33605 Plymouth RoadA long time ago, back in 2009, I took my family to a Tigers game for the first time. On that trip, I really wanted to check out a pizzeria in Detroit that I had seen on the Food Network. It wasn’t in a great part of town and the building was actually a little scary, but inside was hiding one of the most delicious pizza’s I had ever eaten.
Fast forward to Tuesday night. I was on my way to Detroit to meet some co-workers. I was hungry and I wanted to be a nice guy, so I found a different location of that awesome pizza place and picked up a couple pizzas to share.
That awesome pizzeria? Buddy’s. The name synonymous with Detroit pizza. So many people try to copy it, but it’s just like all of the Chicago-style copiers, it’s not the same. Call it what you want, it’s not Buddy’s.
I realized I was going to be passing closest to the Buddy’s Pizza in Livonia. The large restaurant is only a mile or two from I-96 on Plymouth Road just to the west of Farmington Road. There is a large parking lot behind the restaurant and that’s where the carry-out door is as well. I had already called in my order for two pizzas. One of them was The Detroiter. The other was just a plain cheese.
I ordered about 40 minutes down the road not knowing how long the pizza would take and I really needed it to be ready when I pulled in to the parking lot. The person on the phone told me it would only take 20 so, there it was when I walked in the door.
I paid the tab for the two 8 square pizzas which came to a little over $34, grabbed a couple of paper plates, a to-go menu, and got back on the road to downtown Detroit.
When I met up with my co-workers, we had a lot to do, so the pizza kind of took a back seat. One person grabbed a slice of cheese and I grabbed a slice of The Detroiter.
The Detroiter is one of their specialty pizzas. It’s pretty simple with cheese and pepperoni on top of a tomato basil sauce. It’s then topped with shredded Parmesan cheese and Buddy’s house Sicilian spice blend. Oh, this pizza is good. Really good. Like Chicago pizzas, the crust is what makes this pizza so damn good. It’s not the typical bland dough. It’s made with a lot of fat which makes it crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. It’s really the crust that makes Buddy’s what it is. The Detroiter is filled with delicious, big flavor toppings, but they all take a back seat to the crust and work as enhancers to make an amazing pizza that you just can’t get anywhere else.
The second pizza was my safe pizza. I knew at least one of my co-workers didn’t eat much meat and I wasn’t sure about another one, so I knew a cheese pizza would make everyone happy. I ended up with a little extra of that one and that was ok by me. I took it home and got another meal out of it later.
Buddy’s is one of those pizza places that you just have to go to….even if it means going out of your way. I was lucky enough to find one not too far off my route, but given a little more time, I would have gladly ventured off the highway to find this delicious, delicious pizza.
The Detroiter
Cheese Pizza
Slice of The Detroiter
