Tampa Bay is having its Detroit-style pizza moment
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Detroit-style pizza from Small Bar in St. Pete and Sodough Square, which has locations in St. Pete and Tampa. Photos: Kathryn Varn/Axios
A decade ago, an ex introduced me to Detroit-style pizza, and life has never been the same.
Flashback: Biting into that first slice from Jet's Pizza was heavenly. The thick, fluffy center leading out to the crunchy, crispy, caramelized-cheesy edge.
- And the corners … the corners.
Dig in: Tampa Bay now has more places than ever to try the Motor City delicacy, which dates back to 1946, when Detroit pizzeria Buddy's Rendezvous made the first square pizza in a steel pan from an automotive plant.
- Key to the style is the bubbly crust and those cheesy, crispy edges, per my colleagues at Axios Detroit (shoutout to Joe for introducing me to the term "frico edge").
State of plate: Orlando-based SoDough Square expanded to Tampa and St. Petersburg this year, slinging pies like the Detroit Rob City with whipped ricotta, sausage, cup pepperoni, hot honey and the Wisconsin brick cheese that makes the edges so satisfying (10/10 would recommend).
- Small Bar, Bandit St. Pete's pop-up preview for the upcoming Spitz Wine Bar, did a Detroit-style 'za special over the summer that rocked my world.
- And then there's the old standby, Jet's, which (don't kill me) might still be my favorite.
- Maybe it's the nostalgia factor (you never forget your first!) or maybe it's the ranch dressing, which is — and I don't say this lightly — perfect.
What's next: I'll definitely be trying out Motor City Squares, which opened over the summer in St. Pete's Foodie Labs.
- And apparently I've been sleeping on The NONA Slice House's Detroit-style? Smh, me.
What other spots should I try? Drop me a line at [email protected].