Detroit’s Hani

It’s not always easy to track down a sandwich’s origin. Some have a known geographic point of origin but are disputed between 2 or more rival restaurants, like the French Dip, which both Philippe the Original and Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet in Los Angeles claimed to have invented (though Cole’s closed earlier this year, sadly). Some are even geographically disputed, like the Reuben which is claimed by both New York City and Omaha (we’re Team Omaha here at the Tribunal–NYC doesn’t need to claim everything!) Some, like the Club sandwich (whose history we explored 11 years ago) have origins far enough in the past that it’s hard to track down documentation of the precise who and what and where of their initial appearance, while some like the Chinese Rou Jia Mo have documented histories going back centuries, even millennia further! The Hani is none of the above. For once we have a sandwich of recent vintage, whose origin is well known and documented and uncontested. During the 1980s, at…