The 15 Best Pizza Places In Detroit, 2023 Edition

Detroit is known as Motor City, due to the central role of the metropolis in the American automotive industry. The city's technological innovations spilled over onto its food scene when Detroit style pizza was invented: it was first created when someone used steel pans from nearby car factories to bake large sheets of pizza. This regional style has since become popular for its crispy, cheesy edges. 

Of course, the city offers more than its signature style of pizza. New York style and regional styles can also be found around town. The bottom line is that Detroit has a lot to offer when it comes to pizza. In fact, knowing which spots are worth exploring might even feel intimidating with so many options on the table. Luckily for you, we've tracked down some local highlights.

From bakeries that produce the freshest dough to restaurants that whip up truly inventive flavor combinations, we're happy to showcase some of Detroit's best pizza places.

Crispelli's is more than just a pizzeria — it's also a top-notch bakery. The restaurant sells authentic Italian thin crust and Detroit-style deep dish pizzas, in addition to classic bakery items like danishes, croissants, and baguettes. What makes Crispelli's one of the best pizza joints in the city is its fresh dough and eclectic menu. 

Having access to delicate thin-crust pies and fluffy pan pizzas gives diners the best of both worlds. One customer was happy to report on Google that: "The warm, welcoming atmosphere, the friendly staff, and the melt in your mouth pizza deserve more than five stars — seriously. Their pizza dough is crunchy on the outside yet soft and warm on the inside." 

The restaurant's Detroit-style pan pizzas — with their crispy, cheesy corners — are simply irresistible. Crispelli's hooks up its pan pizzas with piles of toppings to create an absolutely glorious cheese pull. Some highlights on the menu include the White Pie with two cheeses, garlic, and artichokes, and the Red Pie with fresh mozzarella, Italian sausage, and caramelized onions.

One thing that sets the restaurant Bigalora apart from the pack? The fact that it makes its pizza with sourdough. Truth be told, the Italian word "biga" roughly translates to "sourdough starter." Biglora's dough is fermented for 72 hours and doesn't use any commercial yeast or sugar. After the fermentation process, the dough gets blistered to perfection in the restaurant's ultra-hot ovens. The end result is a deliciously complex crust that keeps diners coming back for more.

Bigalora also uses slow-roasted tomatoes, a sauce made from scratch, freshly shredded cheese, slow-braised meatballs, and more homemade touches. The restaurant's focus on quality makes it one of the best places to get pizza in Detroit. The menu at Bigalora is smartly curated, offering a wide variety of small plates, different pizzas, pasta, soups, salads, and desserts. 

The Pistachio white pizza pie is a standout, featuring ingredients like imported buffalo mozzarella, pistachio pesto, house-made sausage, and lemon confit. The pesto and lemon add a hint of brightness that helps balance out the richness of the homemade sausage. The restaurant also offers options for gluten-free crust and vegan cheese in order to cater to various diets and preferences. 

Housed in a building that's over 100 years old, Z's Villa is the kind of place that's bursting with charm on every level. Additionally, Z's Villa is refreshingly unpretentious and features delicious food for affordable prices. The restaurant's menu offers everything from loaded potato skins to chicken Caesar pitas to fried shrimp baskets. The restaurant also makes an assortment of pizzas made with a special blend of cheeses and homemade sauce.

Z's Villa has several deep-dish square pizzas that come in a few different sizes. The restaurant also makes a Greek-style pizza with grilled chicken, feta, tomato, red onion, black olives, and banana peppers. Meat lovers are sure to dig The Warrior, which is loaded up with cheese, pepperoni, sausage, ham, beef, and bacon. Vegetarians will be happy to see a pizza that's topped with char-grilled vegetables. 

Diners can also customize their pizzas by selecting from a wide range of toppings. Z's Villa even has hot peppers, if you like a little extra zing on your slices. If you're looking for an all-around great place in Detroit to relax with a drink and a solid slice of pizza, then Z's Villa is a wise choice.

