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Lifestyle

Amer’s Deli Names Menu Items After Real People, and Here are Their Stories

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at U Mich chapter.

Let’s bring it back to 1983: a young Amer has just begun his college experience here at the University of Michigan. Over the next four years, he will join the brotherhood of Phi Gamma Delta (more informally known as FIJI), major in electrical engineering, and intern at General Motors over the summers. However, what comes next, no one could have guessed. The first plant Amer worked at shut down 3 months after his electrical engineering career began. So he set out for California. After “chasing waves” for a year in California and Hawaii, Amer realized there was a problem, a major problem. Coffee shops, which sold his beloved espresso, didn’t sell good sandwiches. Sandwich shops didn’t sell espresso because they thought the coffee was just a fad. The combination of these two events (and a guilt trip from Amer’s mother to come back home to Michigan) led to something all Michigan students are grateful for: Amer’s Deli.

What many people don’t know is that Amer is Ann Arbor born and raised. The menu is comprised of delicious sandwiches, salads, snacks, and froyo (and who doesn’t love a good FroYo?) based on Amer’s personal life and his interactions on campus. So here are some of Amer’s greatest menu hits. 

1. “Yogurt Rush”

amer's
Maddie Collins

Before sorority rush, a flood of girls from Sigma Delta Tau would come into Amer’s and get frozen yogurt. They would ask for a lid, a paper bag, and a marker. They would write their names on the bags then put them in their freezer to feast on after rush was over for the day. Amer’s deli manager would then call Amer and say “we just had a yogurt rush!” And that was that.   

2. Heidi’s Salad

amer's
Maddie Collins

This is another SDT legacy at Amer’s. A student and member of Sigma Delta Tau named Heidi came in and asked for the same salad every day. Eventually, it just became known as “Heidi’s Salad.” Other girls from SDT would come into the deli and ask for the salad Heidi got. It became so popular Amer decided to put it on his menu. 

3. Darren and Sam Salad

Back in the day, two students named Darren and Sam were working at Amer’s and decided they wanted their legacy to live on even after they left Michigan. They composed a salad complete with Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Optional Garbanzo Beans & Carrots, then started promoting it to customers until it got up on the wall.

4. The ‘About Last Bite’ Sandwich

As every Michigan student knows, everyone ends up at Amer’s one time or another. More often than not, stories are exchanged after a night out in this local deli. Students would often say “about last night…” when recapping the night to their friends. This common line and Amer’s love for puns created this delicious turkey sandwich. So to all the Michigan students out there: this one’s for you (and your late night adventures). 

5. Madi’s PB & J

Madi, one of Amer’s daughters, was a student that graduated last year from UMich (and a member of Alpha Chi Omega). When Amer’s wife was pregnant with Madi, she would always eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Amer has named menu items after all of his kids, including: “Julia’s Choice,” “Lindsey’s True Grazer,” and “Emil’s Green Cow.”

6. Melissa’s Main Meal

amer's
Maddie Collins

This chicken sandwich is named after Amer’s wife, Melissa. Since she loved this meal, it only seemed right to honor her with a menu item. If this isn’t relationship goals, I don’t know what is!

7.  Plain Jayne

amer's
Maddie Collins

Once upon a time, there was a student named Jayne that would order the simplest sandwiches: meat on bread, cheese on bread, stuff like that. In honor of her simplicity, Amer named quite a basic yet timelessly delicious corned beef or pastrami sandwich after her. 

This just goes to show how local of a joint Amer’s really is. He went to school here, traveled to the west coast, and still found himself back in Ann Arbor almost 30 years later. This place makes food created by UMich students, for UMich students (and for anyone really). So really, I think we all have Amer to thank for giving us some of the best food on campus. 

Even though I'm studying Sport Management, nothing goes better with a good old fashion game than high quality food :)