If you plan to visit the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame next winter, I have a dining suggestion for you. Across the street from the winter-sports shrine and cattycorner from a Pizza Hut, you will find Ralph’s Italian Deli — an Upper Peninsula gem.
From the house bakery come sweet rye, cardamom loaves, and Italian breads as well as enormous frosted apple-cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The butchers in back make sausage of all kinds, including the local fave, cudighi. Pronounced cud-a-gee with a hard G, it is such a specialty of Ralph’s that there is a map posted on the back wall of the dining room where pushpins indicate all the places in the U.S. and beyond to which the butchers have shipped their sausage. The map is titled “Where has all the cudighi gone?”
A cudighi (sandwich) is available made with a grilled patty of mild, medium, or hot sausage on a house-made white or whole wheat roll. Standard dressing at Ralph’s is mozzarella, mustard, ketchup, and onion. It’s a strange combination of condiments, but somehow on this dense, crusty-edged sausage with perfumy seasoning, it works. For those interested in reducing their calorie intake, Ralph’s makes turkey cudighi.
Of course, the menu offers pasties. They are juicy enough that they need no gravy, although the waitress will supply some if you ask. Their savory crust, reminiscent of a sturdy pie shell, encloses shreds of beef and onion and little cubes of potato and rutabaga. It comes with a fork, but would be easy to eat out of hand like ore miners of long ago might have done on lunch breaks.
Sunday | 10am - 7pm |
Monday | 10am - 7pm |
Tuesday | 10am - 7pm |
Wednesday | 10am - 7pm |
Thursday | 10am - 7pm |
Friday | 10am - 7pm |
Saturday | 10am - 7pm |
Other Nearby Restaurants
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Crossroads Lounge
Marquette, MichiganCrossroads is a spacious tavern that has a full menu and serves three meals a day. House specialty: a one-pound pasty, one of the Upper Peninsula’s best.
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Jean-Kay’s
Marquette, MichiganJean-Kay’s is a small Marquette restaurant & take-out specializing in Michigan Upper-Peninsula pasties, made fresh daily using steak and suet.
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Lawry’s Pasty Shop
Ishpeming, MichiganLawry’s of Ishpeming has set high standards for Upper Peninsula pasties since the mid-20th century. It is a humble place that is a Michigan best bet.
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Jampot
Hubbell, MichiganRun by monks in the northernmost reaches of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Jampot offers breads, cookies, rum-soaked cake and a spectacular selection of jams.
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Irontown Pasties
Negaunee, MichiganUpper Peninsula pasties at Irontown in Negaunee, Michigan, are made in classic versions as well as vegetarian, vegan & gluten-free. Dessert: fruit turnovers!
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Sweet Water Cafe
Marquette, MichiganRestaurant, bakery and bar with an elevated consciousness, Sweetwater Cafe serves exemplary meals locally-sourced and made from scratch. A Marquette must!