Srodek's Traditional Polish Foods
Srodek’s Campau Quality Sausage Company has been a favorite destination for customers seeking traditional Polish foods since it opened in 1981. Located in the heart of downtown Hamtramck, Srodek’s offers the local Polish community a place to find authentic homemade foods that they can’t find elsewhere. Now, with a second market set to open in Sterling Heights, customers will have two great locations to shop.
Magdalena Srodek and her brother, Rodney, manage the family business that their parents and grandparents created, and they are proud to continue to share their Polish heritage with their customers.
“I love that we can carry on the tradition to ensure that the craft of Polish Culinary doesn’t fall through the cracks and disappear over time,” she says. “I love being able to keep the culture alive and pass it along.”
Back in the late 1970s, the Srodek’s grandparents built a small smokehouse and began making smoked meats, pierogi, golabki and sausage for Hamtramck residents. In the 1980s their father purchased the building on Joseph Campeau Avenue and began developing Srodek’s into the thriving food business that it is today. Magdalena and Rodney always planned to be a part of it.
“When we were really young, we always helped at the store. My brother learned how to stuff sausage before he learned how to drive a car, and I learned how to make pierogi. When Dad asked us if we wanted to be a part of the business, we both said, ‘Of course!’”
Srodek’s is best known for its pierogi—40 varieties—and meats and sausages smoked with wood imported from Poland, including traditional sausage, hunter’s sausage, hams, bacon and 10 varieties of bun-sized sausage. Homemade traditional barrel sauerkraut, golabki (stuffed cabbage rolls), nalesniki (crepes), potato pancakes, potato dumplings and traditional Polish soups such as borscht and hunter’s stew are also customer favorites. Homemade pickles and condiments, including hot horseradish, spicy mustard, Polish-style ground mustard and beer mustard, plus a wide assortment of Polish imported foods, round out the offerings.
“Many longtime customers have been coming for decades and some even travel from other states to stock up on Polish goodies,” says Srodek. “Everything is made from scratch in the traditional way that our grandparents did, and we also offer some unique flavors and varieties to get new customers interested in Polish dishes.”
“Our customers are like friends and family to us,” she says. “We’ve come to know them and we treat everyone who comes through our door as a member of our family.”
Srodek says the Sterling Heights store will be similar to the Hamtramck market and will feature a European-style bakery, fresh meat counter, produce section and an expanded array of imported grocery items, including beer, wine and liquor. A restaurant and in-house microbrewery are planned for the next phase of the project.
“Grandma and Grandpa are smiling down on us. They had no idea the business would grow to the magnitude it has. They would be proud.”
Srodek’s, 9601 Joseph Campau Ave.,
Hamtramck, 313-871-8080
New location, opening this year at 40270 Mound Rd., Sterling Heights
