person operation. Ginsberg cured the corned beef and 
delivered it from his Volkswagen.
One of Ginsberg’s first customers was the fledgling Zingerman’s 
Deli in Ann Arbor. He helped out Zingerman’s at lunch hour, show-
ing the owners and staff how to make sandwiches. Ginsberg built the 
first sandwich sold to a customer at Zingerman’s.
Sy Ginsberg Corned Beef was a big hit. Not only Zingerman’s, 
but soon the Stage Deli, Steve’s Deli, the Hy-Grade Deli, the Bread 
Basket, the Russell Street Deli and many others featured — and still 
do — the famous corned beef. “Where’s the Corned Beef” in the 
Nov. 11, 2013, JN cites a few customers. Retail supermarkets such 
as Kroger, Busch’s and Holiday Markets followed the lead of Metro 
Detroit delis and stocked their meat counters with Sy Ginsberg 
Corned Beef.
Today, Sy Ginsberg Corned Beef can be found around the nation. 
Thousands of pounds of it, as well as other processed meats from 

United Meat and Deli Inc., are shipped out every week. In 2017, 
E.W
. Grobbel, a Detroit-based food company since 1883, also head-
quartered in Detroit’s famous Eastern Market, acquired Untied Meat 
and Deli. Grobbel’s has maintained the production of Ginsberg’s 
famous corned beef. 
Sy Ginsberg Corned Beef appears on many pages in the Davidson 
Archives. One measure of tribute to the meat might be the eight 
Danny Raskin “Best of Everything” columns that mention the 
corned beef. One column is an ode to “the Deli Legend” (June 2, 
2016).
OK — now I’m really hungry. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives, available for free at 
www.djnfoundation.org.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

The Consummate 
Deli Man

