Detroit, MI
Detroit Sandwich Week is arriving: What local restaurants are doing
7-Eleven’s Japanese-style egg salad gets a taste test from food writer
Free Press food writer Susan Selasky tries out the new 7-Eleven Japanese Style Egg Salad sandwich.
After Thursday’s Christmas holiday, it’s time to get ready for what’s become an annual tasty Detroit event.
This Friday starts the week sandwiched between Christmas and New Year’s.
And in Detroit, that means it’s time to get ready for what’s become a Detroit tradition, founded by a Detroiter: Detroit Sandwich Week.
The annual Detroit Sandwich Week celebrates five days and seven events of sandwiches at local restaurants.
It’s been a dozen years since local sandwich and overall food enthusiast Carlos Parisi came up with the idea of Detroit Sandwich Week to help support local businesses during a slow time.
Doing so also allowed Parisi to take sandwiches to another level.
“It’s beautiful because what Sandwich Week has done is given me a chance and an opportunity to do so much more,” Parisi said. “I started a podcast and was able to host TV shows and now the sandwich party, the Detroit sandwich party, which is insanely successful. It all stems from sandwich week.”
Parisi is also the owner and founder of Aunt Nee’s, whose products include Detroit-made tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole sold at Eastern Market and several metro Detroit stores.
Detroit Sandwich Week started out while Parisi worked at a corporate job. During the holiday season, Parisi and others were able to take longer lunch hours and got the idea to help support local businesses during the period between Christmas and New Year’s.
While over the years the event grew, it’s stayed true to its mission of supporting local businesses. Each year, the event typically draws hundreds of people to stop in a select group of sandwich shops.
Parisi said that while Sandwich Week was something he first started with friends, it’s now taken on a life of its own.
“It’s really cool because in the lexicon of Detroit, you hear other people say sandwich week,” he said. “That’s so amazing because we know that what that means is, it’s the week between the two holidays where we go and support small business. And celebrate it by eating sandwiches.”
Events this year include a ticketed dinner and the final Detroit Sandwich Week party.
This year’s Detroit Sandwich Week kicks off noon-3 p.m. Friday at Mudgie’s Deli & Wine Shop on Brooklyn Street in Corktown.
Founded by the late Greg Mudge, the famed Corktown spot is known for its hearty sandwiches piled with fresh-cut meats and cheese, soups and its wine shop. Mudge, who died in September 2021, name is now officially on a secondary street sign above the Brooklyn Street sign in Corktown.
Other sandwich stops are:
- Vesper, 5001 Grand River Ave., Detroit, noon-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 27. A wine bar and cookbook store, Vesper is in a former bank building in Detroit’s Core City. Ayiti Spaghetti, a pop-up, joins Vesper.
- Ladder 4 Wine Bar, noon-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28. Located in a Detroit neighborhood, Ladder 4 Wine Bar is in a restored former 1910 Detroit Fire Department house. In 2023, Ladder 4 Wine Bar was named the Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Restaurant of the Year.
- Dakota Inn Rathskeller, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. on Dec. 28. Featuring a 15-foot sandwich, this ticketed event takes place in the basement of the 90-plus-year-old Dakota Inn on John R. Tickets, available through a link on the Detroit Sandwich Party Instagram page, are $65 each. They include access to the sandwich, sides and two drinks. A cash bar is available.
- Rocco’s Italian Deli, 3627 Cass Ave., Detroit, noon, Dec. 29. This Midtown deli is known not only for deli sandwiches, but cocktails, specialty wines, cured meats, cheeses and olives.
- Tall Trees Café, 817 Livernois, Ferndale, noon Dec. 30. Tall Trees Café is a sandwich shop and lunch counter.
- Batch Brewing, 1400 Porter Street. On Dec. 30, a sandwich party starts at 6 p.m., and there’s a raffle with merch, gift cards and other items at 7 p.m. at the Corktown brewery.
Aside from the above specific events, places like Bev’s Bagels in Detroit’s Core City, Gonella’s in southwest Detroit, Last Chance Saloon and Pietrzyk Pierogi are participating with special sandwiches during the week.
Parisi also founded Detroit Sandwich Party, which once again drew thousands for last September’s event, its second, at Eastern Market. The sandwich festival is taking place again this year at Eastern Market and pays homage to the humble sandwich, featuring lots and lots of sandwiches, plus music and drinks. Parisi said he expects the event to be bigger this year.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for insider scoops on food and dining in metro Detroit.
