Is there a more misunderstood and maligned meat than bologna? Probably not. It's the sweaty, flaccid meat disc that generations of thrifty moms regularly slapped between two pieces of low-grade Wonder Bread along with a sticky slice of American cheese. It's the meat that's there when your funds aren't, and it's the processed pariah that even the Michigan Department of Corrections turns to for a cheap and effective punishment. But, fortunately for those of us in the Midwest, bologna is a regional delicacy. As Serious Eats notes in its bologna deep dive, bologna shares a name with Bologna, Italy, and is a close cousin to mortadella. In the Midwest it was German settlers who fashioned bologna after their homeland's fleischwurst or frankfurter. No-frills bars began making and serving logs, and over the years bologna turned it into a staple with as many variations as watering holes. At the same time, some of the smaller German producers grew into larger household names like Flint-based Koegel's, Kowalski, Dearborn, and Oscar Mayer.

We visited Metro Detroit restaurants in search of the best fried bologna sandwich. These are our favorites.

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