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Famous Detroit Ham Place For Sale

Mike’s famous Ham Place is for sale in Detroit. First reported in BridgeDetroit last week, the owner Mike Muftari is looking to retire after running the place since 1974. Did…

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Mike's famous Ham Place is for sale in Detroit. First reported in BridgeDetroit last week, the owner Mike Muftari is looking to retire after running the place since 1974. Did you know it was called "Liles" for five years before he changed the name to "Mikes Famous Ham Place" - and Mike's has been there (in one name or another) for over sixty years.

It's a Ham Place First and Foremost

What's on the menu? Ham. And after that? Ham. Watch this video from our friends at WDIV from back in 2019 to get an idea:

Mike's famous Ham Place is for sale in Detroit.

Mike would love to find a buyer for the place (he's in his 70's and feels it time to retire - hell he's been serving ham since 1974!). Mike definitely wants it to remain a Ham place...as does everybody else in the community. Mikes is in Hamtramck at 3700 Michigan Ave, Detroit, MI 48216

How much to buy Mike's Ham place? According to a real estate listing, it's priced at $545,000.

Remember when we lost Liles in Dearborn?

Of course last year Liles closed in Dearborn after 60 years in business. 

Couple of years ago Channel 7 did a great piece about the simple magic of Lile’s (great ham sandwiches and soup)…simple done right (with a cool bunch of people running it).

Lile's Sandwich Shop serving up ham sandwiches | On Michigan Ave. in Dearborn, Lile's is the place that ham built. Harry Lile grew up working in his dad's restaurant and learned the secret for culinary... | By WXYZ-TV Channel 7 | Facebook

225K views, 1.7K likes, 275 loves, 543 comments, 2K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from WXYZ-TV Channel 7: On Michigan Ave. in Dearborn, Lile's is the place that ham built. Harry Lile grew up working...

I’ve got a ton of friends in the food service industry, and all of them talk about how hard these times have been. For a place like Lile’s that had a steady flow of people working at Ford to make it through Covid and keep going is a testament to the passion Harry has for Liles. But we get it – there’s a point of diminished returns and unfortunately that means no more sandwiches and soup like this.

Liles in Dearborn

Nothing fancy – just real food. I wonder how many people have memories of going to Lile’s in Dearborn?

Liles in Dearborn

Doesn’t it feel like we’re losing more and more of these places in Detroit? I live in Waterford and recently the owner of Rocket Burger announced he was closing after 50 years (famous burger place on Baldwin in Pontiac). During Covid we really tried to highlight as many local places as possible to keep it going – and time and time again the passion and loyalty to their customers was evident.

I hope we keep Mike's Famous Ham - and someone sees the value in it. Because we need these institutions in Detroit.

Jim O'Brien is the Host of "Big Jim's House" Morning Show at 94.7 WCSX in Detroit. Jim spent eight years in the U.S. Naval Submarine Service, has appeared on Shark Tank (Man Medals Season 5 Ep. 2), raised over two million dollars for local charities and is responsible for Glenn Frey Drive and Bob Seger Blvd in the Motor City. Jim's relationship with Classic Rock includes considering Bob Seger, Phil Collen from Def Leppard, Wally Palmer of the Romantics and many others good friends. Jim writes about ‘80s movies, cars, weird food trends and “as seen on TikTok” content.