One of the benefits in asking readers for their favorite restaurants is learning about places in Lincoln I haven’t featured.

Country Sliced Ham in Meridian Park (70th and O streets) is one such eatery.

Local composer Randall Dinsdale, a financial consultant at RBC Dain Rauscher, recommended the tiny sandwich shop.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever looked into it, but drop into Country Sliced Ham at Meridian Park for a sandwich or a chef’s salad sometime,” he e-mailed me.

“These are country ladies making these things, and they do it right. Slow, sure, but you can call ahead.”

I stopped by Country Sliced Ham earlier this week for a chef’s salad ($4.19) and some conversation.

I discovered the shop is celebrating its 18th year in Lincoln. The place is owned by Marilyn Meier, whose family has been involved in pork production for more than 30 years. She also has a store in Omaha.

Country Sliced Ham primarily is known for selling fully cooked hams and does a lot of its business, as you can imagine, around the holidays.

The hams, hand-coated with a honey glaze, can be served at room temperature or warmed slowly in a low-heat oven. They can be frozen six to eight weeks without losing flavor.

I took a pound home and made some homemade ham and bean soup and also had sandwiches for the next couple of days. I found the meat flavorful and better than some of the fare I’ve purchased at grocery stores.

In addition to ham (currently at $5.49 per pound), Country Sliced carries smoked turkey breast, dry-cured bacon, sausage and thick-sliced pork chops.

Sandwiches, soups and salads supplement the store’s income. The shop offers a variety of sandwich — including a veggie one and grilled portabella — that range from $3.39 to $4.29.

Assistant Manager Tanner Persinger said popular sandwiches are ham (no surprise), the Philly, BLT, chicken salad and the Reuben. Patrons can combo the cold sandwiches with chips and a soda for $5.26.

Also popular is the chef’s salad, which I sampled. For $4.19, Country Sliced Ham fills up a plastic bowl with meat (two choices), cheese (two choices), radishes, mushrooms, onion, tomato, green pepper, sprouts, celery, carrots and cucumber. There are several dressings, including my favorites of raspberry vinaigrette and blue cheese.

Country Sliced Ham has its homemade seven-bean and ham soup available every day and rotates a second selection. Monday’s other choice was Wisconsin cheese.

The shop also has assorted muffins, breads and cinnamon rolls as well as a variety of homemade salads (potato, cole slaw, broccoli, etc.), mustards and jams and jellies.

I recommend, as Dinsdale suggested, to call ahead. The small shop has about four tables for dine-in eating, but it’s kind of cramped. Persinger said many of the shop’s customers take out their orders.

I was glad Dinsdale wrote me about Country Sliced Ham. I didn’t even know it was there because it blends in with the other shops in the strip mall. The place will come in extremely handy around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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

Dining out

Country Sliced Ham

6900 O St.

Atmosphere: Casual

Specialty: Sandwiches

Payment: Cash, checks, Visa, Mastercard

Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday

Phone: (402) 467-2585

Notes: Parking, catering, daily specials, no alcohol