what local forum would be complete without a favorite pizza place thread.

one rule: post a pizza joint that is "lesser known". maybe an independent place that few know about. don't forget the calzones and grinders!

be sure to post what style the pizza is.....thin/NY style, deep dish Chicago style, etc.

mmmmmm.....pizza.......

http://i.xanga.com/LiL_kisSes/homer-drool.gif

http://www.pizzatoday.com/images/row4b_homepicture.jpg

http://www.nyceats.net/eats/images/pizza-sm.jpg

If any of you live close enough to Gratiot and 16, try out a place called Mr. C's

Its a little beer/lotto store, but they have some of the best pizza you'll ever eat.

Ahhhh.....Mr C's! I used to work out that way. Good stuff.

If you go a little more west, Nona's Pizza in Sterling Hts. on 16 1/2 and Dodge Park Rd. is really great. The guy who owns that place has been doing business there since I was about 2 feet tall. Ask anyone that lives in Sterling Hts. and they will definitley know what Nona's is.

In the Royal Oak area, the best bang for the buck is Perry's Pizza. They usually get me a pair of pizzas in about 20 minutes and they are f'in great!

Loui's Pizza
http://www.metrotimes.com/sb/2494/Loui.jpg
Loui's cheese and pepperoni pizza. (MT photo: Rob Widdis)
23141 Dequindre Rd.
Hazel Park, MI 48030 248-547-1711 Price: Entrees: $6.50-$18.75


Going deep
by Mel Small (letters@metrotimes.com)
5/31/2006


Loui's makes the best deep-dish pizza in Detroit. I know those are fighting words among a legion of pizza lovers bitterly divided over the quality of their respective champions' square pies. But I dare any of the Buddy's, Shield's or whatever partisans to find a cozier venue to eat superior pies than in Loui's, a classic pizza parlor on Dequindre just north of Nine Mile Road.


Loui's has been winning awards and testimonials since it opened in Hazel Park in 1977. Among the many notable patrons whose autographed glossies you can peruse as you wait for a table (limited reservations taken only for parties of 10 or more) are vintage Detroiters the late Bob Talbert and John Kelly and Marilyn Turner, and Hollywood stars Mel Gibson and Dom DeLuise. The last time I was there, Tommy Hearns was a celebrity in attendance.

None of the glitterati treks to Loui's for its elegant decor or haute cuisine, and none of the regular patrons comes to see the occasional glitterati who wander in. This is a quintessential pizza joint — hundreds of straw-covered chianti bottles signed by diners fill virtually every inch of wall space, the tables are covered with glass-protected red-checked cloths, the food is served on plain plastic tableware, and smoke hangs heavy, despite the ample non-smoking area amid the 47 tables and booths in the main dining room and the bar.

Owner Louis Tourtois, a native of France, learned his trade working at Buddy's for 17 years and Shield's for seven. In an era when Americans had never heard of Jacques Chirac, he decided to call his place Loui's instead of Louis because it sounded more French. Despite that affectation, Tourtois' menu, anchored by his signature pizza, is Italian all the way.

Depending upon how many items you'd like to add on — feta cheese, green peppers, anchovies and other standard toppings — small, four-piece pizzas average around $10, large, eight-piece pizzas around $18. Given their thickness and density, figure on two pieces per average diner. Aficionados flock to Loui's for the uniquely charred thick crust. If you prefer those wimpy, thin, barely cooked designer crusts, this is not the place for you. According to Tourtois' son, Louis Jr., the veteran pizza chefs in their immaculate kitchen are able to achieve that perfect char because their special pizza ovens reach a higher-than-normal temperature.

The other two basic ingredients of pizza, tomato and cheese, are nicely blended, so that neither dominate the pie. In addition, the whole production is just greasy enough to make eating by hand an adventure. For this pizza, a knife and fork are de rigueur.
The second most popular items on the menu are the antipasto and Greek salads ($4.50 for a small that easily serves three) with the same house-made tangy Italian dressing lathered perhaps overgenerously on both. But don't expect exotica like arugula or pine nuts in these old-fashioned standards. The justly celebrated dressing is available for takeout.

