Foundry Bakehouse & Deli
400 S. Superior StreetWe don’t get to Albion often. It’s close enough to Jackson that I always forget it’s actually in Calhoun County.
My co-worker and I had to run out to a jobsite just outside of Albion last week. I have a couple restaurants in Albion I could hit up for lunch but I decided to look anyway to see if there was anything new.
We got to rural Calhoun County pretty early in the day so we were done and heading back to Kalamazoo right around 11:00. Our travels took us through downtown Albion and on our way through town, I noticed a deli I hadn’t seen before. I checked the menu before we headed back and in to town and realized this place was right up my alley.
Foundry Bakehouse & Deli is right on the corner of Superior Street and Erie Street on the southern end of downtown Albion. The last picture of this place on Google Maps shows it was an appliance story but that was almost a decade ago. There was some major renovation done to the building in 2018 and the deli opened in Spring of 2019.
You walk in to a pretty big lobby like area when you enter the door on the corner of Superior and Erie. You make a quick decision to either head to the sweets off to the right or go straight ahead to find the order counter for sandwiches. There’s a little bit of modern with the drop ceilings, hanging lights, and TV monitors with menus but also a little bit of the historical with the hardwood floors that squeak when you walk on them.
Co-worker and I both ordered our sandwiches to go. We actually both ordered the Shakeout which came with a bag of chips. Had we decided to stay, there’s a dining room off to the side once you place your order. It has the feel of a great place to grab a sandwich or a snack and work on homework. There’s a lot of natural light let in through the windows facing out to superior street.
I started to look at the bakery case while I was waiting for my sandwich but it really took less than five minutes for my number to be called. I probably would have been a hero to my kids if I had brought them home something but there’s no guarantee I could have grabbed something at noon and I wouldn’t have eaten it by the time I got home at 6:30.
The sandwiches come with a choice of side and I grabbed a bag of chips. I opened them as soon as I got in the car to eat while we were making our way back to the Interstate. The chips are Great Lakes Potato Chip Company chips out of Traverse City….. which are some of my favorite chips. I kept it simple with a bag of original but co-worker got the cherry variety.
I was going to wait until I got back to Kalamazoo to grab my sandwich but I was really hungry. We stopped at Speedway on the way out of town to get gas and grab some drinks. While I was pumping gas, I decided to unwrap the sandwich to see how messy it was going to be.
The sandwich comes on a sub bun and it’s stuffed with Boar’s Head Tavern ham, hard salami, a muffuletta spread, lettuce, banana peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella, and provolone. The sub bun isn’t all that big but it is stuffed full of meat and cheese. I was afraid is going to be messy with the muffuletta spread but it was not. The veggies were all contained in a tight layer between the cheese and bread. Co-Worker didn’t know what muffuletta was and was a little annoyed to find olives on the sandwich but after taking a bite, changed his tune saying the spread was actually really good and if he hadn’t noticed the olives, he would never have known they were even on there.
The cost of the sandwich and bag of chips was just under $13 before.
I love places like Foundry Bakehouse & Deli. Anytime I can grab a quick, delicious sandwich from a counter service restaurant, I’m a happy guy. I don’t really like sitting down and eating while I’m at work but I love finding new places when I’m driving all over southwest and west Michigan. Foundry was a great find
SW Michigan Dining 