As many of you know, I lived either out of state or country for most of my adult life. It became a tradition that whenever I would roll back into Detroit my first meal at home would be Buddy’s Pizza. There was no need for discussion—a call was made—a Buddy’s Pizza with pepperoni and an antipasto salad with extra cheese.
So I was pretty damn excited when I was invited to their press conference yesterday to celebrate the very official proclamation of Buddy’s Pizza Day in Detroit. June 23, 2011 marked 65 years in business at the original location for Buddy’s Pizza.
Robert Jacobs, owner, let us in on a little secret, though. Buddy’s has actually been at the location at Six Mile and Conant for 75 years. The first 10 years don’t really count; it was a blind pig at that time. I knew that I loved this company for more than its pizza!
“Today is a celebration of our history, our city and our longstanding support of Detroit’s arts and culture,” said Jacobs. The iconic Detroit pizza place then announced the Motor City Pizza Collection honoring four of our cultural institutions.
I love each of these cultural cornerstones of our community. And $1 of each pizza purchase will be donated to the individual non-profits through the end of the year.
The new pizzas have the same awesome crust with a new Motor City Cheese Blend of Fontinella, Asiago and brick cheeses.
The Motor City Pizza Collection:
- The Parade Company – Topped with fresh carrots, sliced grape tomatoes, tomato basil sauce and parmesan
- The Detroit Zoo – Topped with fresh basil, pine nuts and tomato basil sauce.
- The Detroit Institute of Arts – Topped with spinach and artichoke blend, capers, roasted tomatoes, parmesan and served with a fresh lemon wedge.
- The Henry Ford – Topped with red onion, seasoned ground beef, smoked bacon, bleu cheese, tomato basil sauce and parmesan.
Top Left - The Parade Company, Top Right - The Detroit Zoo, Bottom Left - The DIA, Bottom Right- The Henry Ford.
They also debuted Kid Rock’s Badass Detroiter pizza, which is a pepperoni pizza with dough made with the rock stars’ beer. And unlike the normal Buddy’s pizza the pepperoni are on top of the pie. The Detroiter will only be available at the original location on Friday and Saturday nights.
Yes, I got to taste all 5 pizzas! My favorites were the DIA and The Henry Ford. There will be many of these in my future.
Buddy’s aim was to add toppings that were more current and they went through hundreds of recipes before settling on the final product, according to Wes Pikula, Vice President of Operations.
Sometime after I moved back to Detroit my family stopped showering me with the Buddy’s love. This made me sad. It seemed that their feelings towards my favorite pizza had waned. And a large pizza and antipasto salad came in at over 20 bucks.
To give back to its loyal patrons, the restaurant is also offering customer cards, which entitle the holder to an 8-square cheese pizza for $6.50 once a month. Add an extra topping for 65 cents. So affordable!
With the new pies, I’m positive my families’ taste buds will be reawakened to my first pizza love. Welcome back into my life and my family dinner celebrations, Buddy's!