Ralph’s Italian Deli In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Is A Hidden Gem

One of my favorite things about Michigan's Upper Peninsula is that there are so many small and unique towns and cities that have absolute staples of the community. From what I'm learning, that's exactly what Ralph's Italian Deli in the small city of Ishpeming, outside of Marquette, is for them. From the outside it looks like your normal small town deli, but once you step inside you see that not only do they have a lot to offer, but people have come from all over the state and country to take a little piece of Ralph's with them.

Cory Kattelus has been spending a lot of his time discovering places up north that the rest of the state may not be privy to. As someone who's headed up north in a few weeks, this comes right in the nick of time, as he exclaimed his love for the deli and their pizza:

 It's that thin, UP style square cut found at many places up here, very similar to Chicago tavern style. The house sauce is of course fantastic. They use a unique, very flavorful cheese blend, and cudighi doesn't just make a delicious sandwich, it is also a delicious pizza topping. I was also correct in assuming that they would serve an excellent meatball sandwich. Added hot giardiniera to that because, to paraphrase Mr. Fieri, this stuff would in fact be good on a flip flop.

I had never even heard of the city of Ishpeming before, but it looks like I'm gonna have to swing through on my vacation. Check out what the deli has to offer below.