Detroit style pizza (my new favorite kind of pizza) is also a sheet pan pizza, but definitely not thin crust.
And Detroit style is now getting pretty common. We buy it frozen at Costco. Best frozen pizza I’ve ever had.
A flaky thin crust sheet pan pizza definitely sounds pretty unique in my experience.
I really like the one by DiGiorno
Yeah, like you said, it’s become mainstreamed in the last 5-10 years. I remember going to Buddy’s in Detroit for the first time in 2008 before the style exploded everywhere. I’m not usually a big thick pizza guy, but I immediately took to the Detroit style. One of the main characteristics of it is the caramelized edge, where they let the cheese almost burn (but it’s not burnt!) on the edges. I also believe Detroit style is unique in using Wisconsin brick cheese as the topping cheese (or sometimes in a blend. I know I’ve heard of some place adding a little white cheddar to it.)
The heavily caramelized cheese edges remind me of two Chicago pan pizzas (some might call them deep dish), at Pequod’s and Burt’s. I don’t think Burt (RIP) ever mentions being inspired by Detroit pizzas – he came up with it in the early 70s at Pequod’s – but it’s an interesting coincidence.
Pequod’s can get quite aggressive on their edges, but they are delightfully concentrated cheesy goodness.
I’m a “middle of the lasagna” kind of guy, but not with a Detroit pizza. Those edges are the best part.
Never had that before, but if we need a frozen pizza from the grocery store I’ll keep it in mind, thanks for the tip. (DiGiorno makes decent frozen pizza.)
I didn’t realize that was a real place. My local mega mart (Meijer) sells their pizza. I haven’t tried one since $13-$15 is a bit steep, IMO, for a frozen pizza.
https://www.meijer.com/shopping/product/buddy-s-pizza-meat-deluxe-pizza-36oz/86001140411.html
Yep. Buddy’s is the birthplace of Detroit pizza, as far as I know. Locals may say this joint or that joint is better, but the location at Nichols and Conant (the original one), I’ve been to twice, and loved it each time.
Buckeyes are popular here in Ohio. Not sure about elsewhere.
I found them for sale in the gift shop in the Cracker Barrel in Vegas once. My mom is from Ohio so I picked them up for her.
Only time I ever saw them anywhere though.
I see them a lot, but only homemade at Christmas cookie time in cookie exchanges. I’ve never run across them sold commercially.
Curse you! I’ve got drool all over my shirt and in my lap now! Don’t make me go to Buffalo in January! Hmmmm, a wing, a weck, a wing, a weck. Might just be worth it.
Agreed on Ted’s, too.
Not sure when I’ll be in Buffalo next time, but hopefully long enough for multiple meals. Yum.
I enjoyed Anderson’s Frozen Custard out there, too. Local chain that not only serves frozen custard, but beef-on-weck. It’s what Arby’s wishes it could be.
Oh hey, I found someone else reporting that they found them at Cracker Barrel.
That “Marsha’s Buckeyes” brand is exactly what I bought there too. I remember the weird-shaped container and being worried that the candy was going to melt before I was able to give it to my mom.
My (grown) daughter LOVES Anderson’s.
I’m very fond of it too.
You can also get loganberry pop there, speaking of not-well-known local specialties.
We used to travel to Buffalo about twice a year for medical reasons–my wife saw a specialist at UBuffalo hospitals. We’d always stay overnight, occasionally two nights, as Buffalo’s not especially close. We always ate well. I don’t miss the drive, or the expense, or the time commitment, but I do miss the food!
How could I forget the loganberry pop! Yeah, distinctly local.
Oh, here’s an interesting one that popped into my head. I have never actually seen these things, though I do very occasionally find myself in the neighborhoods they supposedly exist in;
Peppermint pickles. There’s a Tribune article about them linked in that Reddit thread, and Monica Eng is a pretty trusted food reporter, so I tend to believe this is real. (Oh, sorry, that article isn’t Monica’s, but there’s another somewhere with her reporting I read.)
If you try the frozen, don’t judge Detroit style pizza by that. It’s a pale reflection of what it actually tastes like.
Bit of history: the square shape of the Detroit style pizza came from Buddy’s use of rectangular steel auto parts pans used in the factories. Some of the pans currently in use at the original location on Conant have been seasoned for decades.
And the motor oil produces an excellent non-stick surface.
Yeah, specifically blue steel pans. There’s a market out there for Detroit-style pizza aficionados to buy these pans.
Why would anyone go out of their way to make rectangular pizzas? I hate those things. Figuring out how to cut them is like a geometry test! Unless you want rectangular slices, which I do not. You could cut each rectangular slice in half diagonally and get two triangles, but then you don’t have a proper edge crust.
But at least some good has come out of this discussion. I’m having pizza tonight. A round one!
I am, too!
Square cut, however. 