Marginal OT*: Detroit Pizza
*Marginal due to Jeff Smokevitch being quoted.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/01/detroit-style-pizza/2043279/
Agree with the statements in the article about what Detroit Pizza is all about...just don't blow up into a Zingerman's is/isn't debate, please! (And don't blame me for the source article...thought it was a fun subject in these dark days before 2-a-days.)
April 15th, 2013 at 12:10 PM ^
Seeing that it's lunctime and we're talking food I have a question for the board. Why is it that in the Detroit metro area you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a coney stand (I think it's a zoning law in MIchigan that ALL strip malls have at least one) but down here in Cleveland there are literally none. I mean none.
I got a jones for a coney dog the other day and my options were Sonic and Skyline Chili which is sort of like choosing between something horrible and something terrible IMO. I'm telling you someday one the Greek community up north is going to figure out that a mere three hour drive south they can own the market and not have to compete with everyone in their family for business and that guy is going to be worth millions!
April 15th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^
...but what's the point of being worth millions if you have to live in Ohio?
April 15th, 2013 at 12:21 PM ^
Why is it that in the Detroit metro area you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a coney stand?Basically, the reason is that the coney dog originated in Detroit. Greek immigrants brought chili recipes with Eastern European spice profiles and paired it with a hot dog.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^
Agreed but here's what makes no sense to me. We have a ton of Gyro stands around here so you can get 24 hour greek food but no coney resturants. Last time I checked both Gyro's and Coney's were a greek-thing so why did they bring the Gyro down here but left all the coney's back up with you guys?
April 15th, 2013 at 12:37 PM ^
Great question. I'm not certain, but I think at the turn of the century (last century), I think Michigan was a big hot dog mass-producer, so coneys became a natural offshoot of that fact.
If you have a hankering for coneys and are ever in Detroit, check out either Lafayette Coney or American Coney. They're easy to find since they're next door to each other on the corner of Lafayette Blvd and Michigan Ave, Pretty much the mecca of the coney dog world.
Both are excellent but refreshingly different in their flavor and texture profile, and it inspires a lot of rivalry and passion between devotees of either establishment.
You just brought up a bigger food debate than even the infamous Zingerman's vs. Maize n Blue deli one...
American Coney Island rules!!!!!!!! Lafayette sucks!
I think both places are good, but I like American more myself as well. I like the fact that their chili is creamier than Lafayettes and that they use vidalia onions rather than spanish onions.
[prepares for ruthless response]
Lafayette all day! American is garbage.
of rheumy-eyed perverts, ne'er-do-wells, scoundrels, mountebanks, scalawags, cross-dressers, scrofulous catamites, and tubercular dogs. Lafayette is where real Americans and true Detroiters eat.
maybe black jack pershing said this in WW I after arriving in france... or not.
but black jack would love the dogs at lafayette
Ferris....
I may live here now in lovely Cleveland Ohio but I grew up in even lovelier Pontiac Michigan so I am all too familiar with the American v Lafayette battle royale! And it's my familiariy with all things coney that makes me so sad here in C-Town when I can't get one. Thanks for the shout out though.....I appreciate the thought.
Which brings me to another food question. Are coney places better for coney's or breakfast? I would argue that they actually do better serving breakfast than coney's in many cases.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^
Probably because they are anti-Semites.
Rabid anti-dentites.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
new staff got me a nice 'welcome to town' basket (complete with Grippos chips and skyline chili)
and let me tell anyone who may have never tried Skyline before: DON'T DO IT.
its awful.
Cornish miners brought them over and you will also find them in some other mining areas like N. Wisconsin and Montana.
I knew pasties had quite a following in Minnesota and Wisconsin, didn't know about Montana though. But isn't the U.P. pasty a finnish version?
Australia too. Finns in the U.P. learned to make them from the Cornish. I didn't notice anything distinctive about theirs. The English, on the other hand, made the worst ones I ever tasted..
April 15th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
I believe there is a Detroit Coney Island hot dog place in L.A. now that was opened by a couple of Michigan people. Apparently it is a huge success.
no coneys until one opened on the northside (Leo's). same family ownership as detroit area. it failed after less than two years. i couldn't believe it with the large mich population here. they had a liquor license though, which probably ate into their margin. i doubt many ordered beer/drinks while at Leo's.
i loved it though. very quick service and reasonably priced. hope another opens up soon.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:21 PM ^
Detroit-style pizzas are very much in the air these days. And suddenly it occurred to me: Cottage Inn Pizza has to be Detroit-style, doesn't it? Matter of fact, they mention Cottage Inn in the article, tho' they fail to note that it's in A2. Oddly, one of the few really decent pizzerias here in Tallahassee makes something very like a Detroit-pizza, but they call it Chicago. I still think that I prefer a truly good Brooklyn-style pie like the ones at Patsy's--maybe only because I can chow down on five slices. A Detroit-style pie I feel grease-drenched after two pieces, tasty though it may be. Love the idea that Buddy's in Detroit used to pack them in auto parts boxes. . .
