Better Made

Of the 30-some potato-chip companies that once crowded Detroit — back when this was a true “crunch capital” — exactly one survives, still frying on the same Gratiot Avenue stretch where it started in 1930. Sicilian immigrants Cross Moceri and Peter Cipriano founded Cross & Peters Co. and launched the Better Made brand in 1934.

Nearly a century later it’s still family-run, still using Michigan potatoes, and still beloved enough that the red-and-white bag is a genuine Detroit icon (it even got the send-off slot in the finale of Comedy Central’s “Detroiters”). The factory at 10148 Gratiot has an outlet store where you can grab chips fresh and warm — the platonic ideal of a Better Made chip. It sits just down Gratiot from Faygo, so you can knock out two Detroit snack legends in one short drive.