Buddy’s Pizza

In 1946, Buddy’s Rendezvous made the first Detroit-style pizza, creating a beloved cuisine that is quintessential Motown, and the restaurant where it started still serves up these mouthwatering pizzas today.

When Gus Guerra needed to serve food at his Detroit bar, Buddy’s Rendezvous, his mother-in-law taught him her family’s Sicilian pizza recipe, a rectangular pizza baked in pans. Guerra borrowed some blue steel pans from one of the local auto plants and began baking. The result was the birth of the Detroit-style pizza, a delectable crispy crust on the outside, fluffy on the inside with cheese caramelized in all the right places and toppings underneath. 

For the past 80 years, Buddy’s Pizza has been a Michigan legend, expanding to locations throughout southeast Michigan and becoming a nationally recognized favorite. The inside of the original location at Conant Street and Sixth Mile is vintage Detroit. 

Red-and-white checkered tablecloths cover the tables, and paintings depicting scenes from Italy, as well as newspaper articles and awards, decorate the space. Vintage Stroh’s and Vernor’s logos are painted on the walls. 

Metal tiles line the ceiling and above the cozy booths hang vintage black-and-white photos of Tiger Stadium and Detroit Tigers players. Outside, customers can play bocce ball on the court while waiting for their pizza. 

The menu features four-square, eight-square and all-corner pizzas. Diners can opt to build their own creation or pick from a list of Detroit-named pies, such as the Detroit Zoo, the Henry Ford, the Greektown and the Motown Museum. Round out the meal with a Vernor’s float or a Cream Puff Sundae — a cream puff shell filled with Michigan’s Hudsonville vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream. 17125 Conant St., Detroit, Michigan 48212, 313/892-9001, buddyspizza.com