Biercamp Is a Butcher Shop That Happens to Make Great Sandwiches

Biercamp sits at 1643 South State Street, past the stadium, past the last cluster of campus restaurants, in the stretch where State Street becomes a road you drive rather than walk. The location filters out casual foot traffic. The people inside on a Saturday morning are there because they know what Biercamp is and they came for it specifically: a butcher shop and charcuterie counter that makes its own sausages, cures its own bacon, smokes its own meats, and runs a sandwich counter that treats deli food as craft rather than convenience.

The display case is the first thing you see. Sausages lined up in rows, whole cuts waiting to be portioned, bacon in thick slabs, and the occasional jar of house-made mustard or pickled vegetables. This is retail butchery the way it used to work before the supermarket consolidated everything behind plastic wrap. You point, they cut, you take it home and cook it. Or you skip the cooking and order a sandwich.

The Sandwiches

The breakfast sandwich is the gateway. I have written about it in our brunch guide, and the opinion has not changed. House-cured bacon, thick enough that each slice has structure and a smoke that lingers, a fried egg, and a fresh roll. Under $10. It is one of the best breakfasts in Ann Arbor, and it takes less than five minutes from order to hand.^{1Prices based on Biercamp's in-store menu as of fall 2025. Breakfast sandwiches under $10, lunch sandwiches in the $12-$15 range.}

The pulled pork sandwich runs with smoked pork that has spent enough time in the smoker to develop a proper bark. The meat shreds easily and carries its own flavor without needing a heavy sauce to compensate. Biercamp serves it on a soft roll with a vinegar-based slaw that cuts through the richness. Around $13, and the portion is honest.

Bratwurst on a bun is the simplest test of what a butcher shop can do with a sandwich, and Biercamp passes it. The brat is made in-house, with a casing that snaps when you bite through it and a seasoning blend that tastes like someone actually tasted it during development. Mustard on the side. Nothing else needed.

For lunch, the smoked turkey sandwich is quieter but worth the order. Turkey breast smoked in-house, sliced thin, with lettuce, tomato, and a spread on good bread. It does not announce itself the way the pulled pork does, but the turkey has a depth that deli counter turkey from a package cannot touch.

The Meat Counter

Sandwiches are what bring most first-timers in. The meat counter is what brings them back. Biercamp's house-cured bacon has become something of a local staple. The difference between this bacon and what sits in a grocery store cooler is the difference between a tomato from a farm stand and a tomato from a shipping container. Thickness, smoke, fat rendered properly. It costs more per pound, and the gap in quality justifies every cent.^{2Biercamp's house-cured and smoked meats are produced on-site per the shop's own description and in-store signage.}

Sausages rotate by season and inclination. Bratwurst and Italian are the constants. Beyond those, the case might hold chorizo, andouille, or something seasonal that reflects whatever the kitchen decided to experiment with that week. All are made on-site with real casings.

Jerky is a quieter hit. Smoked and dried in-house, with a chew and flavor that makes gas-station jerky feel like a different product category entirely.

The South State Proposition

Biercamp's location works against discovery. South State past the stadium is not where people go looking for lunch. The surrounding blocks are auto shops, a few offices, residential streets. You drive to Biercamp because you meant to, not because you were passing by. That intentionality shapes the crowd: people who cook, people who care about sourcing, people who once bought that bacon and cannot go back to the alternative.

Ann Arbor has Zingerman's Deli for the full-service sandwich experience, with its own legendary meat program and prices to match. Biercamp is not competing with Zingerman's on scale or reputation. What it offers is a smaller, quieter version of the same idea: a place where the people making the food also made the ingredients, where the supply chain is the length of the kitchen. A breakfast sandwich for under $10, a slab of bacon for the weekend, and a bratwurst for the grill. The basics, done right.

Biercamp is at 1643 S State St, Ann Arbor. Open Tuesday through Saturday. Butcher counter and sandwich service. Cash and card accepted.