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1104 E. Ganson Street- Jackson, MI 49201
- (517) 783-16647
- No Known Website
- Menu
1104 E. Ganson StreetOur last day in Jackson was an early one. We worked from about 3 AM to 10 AM.
I dropped my colleague off back at the hotel so he could pick up his stuff then we weren’t our separate ways. He was staying in the area for the weekend to hang out with friends. I was heading back to Kalamazoo.
It was still before lunch time but I had a plan. There’s a restaurant in Jackson that has been on my list forever and this was finally going to be my opportunity.
I had to find something to do for an hour but I had a feeling it was going to be worth my time to wait around.
Right at 11:00, I pulled in to the parking lot of Schlenker’s Sandwich Shop on Ganson Street just to the east of East Avenue. The small, nearly 100 year old restaurant sits in the middle of a neighborhood on the northeast side of Jackson.
Schlenker’s is a throwback to the lunch counter days. The restaurant has a large u-shaped counter as it’s only seating option. There are only 16 seats inside and a couple of patio tables outside in front of the shop. There really isn’t much space in the building. There is kind of a narrow walkway on either side of the U and very little space right inside the door. There’s no public restroom and really no place to hang around waiting for a seat to open up should it be full.
The menu is on the wall in an old channel sign menu board. The bulk of the menu is burgers. How many patties and what do you want on it. There is also a BLT, grilled cheese, hot dogs, and chicken if you’re not a burger person.
The fat guy in me wanted to go with the Quad Burger. The sensible guy in me ordered the Double Cheese burger with mustard, lettuce, and pickles. They do have their own special sauce which is a mixture of mustard, onion, relish, and spices. I passed on that but I always have a little bit of FOMO when I do that. I should at least *try* things when a restaurant like this has something they’re known for. I also added on a large order of fries and a can of pop. The total cost was right around $15 and they do accept credit cards now so that’s how I paid.
The fries came out as soon as they were ready. I was asked if I wanted ketchup or malt vinegar with them and I declined. I actually would have liked some mustard and I should have asked but I didn’t think of it right away. The fries are really simple frozen food service type fries. There was a salt and pepper shaker on the counter so I loaded them up with each of those to give super hot fries a little bit of flavor.
The burger is the reason I came to Schlenker’s and I couldn’t wait to get in to it. These burgers are made with meat from a local butch shop and pattied pretty thinly. The two beef patties were topped with a slice of American cheese, lettuce, pickles, and mustard. I didn’t realize it when I went to pick it up but the sandwich is cut in half before it’s wrapped in the wax paper it’s served in. I grabbed the first half and took a bite. It was everything I had hoped it would be. It’s a delicious, juicy, fall apart in your mouth burger. It’s not super fancy. It’s a simple, delicious burger cooked on a diner flat top in a 100 year old restaurant in a small town in Michigan. I polished the burger off in just a few bites and at that point, wished I had gone for the quad. The sandwich was so simple and so good that I was mad when it was gone.
Schlenker’s Sandwich Shop is one of those Michigan restaurant bucket list places. I have been trying for so long to come up with a reason to go to Jackson for lunch and I’m so happy I finally had that reason. This is a place that I would eat at twice a week if it was in my neighborhood. It’s full of nostalgia and delicious food.