Handmade
We had a pretty early day working in Lenawee County near Michigan International Speedway. Our job started around 5 AM and we were done for the day not long after 10 AM.
My colleague was staying in the area because he had tickets to the races at MIS. That’s not unusual, he does the same thing every year. We knock out a shift in the morning then he takes the rest of the weekend off and enjoys the racing.
I got packed up and started heading home around 10:30. The shortest route home would have been taking US-127 north to I-94. But where’s the fun in that? I decided instead to take US-12 to I-69 to I-94. I figured I would look for something to eat along the way in a town I’ve never been to before.
I ended up in Hillsdale. It was a little out of my way but I’ve never been to Hillsdale before and I was curious. Plus, I found a sandwich shop that looked pretty good.
I ended up at Handmade on Hillsdale Street just north of Monroe Street not too far from downtown Hillsdale. When I pulled up, I wasn’t totally sure if it was open. The small building has been a deli in Hillsdale for quite a while. Before it was Handmade, it was Oakley Deli & Party Store. The shop sits kind of in a residential neighborhood so parking is all on the street. I found a spot in front of the house just to the north of the building.
The kitchen is integrated into the dining room so when you walk in, there is a large counter separating the space. There is an order counter right inside the door of the large room that is lit with natural sunlight and track lighting.
The menu is written on a couple of chalkboards that outline a large drink cooler. You have the option to pick from one of their signature sandwich creations or you can build your own from a list of meats, cheese, veggies, and breads.
I stuck with one of the signature sandwiches. I picked The Sicilian, got it on a 14″ sub bun and had it toasted. The cost was a little over $18 before tip. The sandwich was made fresh so I took a seat in the dining room to wait. This space, again, really takes advantage of the natural light from the large windows on the front and side of the building. The darker atmosphere is amplified by wood floors and furniture and tables plus the muted grey-ish walls. There is also some outside seating with some metal picnic tables out front and a courtyard area with more seating.
It took a little over 10 minutes for someone to come out of the kitchen with a bag with my name on it. I grabbed the food then hopped in the car to finish the drive home.
The Sicilian is a pretty typical Italian style sandwich. It comes with salami, capocola, Provolone, and Pesto. There are a number of bread choices but I picked the French Bread 14″ sub bun. I also went pretty light on the veggies opting only for lettuce and giardiniera. I guess there’s probably a big enough Chicago contingent at Hillsdale College that Giardiniera was made an option.
This sandwich was delicious. I was only going to eat half of it on the drive home but I couldn’t let it sit there knowing it was there. I was a little hesitant on the pesto but that ended up just blending in to the stack of meats and cheese. The giardiniera kind of dominated the flavor but that’s what it’s supposed to do. I love that spicy, vinegary flavor of the pickled vegetables and could eat it on pretty much everything. Giardiniera is my Ranch.
I’ve never been to Hillsdale before so I had never really done any research in to restaurants in the area. I knew I wanted to go out of my way on the way home from Brooklyn because I had the time to do so and I wanted to find something new. Handmade was worth going out of the way for. Every part of the sandwich was delicious and I was sad when it was gone.
SW Michigan Dining 