The best Detroit-style pie I've had is from Loui's (yes, that's how it's spelled) in Hazel Park. The key with any Detroit-style pizza (the original Buddy's and the original Shields also lay claim to inventing it) is the way they line the pan with cheese BEFORE they put in the dough. This way, the cheese carmelizes and burns a little into the bottom of the pizza. Also, toppings are all baked underneath the cheese.
Loui's is a great family-style pizza joint with long tables and they serve their own rotgut wine in straw-lined bottles. What you may also notice is the inordinate number (even for Michigan) of obese people dining and working there. Limit yourself to a couple slices, but you will enjoy them.
Becase it was always CASH ONLY and such a dive that it had to be a money laundering front.
Regardless, it's awesome.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ^
I live in Grand Rapids and if there are any Coney stands around here anymore, I can't find them.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:36 PM ^
I guess Jet's and Cottage Inn qualify then? I never knew there was a "Detroit style" pizza, I've always just referred to that type as deep dish. It's definitely my favorite type, though Chicago and NY are also great.
Jet's is the best. Love their cinnastix too.
Jet's is fine, but it's such a huge chain that they working the margins pretty thin on quality.
Which is funny cause when I was in school, my friends house basically kept Jet's in biz for their first year. It was a manditory training stop for all new delivery drivers.
Jet's is definitely Detroit-style, even though they don't play it up. The wiki seems to say that technically Detroit-style is sauce on top of the cheese, so Jet's isn't quite exactly the 'official' style, but the key part to me - the crust - is the same idea.
I wish someone would build one in DC or Virginia...I can only get it when I visit for football games or visit my parents in Florida.
Personally, I don't really count Cottage Inn. Crust is much different, less buttery, than other Detroit pizzas. And those damn sesame seeds...almost ruin it for me.
To my eye, "detroit style" is just a thick crusted pizza made in a liberally greased pan with burnt cheese edges. Sauce on top of or under the cheese makes no difference to me, but it's the crust and the burnt cheese edges that qualify it as detroit style.
God I want this tonight.
They recently opened a Jet's here in Virginia Beach, and it's every bit as good as I remember it from home.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
Even outside of "Detroit-style" I think there are very few places in the country that can compete with Detroit for pizza options. One of our better-kept secrets.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
I have to think that Buddy's might always be thought of as the originator of the style, but if you haven't yet done this, you can get a fairly well-rounded sense of Detroit style pizza by visiting the chains which are direct descendants of Buddy's as well - that is to say, they were started by former employees of Buddy's. A few that come to mind are Tower Inn in Ypsilanti, Luigi's (Eastpointe and Harrison Township, I think) and Shields, but for good samplings of the style, there is also Green Lantern in Madison Heights and Marinelli's in Troy if you don't mind travelling for pizza.
Awesome suggestions. Marinelli's is a great little restaurant with decent pub food, or it was 15 years ago when I was last there. Green Lantern is very underrated...or at least it's not as well known as some of others. Shields is damn good too.
It's been a long time since I've eaten at any of those places. Good memories. I miss living in Michigan, and threads like this make me miss it more.
Green Lantern is the best for round pizza, Alibi in Troy is a close second. I heard once that the two are related - one is an offshoot of the other but can't remember which way it went.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^
I ate at Smokevitch's place in Telluride a few years ago. It is some goddamn good pizza. Especially after a day of hard skiing. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^
What did you do to get so far in the red?
April 15th, 2013 at 12:53 PM ^
I was on business in Orlando last year and I was heading out to get some lunch and I ask, "Any Leo's around here?"
Stupid question. They looked at me like, what the hell is Leo's?
I'm getting my M.S. down at Missouri State University, and I had to click on an article that mentioned just about all the food that I miss from back home.
I am a huge coney dog fan. What I would give for just an A&W coney dog (yeah, no A&W's down here). Leo's, Athen's, Lafayette.....I can taste it now.
And then you go and mention pizza that I've been craving for about two years now. Shields, Cottage Inn, Buddy's, Jets, etc. Down here, the best pizza place is Little Caesers (still have to support the Tigers).
the two pizza places that I have to eat at while I'm home, are Jet's Pizza and Buscemi's pizza. I never thought of them as being "Detroit style pizza", but with the square deep dish crust....mmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!
I do remember eating pizza at the Buddy's downtown back when I was a kid. My dad had taken me and a buddy to the Detroit Science Center (woo Imax). The pizza was absolutely awesome. But it was a lot like the old school Cottage Inn pizzas.