Famed Detroit Deli Closing After Weekend Robbery: 'It's A Different World Out Here'

DETROIT (WWJ) - Some say the best corned beef in the city is at a little deli near 7 Mile Road and Lahser. But after nearly 35 years, and a weekend robbery, the Dynamo Deli in northwest Detroit is closing.

Johnny Lewis, who was just 15-years-old when he started working at Dynamo Deli with his dad, said the neighborhood has really deteriorated over the past three decades. Even as the surroundings diminished, Lewis kept the deli open late to feed the community's nighttime hunger pangs, serving up his famous sandwiches at two for $6.99 with great pride.

"My brother being a police officer, he begged me to close after 12:30. He said after 12:30, it's a different world out here, Johnny," Lewis told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "I don't know if I'm just numb to it but I just said well, we're not going to close up at night no more."

But that's no longer the case. After a weekend robbery nearly cost him his life, Lewis is closing the deli doors -- permanently.

"I was just as scared as every night I come out of here," he said. "You know, you get used to thinking that these people are going to try to rob you over nothing."

Lewis said he was closing up around 2 a.m. when a masked gunman broke in and started shooting. He might have been struck by the gunfire, but the gunman apparently wasn't a very good shot. The suspect made off without getting anything, cash or otherwise.

"I bet you whatever," he said. "I bet you this building if they catch this guy that he's supposed to be in jail for doing something else."

Lewis regrets having to close the business but says it's the only way to keep himself safe.