What is Newlab?
Originally founded in Brooklyn, Newlab provides tech startups with a place to develop their products and expand their manufacturing capabilities. Located in the Albert Khan-designed former Detroit Public Schools Book Depository building in Corktown, Newlab Detroit is the venture platform’s second development center. The 270,000-squarefoot facility opened in 2023 and is situated within the 30-acre Michigan Central Innovation District. Newlab Detroit attracts global and local startups like metro Detroit’s Sharrow Marine, which makes advanced propellers.
“Detroit is still the best place in the world to make anything,” says Greg Sharrow, founder and CEO of Sharrow Marine. “It’s incredible that Michigan Central and Newlab exist here and that inventors are able to take advantage of those resources.”
How can a business become a member at Newlab Detroit?
More than 100 companies apply for Newlab Detroit residency every year, making membership an exclusive commodity. While membership is not restricted to hard-tech startups, the space is primarily designed to accommodate them. If an application is accepted, the monthly membership cost is $250.
What does Newlab Detroit provide members?
In addition to a fl oating desk, one of the biggest advantages Newlab o ers is access to the workshop. There, members can learn how to use state-ofthe- art technology that would otherwise be too costly for a startup to purchase. Other perks include access to Newlab’s manufacturing network and community of investors.
How many startups operate out of Newlab Detroit?
Currently, a blend of more than 100 local, national, and global companies operate out of Newlab Detroit. International startups currently make up roughly 15% of the community.
What kinds of products come out of Newlab Detroit?
The products developed at Newlab are as diverse as the people who create them. Technologies range from body temperature-reactive heating and cooling tiles to underwater robots designed to prevent water main breaks.
This story originally appeared in the June 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition
Emerging as the PWHL’s Defender of the Year made Tuesday night a special one for Megan Keller. Doing so in her hometown made it doubly so.Keller, a Farmington Hills native, earned recognition as the PWHL’s top blueliner this season with the Boston Fleet during a ceremony at One Campus Martius. She recorded 22 points in 30 games in addition to her stout defense.
“It’s an incredible honor,” Keller said. “Obviously, though, it’s a reflection of the team. I’ve got such great teammates. My D partner, also up for the award, Haley Winn.
“And goaltending Aerin Frankel, MVP, one of the best goalies in the world — makes my job super easy, and it was just so fun to come to the rink every day. We had such a special group, so to be a part of that, I’m just really thankful.”Winn earned Rookie of the Year, and Boston Fleet coach Kris Sparre earned Coach of the Year in his first campaign at the helm. He’s on to PWHL Hamilton next year, one of four expansion teams alongside Detroit. He had high praise for Keller, particularly for her athleticism and skill set. “I’ve said this before, and I’m sure this will ruffle some feathers from players that I’ve coached in the past, but she’s hands down my favorite professional athlete that I’ve coached in my 11 years,” Sparre said. “She deserves all the accolades that she gets.”
Keller’s name may ring a bell for her Olympic heroics, particularly February’s nifty move she used to score the golden goal for Team USA over Canada in the Milano-Cortina games. That’s the 30-year-old’s second Olympic gold medal of her career.Keller has also been a major proponent of expanding women’s hockey in Michigan, through both the creation of a varsity team at the University of Michigan and through a PWHL team. Fans who chanted “we want a team” at Little Caesars Arena will get their wish this year. Keller is ecstatic.“I’m so happy for the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan,” Keller said. “I think they’ve deserved a team for a long time.“I’ve gotten the opportunity to come back and play in the takeover tour games here at LCA, and the crowd that showed up, all the girls that were in the stands — I was a youth hockey player just like them growing up in all these rinks across Michigan.
“And for them to have a women’s professional team and role models to look up to every single night is going to be huge for them. I thought I was going to play on the Red Wings growing up, and to see their role models each and every day and know that they have a dream that can turn it into reality — it’s super special, and I’m so excited for what’s to come for them.”cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
J.T. Compher and Jesse Compher are the first NHL/PWHL siblings to play in the same city.
J.T. Compher and Jesse Compher are the first NHL/PWHL siblings to play in the same city.
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