Buddy’s Pizza

Yuck. This place is the pits. The dining area is extremely dated and has an unclean diner vibe. It’s the type of place that looks like it hasn’t had a good cleaning in a decade. There were crumbs on our table as though it hadn’t been properly cleaned and food residue on our dishes! We came in at lunch and our small 4 corner pizza and small buddy’s salad took over 40 minutes to come out, which is absolutely ridiculous. The pizza was WAY too greasy and overly sauced. I asked for some napkins to at least absorb some of the puddle of grease sitting on top of the pizza, and it took 10 minutes before she came back with 2 napkins (not nearly enough). Much like the pizza, the salad was doused in too much dressing. We just picked at our lunches before requesting the bill which took another 30 minutes to get. Overall we were less than impressed with this Buddys and will definitely not be returning.

One of the best pizza spots in the metro Detroit area. I now live in Florida but am sure to visit here each year when I see family. Grear pizza and casual atmosphere!

The pizza (detroiter) was delicious, reminded me of NY pizza. The Sicilian style was cooked to perfection and the flavors just went together. Also had a Caesar salad with grilled chicken which was delicious, just wish I asked for the dressing on the side because I feel they were a bit heavy on the dressing. The Cobb salad was also good with delicious avocado

I might be a bit critical because I’m from New York, but this pizza is just okay. I ordered the margherita pizza and it was extremely salty I honestly couldn’t finish it. I love Sicilian pizza so when I saw that Buddy’s specializes in square pizza I figured there’s no way that I wouldn’t enjoy this. Unfortunately I didn’t like it and I wouldn’t recommend it, but the restaurant is pretty big and there were a lot of people in there for dinner.

Great Midwest comfort food. The thin crust pizzas are also great if you are trying to watch the calories. We also love the salads here. I want some pizza now.

Most favorite pizza ever. Buttery and crisp crust. Amazing Hawaiian. Awesome antipasto. Yum.

Buddy’s is one of my favorite places for pizza in the Detroit area. The deep dish crust is near perfect. We had the meat deluxe pizza, and it’s loaded with toppings. The carry out area is busy during the evenings and weekends so prepare for that. Buddy’s is is on the expensive side, but it is very satisfying and worth it.

Buddys is my favorite Detroit style pizza. Have been to several different locations and have always been impressed. Every time we go for take out Detroit style pizza, we go to Buddy’s

Came here with the boyfriend’s parents, on their recommendation. It’s been about 8 years since I last had Buddy’s Pizza.
I don’t know why it has been so long since I last had their pizza, but I’m not going to dwell on it for very long. When I think of delicious pizza, I think of Buddy’s.
Between the 4 of us we split a medium greek salad and 2 of the 8-​square pizzas. The salad portions are generous; the individual size could very easily be split between 2 people if you’re also going to have some pizza or appetizers.
The signature Detroiter pizza is my go-​to. Cheese, pepperoni, tomato basil sauce, topped with shaved parmesan and Buddy’s sicilian spice blend. My mouth waters just thinking about it. If you don’t know what to get, try the Detroiter!
Another great thing about this place is that they have a pretty decent selection of local brews and specials.
This is real Detroit-​style pizza. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Good Restaurant Pizza with Detroit Style pies (Pan Pizza) — lots of topping combinations and specialist combos. A good sized menu for non-​pizza lovers, plenty of salad and standard italian options.
Serve is typically veteran servers — who know how to work, who work fast and keep your water glass full.

My favorite Detroit pizza chain! Every time I think of this restaurant I get nostalgic, living in Los Angeles. No amount of California Burritos can fill the emptiness inside of me that is BUddy’s Pizza.
If you want authentic detroit-​style pizza, find one of these places when you visit Detroit. My favorite is the Detroiter. I often go with my vegetarian side of the family (in-​laws) and also enjoy the Florentine Mark. They have plenty of parking. If you decide to eat there all the time (which you should!) they have deals where if you buy a giftcard, you can get a free pizza. The Math works out, just do it!
OK I need to stop writing this review and eat some food, my mouth is watering just thinking about Buddy’s!

