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Cheers to pizza from the Detroit metropolitan area.
Online review platform Yelp has released its first list of the 100 best pizzerias in the Midwest. A local pizzeria took first place, and numerous other pizzerias from the Detroit metropolitan area rounded out the list.
At No. 1 on Yelp’s list of the 100 best pizza places in the Midwest is – drum roll please – Loui’s Pizza, 23141 Dequindre Road in Hazel Park. Loui’s beat out Futuro in Indianapolis, Indiana, at No. 2, and Pequod’s Pizza in Chicago at No. 3.
Loui’s Pizza has been a fixture in Hazel Park since 1977 and the current owner is Nykolas (Nyk) Sulkiwskyj, the grandson of the late founder Louis Tourtois.
Sulkiwskyj told Yelp, “Now I’m building on my grandfather’s legacy.”
“We still make pizza just like he does – with caramelized cheese walls around the outside, (with) Wisconsin Brick Cheese, which is high in fat,” Sulkiwskyj told Yelp.
While Louis’s Meat Lovers Pizza with sausage, pepperoni, beef, ham, bacon and extra cheese is the best seller, a new BBQ Chicken Pizza with Nyk’s grandmother’s barbecue sauce recipe is also becoming a favorite, according to Yelp.
Yelp also highlighted Louis’s “decor, with red booths and wine bottles decorated with fairy lights.”
“My grandfather would ask customers who ordered Chianti to sign the straw baskets containing the empty bottles and then hang them on the wall. So I continued that,” says Nyk. “It’s a tradition.”
Other pizzerias in the Detroit metropolitan area and across the state on Yelp’s list include:
No. 14: Pie Sci, Detroit
No. 18: Market 22, Maple City
#23: Fredi the Pizza Man, Melvindale
#43: The Filling Station Microbrewery, Traverse City
No. 52: Tawas Bady Pizza Co.
#55: Major Tomato, Allen Park
#57: Patellie’s, Three Oaks
#62: Quarantino’s, Grand Rapids
#68: Silver Beach Pizza, St. Joseph
#69: Buddy’s Pizza, Detroit
#74: Grandma Bob’s, Detroit
No. 75: Foggia’s Pizzeria, Southgate
#76: Charles and Reid Detroit Pizza, Traverse City
No. 78: 112 Pizzeria Bistro, Rochester Hills
#79: Antoniou’s Town Square Pizza, Rochester Hills
Yelp’s Top 100 Pizza Spots in the Midwest for 2024 includes restaurants in a dozen states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
In its list, Yelp cited the Midwest as the “birthplace of some of America’s most famous and beloved pizzas,” including Chicago deep dish pizza and the popular Detroit-style pizza, described as “big, bold squares baked in steel pans with a cheesy, caramelized crust.”
In rounding up some of the Midwest’s best pizzas, Yelp has spotted a few trends: from pizza makers spicing up their menus with fiery toppings to new creative flavor combinations and special orders, such as various dietary offerings from gluten-free to vegetarian and vegan options.
More: Franklin Village plans new restaurant at historic location
To create its ranking, Yelp considered the total volume and ratings of reviews and included up to five businesses per city. The businesses were listed as open as of June 10, 2024.
Contact Susan Selasky, food and restaurant writer for the Detroit Free Press, and send food and restaurant news and tips to: [email protected]. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.