I guess there are Americans who don't like pizza; for them, Loui's offers an array of pasta, sandwiches and hoagies. One can opt for either meat or marinara sauce on a solid spaghetti and meatball platter ($7.25) that comes with house greenery. The same sauces enrich lasagna ($10.95) and the more unusual baked cappelletti, noodles stuffed with meat smothered with acres of cheese ($8.95). The stuffed capelletti appear in the only soup on the menu, a pleasing, albeit slightly salty, chicken broth.
Recently, Loui's added a handful of Italian sausage sandwiches to the repertoire, which are constructed with tiny sausage balls, with optional green peppers or onions or both, and meat sauce in an oversized hot-dog roll. I wish there had been a few more green peppers in my sausage and peppers ($5.75), however.

Although many diners are happy with a "boomba" of draft beer ($2), it is difficult to resist the bargains in wine. Until recently, Loui's list consisted of nine generic house wines at a rock bottom $12.50 a liter. The chianti remains the best bet over chablis, lambrusco and liebfraumilch. Now you can also choose from among 10 or so decent wines by the bottle, quite modestly marked up, including Ruffino chianti ($17) and Jerry Garcia (!) chardonnay ($22). This genuflection towards modernity was matched recently by Loui's willingness to accept credit cards.

Who knows where Tourtois and his son will go from here? As for now, they steadfastly refuse to fill the place with television sets, although two are available in the bar. Manager Laurie Stepetic, who has been there since 1979, explains that Loui's is a family place not a sports bar. And that it is, with large and raucous multi-generational groups enjoying themselves without the tube every night, except Monday and Tuesday.
I hope as well that nothing changes among the colorful, all-female waitstaff, many of whom are in their second decade at Loui's. Typical is the exuberant Diane, who, placing her hand on your shoulder, may ask, "What can I get you, hon?" What else but the best deep dish in Detroit in near-perfect surroundings?

Buddy's

Buddy's
Loui's is the original Buddy's. Dude wrote the recipe and then they
tried to duplicate what he did. No dice though. Loui's is the real deal.

oh MAN, that sounds good, mola!!

that's next in line for places to eat, for me.

Damn you're right MOLA and I've even been to Loui's, great pizza.

$18 for a large pie, the owner is French, and they serve the shit on picnic-ware? It doesn't sound great.

As for it being the original Buddy's, the article says Loui learned his stuff from working at Buddy's.

$18 for a large pie, the owner is French, and they serve the shit on picnic-ware? It doesn't sound great.

As for it being the original Buddy's, the article says Loui learned his stuff from working at Buddy's.
Try it. Order a square cheese pizza. Thank me later.

I got an insider tip on the joint from a friend of Loui's when I first moved to Michigan.

Loui came up with Buddy's recipe back in the day.
They try their hardest to do what he does, but it's impossible.
Loui's is FRESH and authentic.

Buddy's is good, but after having Loui's, Buddy's tastes like plastic. Trust me.

"Yes, I'd like a large pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and....plastic, please".

Mmmmmm.....

For anyone on the east side, Big Al's Firehouse on 22 and Schoenherr makes some great pizza.

not in detroit, but if yalls ever around loves park illinoize get some sams pizza. $6 for a large pep n cheese, and its yummy. they make a good deep dish too for only an extra $1.50. or if you want to drop a $20 go to giordanos for some insane stuffed pizza.

we have a ton of italians around here, so pizza places are a million times more common than mcd's. is that how detroit is?

There are plenty of pizza joints in the D, especially franchises since a bunch of them started in Michigan but the golden arches are everywhere and I think the thing the news papers always mention is the high number of coney places. Though I can't remember the last time I was in one, I know I pass at least 5 coney places (off the top of my head) just going from my house to the expressway, and its a single street straight shot trip from my side street to an expressway.