DETROIT, MI — The story of the Detroit-style pizza starts on Six Mile Road and Conant Street on Detroit's east side. The building that currently stands there is Buddy's Pizza, but in 1946 it was Buddy's Rendezvous.
“We’re at the original location where the pizza began,” chief brand officer for Buddy's Pizza Wesley Pikula said.
The man who brought this style of pizza to life—Gus Guerra—the original owner of Buddy's.
“He had heard stories of guys coming in after the war talking about pizza, and so they pursued chasing down a way to make it,” Pikula said.
Pikula said Guerra needed something to bake the pizzas in. So he asked his customers who typically worked at the tool and die shops, to borrow some of the square pans they used to collect tools.
“ So they brought in these trays and they threw dough down in these trays and they baked them," Piikula said,"And they found that it was an amazing bake.”
Pikula says the story of Detroit-style pizza starts with the pan because its thick crust and square style is what sets it apart.
“You got a mix of groups that have kind of taken on the Detroit-style pizza.”
That includes Shield's Restaurant Bar Pizzeria in Southfield.
“Of course we have a full menu but our great thing, our specialty, is the deep-dish pizza," partner at Shield's Pizza Louai Numan said.
From their meat lovers pizza to their veggie pizza, Numan says it’s the Detroit-style that keep his customers coming back.
“Believe it or not, our pizzas sells right away with the name. Everybody loves our pizzas,” Numan said.
Detroit style pizza.
“I call it a style because everyone does it a little different,” Pikula said.
Home to the motor city and a trend now being seen nationwide.
"When you have someone like Pizza Hut say 'I'm gonna do Detroit-style pizza,' it gets a lot of recognition," Pikula said.
List of 7 famous Detroit-style pizza places in the area
- Green Lantern
- Buddy's Pizza
- Michigan & Trumbull
- Shield's Pizza
- Como's Restaurant
- Jet's Pizza
- Loui's pizza
