The first installment of my admittedly ambitious Pizza Tour of Detroit.
In the unassuming, working class suburb of Hazel Park, within a mile of Detroit Proper, lies a legend among pizza joints: Loui’s Pizza.
My first introduction to Detroit-style pizza was Buddy’s, a legend of its own with 9 locations in the Detroit-metro area.
But part of what makes Loui’s so special is that there is only one. And the one is so adorable in its ambiance as to trump any Buddy’s atmosphere I’ve been to. There are literally hundreds of basket-cradled Chianti bottles draping the walls, interlaced with cheery Christmas lights on a properly Italian-Restaurant-Red background. The bottles are signed by loyal patrons from any number of years ago, as this location has been in the same spot for over three decades. Just walking into this place puts you into a mood for a great dining experience.
And you’ll get one, too. Not the kind of upwardly mobile, wish-I-was-in-Chicago pizza dining experience best suited to the mall shoppers of the world. But a real career-waitresses-who-know-your-name, Made-in-Detroit, exact-same-menu-and-furnishings-since-you-were-a-kid dining experience that can only come from an authentic legend like Loui’s. This place is a serious case study in pizza as comfort food.
So what about the pizza?
The pizza here is nearly indistinguishable from Buddy’s, with the same square, Sicilian shape, same sauce-on-top structure, same scorched-outer-yielding-to-doughy-center crust, and same carmelized cheese edges that make it impossible to ignore as a pizza genre in its own right. I will say that the sauce at Loui’s has an extra pepper bite and extra oregano that DOES distinguish it from Buddy’s. For me, the only drawback was that the mushrooms were from a jar and not fresh. But with so many other things going for it, this minor misdeed was forgivable.
While we waited, my dinner companion and I sipped some adequate red table wine from a carafe and munched on the lauded antipasto salad. The salad was not fancy mixed greens, but straight-up, crowd-pleasing iceberg — fittingly served super cold — with very, very generous amounts of meat, cheese and tomatoes mixed in, all swimming in the tangiest Italian dressing of your dreams. Highly recommended. We even took the leftovers home and added MORE lettuce, it was that dense with accoutrement.
Apparently, Loui’s history is intertwined with that of Buddy’s. My understanding is that the owner, Loui himself, once worked at Buddy’s, and then there was a schism in the world of Detroit-style pizza, and Loui’s version of Detroit-style pie was born. I don’t know the details. In fact, I just overheard patrons discussing it. Perhaps someone can shed some light on this intriguing tale of two pizzas.
Whatever the story – whether mundane restaurateur enterprise or salacious gourmand rivalry – the end result is more delicious pizza.
I will say, until another pizza place can capture my heart with such decisive deliciousness and simpatico setting, this will be my place to share with out-of-town guests when I want to show off how cool Detroit’s pizza really is…
Loui’s Pizza
23141 Dequindre Rd
Hazel Park, MI 48030-1600
(248) 547-1711
6 comments
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September 21, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Detroit Pizza Tour « Bite Detroit
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September 22, 2009 at 1:26 am
Becks Davis
I haven’t been to Loui’s but the way you describe the ambiance makes me want to check it out. But it looks exactly like a Buddy’s pizza and I adore Buddy’s antipasto. I’m torn. Can I cheat on Buddy’s?
Yes, yes I can. The next time I’m in the area we’ll check it out. Thank you for broadening my horizons!
September 22, 2009 at 8:15 am
Rebecca
You won’t be sorry! I LOVE Buddy’s, too, and can’t really say this is BETTER than Buddy’s pizza-wise. But definitely on par. For me, it was the setting that really pushed me over the edge. I will still go to Buddy’s (for one thing, it’s closer to home), but this place is the whole package. The lack of fake vintage paraphernalia goes a long way with me.
Try it and tell me what you think!
September 22, 2009 at 5:32 am
Noël
Looking forward to more food reports to make me jealous!
September 22, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Jeff Ritenextaya
Awesome blog! I love it. (I’m glad you took my advice and gave Louie’s a try!) They should put your critique up on one of their walls somewhere next to the chianti bottles. So…where to next?
November 5, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Lisa
the have the best antipasto salad, love it!