Mapping Detroit: A Detroit-style pizza map showing where to get your piece of the pie

Detroit is home to the headquarters or birthplace of multiple pizza chains including: Little Caesars (headquartered in Deroit, but founded in Garden City), Buddy’s (claim to the “Detroit-style” moniker), Happy’s (founded in 1994), and the specialty pizza spots only found in Detroit, including Eastern Market staple Supino’s, Belle Isle Pizza, Amicci’s, Sicily’s, or Pie Sci (my newest favorite).

Over half the Detroit pizza industry is independent, and claims a fair share of  pizza places reflective of the area's multicultural fabric, including Halal Pizza near the Dearborn border and local chain Pizza Papalis of Greektown.

During the coronavirus pandemic, news reports included headlines on the hoarding of frozen pizza, the rallying of pizza chain stock prices, and the overall growth of pizza chains. Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Domino’s all reported plans to hire more workers to meet the demand, but we didn’t see an explosive growth of pizza chains in Detroit. 

This map is based on which pizza place is nearest to particular areas of the city broken down into a grid (microhoods actually – shout out to Motor City Mapping project). These pizza zones show which chains hold sway over particular areas of the city. Little Caesars is unmatched by any other pizza chain, but specialty pizza places hold their own. When it comes to pizza, Detroit has you covered. You might not find your favorite national chain everywhere, but there’s always a unique pizza option close by.