Detroit-Style Pizza Lovers Should Thank This 1940s Spot

Pizza lovers usually have no shortage of opinions on what style is best: New York, Chicago, Neapolitan, New Haven, and, of course, Detroit. While you might not immediately think of the Motor City as a classic pizza location, the Detroit-style pie has been around for 80 years. That's thanks to Buddy's Pizza, a landmark restaurant known for inventing this style in 1946.

Gus Guerra made his first square-shaped pizza at Buddy's Rendezvous Pizzeria at the original Six Mile and Conant location on Detroit's east side in the mid-1900s. He baked his pizza in forged blue-steel pans (originally designed to hold nuts and bolts) that originally came straight from local automotive plants to achieve his signature crisp, airy crust. This distinctive pizza was also finished with three "stripes" of tomato sauce to honor the city's automotive history. And that's how the Detroit-style pie entered America's diverse canon of delicious pizza styles.

With its square shape, Detroit pizza is all about the crunchy, cheesy corner slices, which are often the first ones to disappear. According to Buddy's, its pizza starts with double-proofed dough that's stretched twice. Crucially, the pies are topped backwards (sauce last) before baking in the restaurant's distinctive forged-steel pans. Online, fans cite the age of those pans (and the well-seasoned ovens) as potential reasons for the flagship location's continued greatness.

Today, Buddy's Pizza has expanded to 20 locations across Michigan. But the style of pizza it created can be found all over the country. Restaurants like Ace's Pizza in Brooklyn, New York, Dtown Pizzeria in Los Angeles, and My Friend Derek's in Seattle have perfected the style. Even larger chains, like Jet's Pizza and Emmy Squared, have their own interpretations of a Detroit-style pie.

Buddy's offers 15 different versions of its Detroit-style creations. Pizzas include The Detroiter ($15.99 to $27.99), which comes with Wisconsin brick cheese, pepperoni, tomato basil sauce, shaved Parmesan cheese, and Buddy's Sicilian spice blend. The Super 6 Mile ($17.99 to $31.99) has Wisconsin brick cheese, pepperoni, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and ham. And the Margherita ($16.99 to $29.99) features Wisconsin brick cheese, diced tomatoes, garlic, oregano, fresh basil, Asiago cheese, and tomato basil sauce. But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to menu options (including antipasto plates and other appetizers). 

If you don't live near one of Buddy's Michigan locations, you can buy a frozen version at certain grocery stores nationwide or on Goldbelly (starting at around $100 for three pizzas). You could also opt for the next-best thing — Detroit-style from a national chain. Jet's, for instance, is our favorite chain pepperoni pizza, and has more than 400 locations across 22 states. Regardless of where you snag your slices, though, we all have Buddy's Pizza to thank. Because without this Detroit icon's ingenuity, we may never have seen square pan pizza that so perfectly balances crispy crust, cheese, and sauce.