This Buddy’s seems to be about the same as the other Buddy’s around Detroit — good pizza, nice servers, and plenty of parking (it goes all the way around back). I do love that they toss the dressing in with the salad (even distribution — yay). We had a big party at the back of the restaurant and the waiters were great about keeping the water filled, and asking if anyone needed anything else. Overall pleasant evening.

A couple friends and I tried the Lake Superior pizza from their Great Lakes Collection of speciality pizzas. This one has cheese, toasted pine nuts, basil and tomato basil sauce on top. The base of the pizza is a white pizza. The sauce is almost more of a topping, it is placed in the center of the pizza, not spread across. I like the pepperoni that is used, small and thick, crispy from the oven. Buddy’s crust is great, crunchy, your teeth sink in. The cheese that spilled over the side adds some additional texture. A very satisfying slice of pizza.

I came here two days in a row. I’m from Michigan but live in NY. My sister took me here because she thought I’d be impressed with the pizza. Again, I live in NY. I have the best pizza in the world available to me at little cost. Still. I thought I’d humor her and tell her the pizza was good either way. Turns out, this was the best darned pizza I’ve ever had. We ordered two different 4 squares and shared. She ordered the Detroiter and I had the Lake Superior (with pine nuts.) The pizzas were amazing. Crust was light and buttery. Delicious cheese blend. Between those two I liked the Lake Superior best. You wouldn’t think a pizza with pine nuts would be good but you really can’t taste them and it adds a nice little crunch to the pizza. (I had 2 leftover slices from my 4 square.)
The next day we went because we wanted to take our oldest sister who couldn’t make it the day we went. This time I ordered a salad — the Mediterranean with chicken. I eat ALOT of salad and I know it’s counter intuitive to order a salad at a pizza place but I assure you, it was a sound decision. The salad was amazing — and huge! My sister’s kept looking at it as though their mouths were watering. I had enough for breakfast leftovers and it was just as good.
And as a special bonus. The waiter overheard us tell our sister that it was her birthday and she was welcomed to order anything she wanted. At the end of our meal, the waiter came out with a dessert for her with a lit candle. We were totally surprised and amazed at the attention-​to-​detail from this waiter. I wish I knew his name!
I can’t recommend Buddy’s Pizza enough and can’t wait to go back to Michigan!

Buddy’s has a great lunch menu and lots of variety. I like that this location has the carry out area, it makes it easier when picking up a larger order for the work crew.
I’ve never dined in, but they do get busy. Service is great on the carry out side and we don’t ever have issues with the really annoying stuff like dressing and such. Everything we’ve tried has been good– burgers, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, salads. Of course the pizza is a must try. Enjoy!

Full Disclosure: I have not been to the original location in Detroit.
Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let me say that I have been here twice now, and have enjoyed the food immensely. The first time I came here, I had their small Margherita (4 square). My colleague and I shared it, and we each just had one square, and I was beyond full! She highly recommended their minestrone soup, of which I am so glad I tried because it is RIDICULOUSLY good. All the minestrone soups that I’ve had have always been more brothy, but Buddy’s is a thicker variety; almost like a stew but not that thick. I like the small ditalini pasta that they’ve incorporated in with it, and it’s not mushy at all. Mushy pasta is not a favorite of mine. :)
Unlike Detroit-​style pizza elsewhere, Buddy’s crust is really special. It’s not greasy, but not super dense either. It’s not health food obviously, but it’s crust has just enough crisp while retaining the bounce in towards the center. Flavor isn’t overwhelmingly buttery, and the ratio to cheese and toppings is balanced.
I’ve also had their steak hoagie, and if you’re feeling hungry, 1 person can easily finish it. My colleague and I shared it, and it was just the right amount when paired with fries. I’d say the size of it is close to 8″. Priced at $ 8.99, I thought the portion was fair, but the flavor was really good, especially if you’re a fan of caramelized onions.
Service both times were fine, but nothing magical. Both times that I’ve come have been during the week and after the lunch rush (around 1pm), and it’s pleasantly peaceful and relaxing. :)
Overall, I’ll continue to come back from time to time to get my fill of Detroit-​style pizza, but what I REALLY like is that minestrone soup. You must try that if you haven’t already. :)