At Mootz Pizzeria + Bar, the pizza toppings are generous. There are classic pizzas like the Beast Of Burden, which comes with pepperoni, sausage, and ricotta. But there are also slightly fancier pies with more complex flavors, such as the Juliet with toppings like prosciutto, fig jam, and gorgonzola. Mootz's expansive flavor combinations are what elevates it to one of the best spots to get pizza in the city.

One popular pizza from Mootz's menu is the Margherita pizza. As a clearly satisfied customer on Yelp puts it, "The crust is thin, yet sturdy enough to hold the toppings without getting soggy. The sauce is rich and tangy, perfectly balanced with the creaminess of the cheese. Trust me when I say that Mootz elevates the classics to a whole new level!"

Mootz also has some excellent appetizers. Case in point: the Truffled Bumblee with whipped sheep's milk ricotta, bee pollen, honeycomb, fig, and truffle honey served with walnut focaccia bread. If you're in the mood for Italian food with the occasional modern twist, Mootz is a definitely worthwhile destination in Detroit.

With a name like Jolly Pumpkin, this restaurant might sound more inspired by the whimsies of autumn than Italy. But, the truth is that this brewpub takes its food seriously. All it takes is one look at the spot's Truffle pizza — drizzled with truffle oil and made with creamed shiitakes, goat cheese, arugula, and hand-pulled mozzarella — to know it means business.

The menu here is concise, yet thoughtful. There are only about 10 pizzas to pick from, but they're all carefully constructed to offer ample flavors. Diners looking for a classic meat lovers-style pie will be pleased with Jolly Pumpkin's Pork Pie, which comes with ingredients like fennel sausage, pepperoni, and bacon. The South Pacific is a twist on the highly divisive Hawaiian pizza that adds a fiery touch of chipotle tomato sauce and jalapeños.

Jolly Pumpkin also tends to offer great discounts on pizza. There aren't many places these days where you can score a beer or two and a whole pizza for a reasonable price, but Jolly Pumpkin is doing its part to keep that dream alive.

One look at the menu of Ottava Via explains the enthusiasm behind this Italian restaurant in Detroit. The pizza menu is succinct, but it has chosen its dishes carefully. It's simply divided into two different sections: Rosso, a selection of red pizzas, and Bianco, a selection of white pizzas. In the Rosso section, there's a classic Margherita pizza topped with sweet basil. In the same section, there's the Rucolina pizza, topped with aged provolone, Serrano ham, arugula, a farm egg, and pepperoncini. Another highlight is the Short Rib pizza, topped with Tuscan-braised beef short ribs, onions, and pepperoni.

If you're looking to share an appetizer before your meal, Ottava Via has you covered there, too. The Arancini — which is made with fried rice balls packed with Taleggio cheese and prosciutto — is a perfect way to kick off the meal. The restaurant also has an outdoor fireplace on the patio, which is especially nice during those chillier nights that Michigan is known for.

If you're in the mood for pizza in a livelier setting, Checker Bar is a good pick. The restaurant and bar have an arcade upstairs with some old-school games and pinball machines that are the perfect way to kill some time while you wait for your food. Is Checker Bar the right place for a fancy date? Absolutely not. Is this restaurant the right call when you're looking for simple pizza, solid drinks, and a good time? You bet.

Checker Bar has about eight pizzas to pick from and also offers an option to build your own. While the restaurant's pizzas might not be the most creative, you'll definitely find some comforting classics available. Plain cheese, pepperoni, and barbecue chicken are just a few of the pizzas that the restaurant whips up in the kitchen. 

The Pig Destroyer is perhaps the most interesting item in the mix, which comes with pepperoni, ham, bacon, garlic aioli, and crushed pork rinds. The addition of crushed pork rinds adds a touch of texture to the pizza that works wonders. Paired with a cold beer, this is an undeniably delicious meal.

Sicily's Pizzeria has nearly 20 specialty pizzas on its menu to choose from. Most of these pizzas are available as a classic round pie or in a pan-baked Detroit-style square. This pizza is made from a delicious sourdough crust. Some say that Sicily's Pizzeria makes some of the best pies in the city. The sourdough crust has great flavor and just the right amount of chew.

