25 Best Restaurants: Slyman's Restaurant (1)

Freddie Slyman will tell you there are only five things on the menu at his family's restaurant: corned beef, roast beef, pastrami, turkey, tuna ... and, you know, ham. So what if that's actually six — there's also soups and sides and grilled cheese too, but who's counting? Most customers barely make it past the corned beef sandwich ($14). "Those five are the best you're going to have," he says. And when you've been doing things the same delicious way for more than 50 years, it ain't braggin'. Slyman's brother, Moe, arrives every morning at 2 a.m. to get the meat started, just like he has for 30 years. Every day, Slyman takes up his position behind the slicer — 14 ounces of beef, shaved against the grain for each sandwich — and doesn't relinquish his post. "Two hands making all those sandwiches," he says. Put whatever you like on it: mustard, horseradish, Thousand Island, mayonnaise, Stadium Mustard. "It's a $15 sandwich," he says. "So it should be custom made." That's the personal touch that makes this place great. Don't miss: Step back from the corned beef and try a pastrami and Swiss sandwich ($14). "Personal preference," Slyman says. diplomatic efforts: There's bipartisan agreement in support of Slyman's with politicians such as former President George W. Bush, Vice President Joe Biden and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, making it a campaign stop. "We treat everybody like a celebrity," Slyman says. 3106 St. Clair Ave. NE, Cleveland, 216-621-3760,slymans.com