Hygrade Deli, the Southwest Detroit sandwich shop that has fed Michigan Avenue for more than five decades, is preparing to reopen this October under new ownership after a court-ordered receivership shut the place down late last year. New owner Kim Lambert says she is restoring the deli's piled-high corned beef sandwiches and bringing back a familiar face to help her do it: Stuart Litt, whose family ran Hygrade for 50 years before selling it in 2022.
According to Detroit Free Press reporter Susan Selasky, Litt said Lambert intends to bring Hygrade back to how it operated when his family owned it, and he is returning to help make that happen. Litt also wrote about the reopening plans in a Facebook post today. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, per the Free Press report.
A Deli With Deep Southwest Detroit Roots
Hygrade traces back to 1955, when it opened near the old Western Market at Roosevelt and Michigan Avenue, taking its name from the market's anchor meat supplier, Hygrade Food Products, according to Nu?Detroit. When Western Market was demolished to make way for the I-75 and I-96 freeway interchange, the deli relocated six blocks west to its current spot at 3640 Michigan Avenue, landing near workers from Cadillac's former Clark Street Assembly plant, the same outlet reports.
Stuart Litt's father, Bernie Litt, bought the deli in 1972 after running another local delicatessen, per Nu?Detroit's account. The shop later became a minor Hollywood attraction, appearing as “Ralli's Diner” in 2016's *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* and as “Irv's Deli” in that same year's *The Pickle Recipe*, according to the Detroit Metro Times, which notes filmmakers were drawn to its vintage 1950s interior.
From Family Sale to Receivership
Stuart Litt put the deli up for sale in 2021 and finalized its sale to Chuck Nolen that December, staying on through March 2022 to train incoming staff, the Metro Times reported. Nolen, who also owns Cutter's Bar and Grill in the Eastern Market area, took over Hygrade in 2022, and staff at the time told Metromode they were making brisket fresh daily under manager Fallon Gunn in an effort to preserve the deli's original 70-year flavor profile.
The arrangement did not last. Court filings show Nolen defaulted in September 2023 on $642,790 in business loans that nonprofit lender Invest Detroit had issued in December 2021 to fund his purchase of the deli, according to Crain's Detroit Business. Hygrade was placed into court-ordered receivership in December 2025, with operations suspended shortly after.
Court-appointed receiver Turkia Mullin reported in January that the deli faced severe physical repair needs along with unpaid unemployment taxes, delinquent property taxes and a pending tax foreclosure, as detailed by Deadline Detroit. Mullin's early reports also said that once she took possession, efforts were directed toward asset preservation, safety and risk mitigation, and that Nolen had paid $200,000 toward the debt without preventing court intervention.
New Owner Has a Track Record Nearby
Kim Lambert says the deli is currently being cleaned up and repaired ahead of the October reopening, and she has told the Free Press she intends to make Hygrade the best deli in Detroit. Lambert is not new to Michigan Avenue's lunch-counter scene: she and her husband, John, bought nearby Mike's Famous Ham Place, located west of Hygrade, from 50-year owner Sadiq “Mike” Muftari in October 2024, preserving its menu while adding modern payment options, according to WDIV ClickOnDetroit.
That business has already earned national attention. In December 2024, *The New York Times* named the ham sandwich at Mike's Famous Ham Place one of the “26 Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024,” calling it an honest and satisfying classic, ClickOnDetroit reported. The list featured only two Detroit dining spots.
Menu and Hours When Hygrade Reopens
Hygrade plans to serve Sy Ginsberg corned beef prepared according to Stuart Litt's own recipe. Ginsberg founded United Meat & Deli in Detroit's Eastern Market in 1982 and became known for supplying classic Jewish delis across Michigan, including helping open Ann Arbor's Zingerman's Delicatessen that same year.
Beyond the signature corned beef sandwiches, the reopened deli plans to serve breakfast and some dinner entrees still to be determined. Hygrade expects to operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today through Saturday. A longtime Hygrade waitress is also set to return to the counter when the deli reopens, according to the Free Press report.
Hoodline once ranked Hygrade among Detroit's top delis, alongside Mike's Famous Ham Place, underscoring how long both counters have anchored the neighborhood's food scene. With Litt back in the kitchen's orbit and Lambert overseeing repairs, Southwest Detroit's Michigan Avenue corridor is set to have both of its storied lunch counters under the same ownership umbrella once October arrives.