When it comes to vegetarian pizzas, The Bad Hunter is an excellent choice. This pizza features a garlic white sauce base with mozzarella, marinated artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes. The garlic sauce on this pizza adds a tasty touch of creaminess that complements the vegetables and amps up the overall flavor.

On the meat side, the Meatball Special is another popular choice. It's made with tender homemade meatballs, beef pepperoni, red onions, and green peppers. The pizzas here are baked until they're nice and crispy, with lightly charred edges. The end result is a pizza with a little crunch on the outside that's soft and fluffy on the inside. The salads here are also exceptionally delicious, with many of them featuring organic greens.

There are a few surprises on the menu at Brass Rail Pizza Bar. The Garlic Chicken Cordon Bleu — typically relegated to the sidelines as a humble sandwich — is given the spotlight and interpreted as a pizza. Grilled chicken, ham, fresh mozzarella, scallions, and garlic cream sauce converge to recreate another handheld version of this dish that's equally delightful. Brass Rail continues its trend of translating sandwiches into the realm of pizza with its BLT pie and its Mac Daddy, which is inspired by a cheeseburger.

The BLT comes with a garlic cream sauce, chunks of crispy bacon, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and thin drizzles of mayonnaise. While this may sound a bit strange at first, don't knock it until you try it: you'll be surprised how well this classic combination works in the form of a pizza. 

But it's the Mac Daddy that's the real shocker here. This pizza features ground beef, bacon, cheddar cheese, red onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and 1000 Island dressing. The pizza version vastly transcends the limitations of the sandwich. It's this kind of playful flair that makes Brass Rail one of the best places to score a pie in Detroit.

Motor City Brewing Works is more than just a place to grab a beer. The food at this cozy brewpub is well worth your time, and its oven-baked pizzas are particularly delicious. These pizzas are baked in a traditional circular pie and feature a puffy crust that's thick yet airy.

One of the more inventive pizzas on the menu is the Sopla Fuego, which comes with habanero sauce, anejo queso, chorizo sausage, red onion, and jalapeño peppers. The pizza is garnished with dollops of sour cream and fresh cilantro. While all of these toppings would certainly feel at home on a taco, the truth is they also work beautifully here in the form of a pizza. The habanero sauce adds a hint of fruity heat that brings out the flavor of the chorizo, while the anejo queso adds some pleasant sparkle to each bite.

The Roasted Pear & Fig pizza is another winner. Topped with gorgonzola, olive oil, spices, and red onions, this pizza delivers big flavors with just a few humble ingredients. The fruitiness of the pear and the sweetness of the fig are balanced with the funkiness of the gorgonzola to create a wildly delicious flavor. To taste some of Detroit's best bites, Motor City Brewing Works is a safe bet.

Como's Restaurant has excellent Detroit-style pizzas, a full bar, and it serves brunch. On the pizza menu, it even offers certain herbs you don't typically see offered as toppings, such as dill and cilantro. Although these herbs are typically associated with pickles or tacos, their unconventional presence on Como's pizza is surprisingly delicious.

The pizza at Como's is baked in a square pan, Detroit style. The toppings and cheese are pressed right up to the edges and baked into crispy perfection. There are plenty of specialty pizzas to pick from, in addition to building your own pizza masterpiece. 

One of the more intriguing pizzas on the menu is the Dill Pickle Pizza. Topped with Boursin cheese, mozzarella, dill pickles, and fresh dill, this pizza works surprisingly well. The taste of dill adds an herbaceousness, and the tang of the pickles cuts through the richness of the cheese. We also appreciate that Como's has vegan pizzas on gluten-free dough that use vegan cheese. Como's inclusive menu and extra crispy, cheesy edges make it a top spot to grab a slice in Detroit.

