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Buddy's Pizza

Celebrate National Detroit-Style Pizza Day with Buddy’s

Story by Max White

June 23 marks National Detroit-Style Pizza Day, and the love for Detroit-style pizza continues to grow.

Detroit-style pizza is known for its cheesy, crispy crust on the combined with a tangy sauce on top of cheese, and Buddy’s Pizza is the home of the original Detroit-style pizza. Nearly 80 years ago, Buddy’s became the birthplace of Detroit-style pizza, and plenty of places ever since have come up with their own version. Buddy’s is also celebrating National Detroit-Style Pizza Day by donating $1 for every pizza sold at all 22 of its locations to The Salvation Army.

The History of Buddy’s and Detroit-Style Pizza

Buddy’s and Detroit-style pizza were founded on Detroit’s east side in 1946 by Gus Guerra. He and his wife, Anna, had a house bar and they wanted to add something new to the menu

Gus Pikula, the chief brand officer for Buddy’s and a 40-year veteran of the company, said the pizza style came from a similar style they had in Sicily where it was rectangular dough with leftover meats and drizzled with sauce. So, Guerra took that same idea for his pizza.

What makes Detroit-style so unique is the pepperoni is placed directly into the dough, topped with crumbled Wisconsin brick cheese and then layered with sauce.

Back in the 40s, Pikula said that the pans used to make the pizza were steel-forged and borrowed from local automotive plants. That allows the brick cheese to overflow onto the crust, giving it the light, crispy, cheesy crust found on Detroit-style pizza. To this day, they still use the same method for baking the pizza.

Since then, the company was sold in 1953 and again in 1970 to the Jacobs family, who still own it to this day. Buddy’s now has 22 locations throughout Michigan.

What You Should Try

The menu at Buddy’s is huge. On top of pizza, you can find burgers, sandwiches, pastas, salads and appetizers. However,if you’re going for the first time, you obviously have to try the pizza.

Pikula suggests first-timers try the original cheese and pepperoni pizza, that way you can get the flavor of the pepperoni in the dough and get a real taste of a classic Detroit-style pizza. The other pizza he suggests is the Super 6 Mile, which comes with pepperoni, onions, green peppers, mushrooms and ham.

“If you want to get the correct texture and correct balance, I would start with those two pizzas,” Pikula said. “Then later on, you can evolve into, whether it’s gluten free pizza, or one of the specialist pizzas, things like that.”

Another iconic item is the Buddy’s Antipasto Salad, which comes with their famous vinaigrette, ham, salami, the same Wiconsin brick cheese and more.

“The salad, particularly the dressing, to be honest, is just as famous as the pizza,” Pikula said.

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Buddy's Pizza
Credit: Emily Berger

Where to Get Buddy’s

There are 22 different locations throughout Michigan where you can get Buddy’s. Of those, 16 are full-service restaurants and six are carry-out only. On top of restaurants in Oakland, Wayne, Macomb and Washtenaw counties, you can also visit Buddy’s in Mid Michigan and West Michigan with locations in Okemos, Grand Rapids and Portage.

What Does Buddy’s Have Planned for the Future?

The plan is to keep on expanding, but Pikula said it will be a disciplined expansion because they want to make sure the quality stays the same.

“Our goal would be to have Buddy’s be a national brand, and make the city proud, because as long as Buddy’s is around, it’s going going to be Detroit,” he said.