For God sakes someone needs to turn on the AIR CONDITIONING for people waiting in your TINY carryout room. It’s not like it’s a huge Meijer big-​box store. The carry-​out room at Buddy’s is the size of my walk-​in closet and yet you guys won’t put on the A/​C unless it’s over 90 outside.
It’s absolutely unacceptable in the year 2015 to make your customers «sweat-​it-​out» while they wait for their rather expensive carryout orders. Even your employees were dripping with sweat from head-​to-​toe because some genius decided to save a little money by not turning on the Air Conditioning. I feel so bad for the employees having to work in those miserable conditions.
If McDonalds and Burger King can afford air conditioning to cool their restaurants then so should Buddys. It’s always best to error on the side of having your establishment «too cold» as opposed to uncomfortably hot and sticky.
I’ve noticed that the pizza always taste better during the dinner hour as opposed to lunch time. The quality really has been hit-​and-​miss the last few months to the point we are going to switch locations and start patronizing the new Novi location. «Extra-​cheese» means different things depending on who’s making the pizza that day.
Newsfalsh: you’re cooking HOT pizzas ALL day in the humid Summer time. You need to put on the air conditioning early in the day so your customers aren’t forced to sweat like pigs just for standing in line for 10 minutes waiting to pay for their food.
Am I being unreasonable?

I had to follow up with a review, because the staff really went above and beyond for my family.
We did the all-​you-​can eat deal for the soup kitchen that held a charity event at Buddy’s. We were promptly seated and waited on.
We ordered a couple pizzas, a salad and a couple beverages. about 10 minutes into the meal, the kids were getting restless, with one starting to not feel good. (He had been battling a cold the day before, it wasn’t anything he ate from there) So we asked if we could box the pizza we had and take the check. The waiter said that we weren’t supposed to take anything to-​go due to the ‘dine-​in’ only stipulations on the all-​you-​can-​eat. (Completely understand; it is what it is I guess) So we just asked for the balance of our bill from the drinks and were going to leave. Then the waiter comes back with boxes and said he talked to a manager about our situation, who showed compassion for our situation.
It is experiences like this that make me so greatful for Unilocal.A small gesture meant a lot to my Wife and I in that moment, and the world needs to know it. Ya it was just 6 slices of pizza, but you can’t predict what kids are going to do, and we would have had to come up with a second dinner plan that night once we were home.
Thank you staff of Buddy’s!

Have I really never reviewed this Buddy’s before? My parents and I used to go here all the time, but now I live in Troy so it’s not quite as close of a drive.
We went here Saturday (Valentine’s Day); originally we were going to do lunch and a movie at AMC Livonia, but the weather wasn’t great so we changed venues. We split an 8-​square deep dish with mushrooms and sausage, and the multigrain crust (*side note: I didn’t like that type of crust before but now I’m a convert, the crunchiness is great). My mom also got a small mac ‘n cheese entrée which came with bread and a side salad, which I ate … bread was good, salad was fine but very basic (lettuce, tomatoes, carrots). Service was decent as well.
I like Buddy’s pizza just fine but prefer Shields. The weird thing is that mushroom pizza is always my favorite, but Buddy’s mushroom is just kinda blah … but their pepperoni deep dish is AMAZING because the pepperoni is spicy and they put it under the cheese/​sauce rather than on top of it. Definitely worth trying. The multigrain crust is tasty too, especially if you’re trying to eat a little healthier.
I’d come back to this location if in the area. I will say it’s the «oldest”-feeling of the three I’ve been to … Novi (newest) is more modern, and Dearborn has more of an old-​school pizzeria meets new-​school vibe.

I had heard so much about Buddy’s pizza and this was my first time at Buddy’s. They have a pretty good selection of all kinds of pizza’s and also lot’s of other menu options. We went with a pretty plain pizza with pepperoni and banana peppers and onions. It was ok, lot’s of cheese which I like but I didn’t care for their crust.
The service was lackluster, it was next to impossible to get a refill. Hopefully the service is better at their other locations.