National Detroit-Style Pizza Day has arrived! While Metro Detroit has a slew of tasty options nearly everywhere, our viewers have identified a clear favorite by voting in our Detroit-Style Pizza Bracket.
If you had asked the ClickOnDetroit team who we thought would win this challenge, we would’ve guessed Jets Pizza. It’s a classic staple that has a little somethin’ for everybody.
But, alas, the decision came down to two other Metro Detroit pizza staples (we have a lot, OK): Buddy’s Pizza and Cloverleaf Pizza.
So, who has the best Detroit-style pizza? The votes are in.
Drum roll please ...
Out of more than 33,000 votes, our viewers have declared Buddy’s Pizza as the best joint to grab a square slice!
Both Buddy’s and Cloverleaf are deeply rooted in the history of Detroit-style pizza, so it’s no wonder the final round came down to the two. The race was close: Buddy’s Pizza had just over 200 more votes than Cloverleaf Pizza.
Wherever your favorite pizza spot is in Metro Detroit, we highly encourage you to indulge in Detroit’s delicious crispy-edged, square-style pie on this very important holiday.
What is Detroit-style pizza?
Our region-specific pizza is characterized by its square, deep-dish shape and crispy dough edges. Some locations -- like those who claim to follow the original Detroit-style pizza recipe -- cook the pizza with the sauce on top.
The square, deep-dish pizza can be traced back to a man named Gus Guerra, who owned a neighborhood bar called Buddy’s Rendezvous decades ago. In 1946, Guerra decided to add pizza to the bar’s menu, and his wife reportedly borrowed a dough recipe from her Sicilian mother.
And thus, Detroit-style pizza was born.
After selling Buddy’s Rendezvous in the 1950s, the owners founded Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant. Cloverleaf claims to still make the original recipe developed by the Guerras to this day.
Want a deeper dive into the pizza’s history? Our Jason Colthorp is breaking it all down -- click here to see.