JournalStar.com - Ground Zero Online

HoneyBaked Ham opens in time for holidays
BY JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, Dec 23, 2005 - 12:04:03 am CST

Bogged down by last-minute Christmas shopping with no time to prepare a holiday meal? The new HoneyBaked Ham Co. at 70th Street and Pioneers Boulevard can help hungry shoppers as well as those who are just plain hungry.

The retail store and sandwich shop specializes in fully cooked, smoked hams, costing $20 or more depending on the size. Also available are fully cooked, smoked or roasted turkeys, pork roasts and BBQ baby back ribs.

To round out the meal, there are about 10 sides to choose from, including potatoes au gratin, sweet potato souffle and macaroni and potato salads, plus a handful of tantalizing desserts such as the Absurdly Delicious German Chocolate Cake.

All you have to do is eat.

Molly Shanahan opened Lincoln’s first HoneyBaked Ham on Nov. 17, just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Shanahan is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate (1983) and a former member of the NU women’s basketball team.

Originally from California, she managed two HoneyBaked Ham stores for five years in her home state in Ventura and Santa Barbara. She returned to Lincoln about four years ago and worked as a field representative for Runza before opening HoneyBaked Ham.

Knowing her product, she said, she felt it would go over well in Lincoln, especially since the city only had one other retail ham store.

HoneyBaked Ham has a long history — just not in Nebraska, where there are three stores. The other two are in Omaha.

Harry J. Hoenselaar opened the first HoneyBaked Ham in Detroit more than 40 years ago.

According to the company’s Web site, Hoenselaar cured his bone-in hams in a secret marinade and then, for tenderness, smoked them for several hours over a unique blend of hardwood chips. The crowning touch was Hoenselaar’s crunchy sweet glaze.

He cut the ham into perfectly even slices with a continuous spiral machine that he invented and patented.

Three generations and more than 400 stores later, the Hoenselaar family still prepares HoneyBaked hams the same way.

Of course, the company can’t live by retail sales alone.

This is where the sandwich shop comes in — going after catering and individual customers.

The Lincoln store, located in the strip mall next to Venue, has seating for about 20, but a lot of its lunch business is takeout.

The menu features several hot and cold sandwiches — even a veggie one — served on a baker’s or onion ciabatta rolls or HoneyGrain Bread.

Also available are whole dinners of ham or turkey slices with sides and rolls for two or four diners, costing $13.99 and $22.99, respectively.

Shanahan said the Smoke Stacker — a ham and bacon sandwich with BBQ sauce — and the Ham & Turkey Bella have been customer favorites. Both are served hot.

All sandwiches come with chips and pickle and range from $5.49 to $6.59. The shop also has three kinds of soup each day.

I picked up a sandwich as well as pound of sliced ham earlier this week. Sliced ham or turkey costs $9.59 per pound.

I ordered the cold HoneyBaked Ham sandwich ($5.49), which featured ham, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and a tasty hickory honey mustard.

The mustard, along with the ready-to-serve sides and desserts, can be purchased retail.

The ham is great, with a distinct sweet, honey flavor. I made a delicious ham-and-grilled cheese sandwich later that night from the pound of meat. I plan to use the rest of it for ham and bean soup.

HoneyBaked Ham is extending its hours today and also will be open Christmas Eve day. So if you’re harried and don’t want to cook, this is a quick and tasty option.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.

Dining out

The HoneyBaked Ham Co.

4107 Pioneer Woods Drive (70th and Pioneers Boulevard)

Suite 102

Atmosphere: Casual

Specialty: Sandwiches, retail hams and turkeys

Payment: Cash, checks, major credit cards

Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, closed Sundays

Phone: (402) 484-5522

Web site: www.honeybaked.com

Notes: Parking, no alcohol, takeout, catering, special holiday hours (open until 7:30 tonight and until 5 p.m. Saturday)