Green Lantern Pizza is a small chain of restaurants located just north of Detroit. The company has a smartly curated menu with three different kinds of pizzas available: round, square, or thin crust. Offering these various styles of pizza caters to different preferences. Green Lantern's pan-baked square pizzas are what it's most known for, though — and it's easy to see why. While the edges are golden brown, the rest of the cheese on the pie is still nice and gooey, creating the best of both worlds.

This spot's pizzas are generously covered in cheese and toppings. The toppings are evenly distributed across the surface of the pie, which creates a balanced bite. This may seem like a small detail, but if you've ever had a pizza with toppings haphazardly piled across the pie, you understand that mindfully distributed toppings make a big difference and affect the overall quality of the pizza.

One thing that nudges Green Lantern into the realm of true excellence is its Octopie. The Octopie is a pan-baked pizza that consists entirely of corners. You know how the corner slices in pan pizza get those cheesy, crunchy edges? Well, the Octopie takes that to the max. If you love pan pizza, Green Lantern is worth a pit stop.

Detroit Pizza Factory has been in business since 2015. Its pizzas come in different shapes: original round, Detroit-style deep dish, and extra crispy cracker-thin crust. There are also several sauces to select from, including traditional pizza sauce, basil pesto, barbecue, alfredo, and garlic herb. One of our favorite specialty pizzas on the menu is the Chicken Carbonara pizza which comes with grilled chicken, bacon, alfredo sauce, mushrooms, onions, and a three-cheese blend. This pizza is creamy and cheesy with just a hint of savory smokiness from the bacon.

But it's the Lobster and Seafood pizza that Detroit Pizza Factory might be best known for. Tender chunks of lobster mix with tomatoes, alfredo sauce, red onions, and cheese to form a creamy slice of pizza that's bursting with flavor. A lot of Detroit Pizza Factory's specialty pizzas are also available as baked subs, such as the Buffalo Chicken, Chicken Bacon Ranch, and Mediterranean Veggie. The menu here often veers into unexpected fusions to delicious effects, which is part of what makes it so essential to the community.

Pie Sci Pizza has a unique vibe that helps it stand out from its competition. While other pizzerias strive to conjure up the predictable rustic feel of a European courtyard, Pie Sci's atmosphere is heavily inspired by music. The menu makes allusions to artists as disparate as Wu-Tang Clan, Björk, and The Beatles. The restaurant's logo — a one-eyed creature clutching an exploding beaker — looks more like a Halloween character than a pizza mascot. All of these details converge to create a singular style at Pie Sci that somehow comes across as effortlessly charming in its defiant strangeness.

As expected, the restaurant plays around with some creative flavor combinations. Tajin chili-lime crust, citrus-marinated kale, spiced cauliflower, and a raspberry emulsion drizzle are just a few of the alluring pizza toppings that you'll find at Pie Sci. If you want to build your own pie, there are tons to pick from that you probably won't find at other pizza joints. Poblano peppers, tofu bacon, dates, and jackfruit are just a few of the options on the table. Is Pie Sci your best bet for a traditional pizza? Of course not. But that doesn't make it any less delicious or interesting. Pie Sci is definitely one-of-a-kind, which helps it land a spot as one of Detroit's best and brightest.

Buddy's is often considered ground zero for Detroit-style pizza. Ever since 1946, Buddy's has been baking its signature square pan pizzas much to the delight of cheese-craving diners. Made with Wisconsin brick cheese and your choice of Buddy's original pizza sauce or tomato basil sauce, Buddy's has over a dozen specialty pizzas to pick from. The Spicy Italian is one of the all-stars on the menu, featuring Italian sausage, roasted red peppers, red onions, garlic, and Buddy's Sicilian spice blend.

No matter which pie you choose, ordering a Detroit-style pan pizza at Buddy's is sure to have a beautifully caramelized cheese crust. The toppings and cheese are expertly layered with precision. The dough has an exterior crisp, yet it retains some delicate interior softness. With each bite of pizza at Buddy's, you can taste tricks of the trade being handed down for generations. If you want to experience some of the absolute best pizza in Detroit, there's no doubt that Buddy's should be at the top of your list.