Leona Milton has never been a fan of bread.
Instead of stacking her lunch meats between two slices, she always stuffed them inside kosher pickles.
That unique way of making sandwiches is the concept behind What’s The Dill, a sandwich shop Milton recently opened at 4088 W. McNichols Road in Detroit’s University District.
“I love pickles. So I’m just sharing with the world how I eat my sandwiches,” she said.
City leaders were at the new shop April 14 for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening. Mayor Mike Duggan congratulated Milton and her husband, Kenny, for opening a small business in the city and surprised them with the Spirit of Detroit award.
“When you become big nationally, don’t forget you started right here in Detroit,” the mayor told them.
At What’s The Dill, Milton implores customers to “drop the bread and pick up a pickle instead.”
She sells a variety of sandwiches that use pickles, cucumbers, tomatoes, and egg whites as buns as opposed to the traditional hoagie roll. Milton seasons the sandwiches with her secret home-made recipe that she pairs with the vegetable toppings.
In addition to the wraps and sandwiches, What’s The Dill serves a variety of “pickle shots,” a mix of the pickle nectars combined with Kool-Aid flavors.
“I just came up with a unique concept,” she said. “We’re the only ones in the state of Michigan that are doing it and it’s very delicious.”
That uniqueness has caught the eye of national grocer Meijer, which agreed to start selling two What’s The Dill sandwiches in its stores.
The pickle-based offerings have also caught on with vegans, diabetics and other health-conscious sandwich eaters who, like Milton, stray away from bread.
Milton, a retired mother who spent about 20 years working as a pharmacist, extols the health benefits of pickle brine. The juices, rich in vitamins E and C, are rife with antioxidants that can hydrate the body, soothe muscle cramps after a workout, alleviate hangovers, reduce blood-sugar levels and are a good weight-loss aid.
Milton said she’s become more aware of the health virtues and keeps a gallon of pickle juice on the counter in her shop for customers.
The carry-out deli occupies a former Dairy Queen quick-service location. It sits across the street from University of Detroit Mercy’s campus at the intersection of West McNichols Road and Warrington Drive.
Milton became severely ill during the pandemic, but when she recovered, she got the gumption to chase a lifelong dream of opening up her own restaurant. Making that dream a reality wasn’t an easy feat. Milton built the company from the ground up, walking the streets selling her sandwiches out of a cooler. She caught a buzz during the lunch rush at barber shops, hair salons and other local businesses. Before long, people were calling her making orders and she eventually began doing pop-up events to build her clientele. The business grew from there. Now she’s selling hundreds of pickle sandwiches every day from her brick-and-mortar location.
“I did a lot of social media, I did a lot of research, I contacted a lot of programs in the city of Detroit that help people who want to start their own businesses. And basically it spread through word of mouth,” Milton said. “Once people started getting a taste of those sandwiches, it just went from there.”
At last week’s ribbon cutting, Duggan spoke on behalf of Motor City Match, a program that’s partnered with the city to help more than 1,600 local businesses. The nonprofit supplied Milton with $25,000 of funding to help her compete the buildout for What’s The Dill.
“Here’s what Motor City Match was all about,” Duggan said. “It was to give Detroiters who may not had the family wealth, but had the talent and drive, the chance to start their own business.”
A proud Detroit native, Milton was trained through Breithaupt Career and Technical Center’s renowned culinary arts program. For her, What’s The Dill is a fulfilling accomplishment that she hopes serves as a boon for her family.
“It’s a feeling that I can’t explain,” she said. “I’ve never been this happy before in my life. I feel so accomplished, I feel respected, I feel wanted and appreciated. I feels great. I’ve got a smile on my face ’til it hurts when I talk about my business.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, center, is flanked by owners Leona and Kenny Milton, second and third from left, during an April 14 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the What’s The Dill sandwich shop in the University District. (Photo: Screenshot/City of Detroit)
