Warrior: In Las Vegas, Pizza Rock purports to make authentic Detroit-style pizza. I cannot speak to the authenticity having unfortunately only visited Detroit once without trying the pizza. My best guess is that Pizza Rock offers exemplary Detroit-style pizza. We tried it, and it was memorable, kind of like a Diddy Riese ice cream cookie sandwich is memorable. I probably will never eat Detroit-style pizza, or an ice cream cookie sandwich, ever again.
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What was it that turned you off to the style?
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Warrior: I found it too heavy, and I prefer cheeses like fontina, mozzarella di bufala, and gruyere to Wisconsin brick cheese. To be honest, I was deliberately being snobby in my post, late at night after a bottle of wine. I did like the pizza and am glad I tried it. I just wouldn’t order it again. It has a low quality to calorie ratio IMO. I think Neapolitan pizza tastes better and has lower calories, so it’s a no brainer.
Peony: I found it a bit oily for my liking, and a little too thick. I’m a thin crust person.
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You don’t like cheese bread deep-fried in butterfat until crunchy?
As I noted above, the Widmer’s aged brick I use in mine is a strong, natural, washed-rind cheese that was inspired by Limburger. It’s similar to a ripe Munster or Livarot.
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i think you described why i tend to not get all excited about the detroit style… funny enough i’m right now baking off a sourdough sicilian 
Nameen?
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Oh, honey, that’s me all day long, and I don’t need a bottle of wine to justify it. 
Own it!
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Tried what has been my favorite Detroit-style pizza earlier this week. This is from a pop-up called Dorthy’s Pizza.
They’ve been doing regular pop-ups on the West Side at Full Proof pizza (a great pizzeria done by Lodge Bread & Co btw), and they seem to have pop-ups called Pizza Hell further east at Estretto Sandwich Shop.
I was able to eat this pizza within 15 minutes of it coming out of the oven (luckily my car drive was short), and it was fantastic.
We ordered the Dorthy (on the left) - pepperoni, fennel pollen, and parm, and we added the Fresno pepper jelly option. On the right was the Rocky Balboa with Spanish chorizo, charred hatch chiles, calabrian chile honey, whipped ricotta, and opal basil.
The story of this pizza is the texture of the crust. It was fluffy, had just a touch of sponginess to it, yet with a nice crunch, and then there was a decadent-melted-cheese finish. They say they use a 72-hour leavened sourdough, so I guess this isn’t strictly Detroit pizza, but as a poster mentioned above, this pizza wasn’t sourdough forward. Each pizza comes cut into four pieces, and each piece is its own corner piece, which is quite important for this style of pizza.
The pepperoni on the Dorthy was nice and crisped, and folded up into chalices. There is fennel pollen which lends it a nice sweetness. I am in the camp that likes honey on their pizza, so if you’re not, they do have the Red Stripe. The pepper jelly option added a nice kick to the proceedings and was totally worth it.
I really liked the Ricky Balboa as well, though my wife thought the pizza would have been better with fewer toppings. I thought the freshness of the ricotta and the herbal and bright flavor from the basil served as a nice counterpoint to the heat and meaty flavors from the remaining toppings.
They’re on hiatus for a couple weeks and then back at it after.
For completeness, below are photos of other Detroit pies I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing, in Power Ranked™ order. (PS, I know I need to try Quarter Sheets so the below can be a more proper list).
1) Dorthy’s
2) Cloverleaf (not LA - had to get it in Detroit, MI) the crust is superior to the below options, though their toppings are mass produced
**3A) Doughdaddy **
3B) Dtown Pizzeria (popup at Phorage Weho)
5) Apollonia (perhaps not strictly Detroit style, but seems to have been mentioned in the same breath so including it here).
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I have had Pizza Hut’s Detroit pizza, it’s not bad, especially for the price. Like always, the main problem with Pizza Hut is their sickeningly sweet tomato sauce. I would rather eat theirs than an almost $40 Dough Daddy small for sure, but not as much as Steel Pan. But for a working man’s pizza delivered to your house, it’s worth the price.
The other good “specialty” pizza that Pizza Hut does sometimes is the tavern style, which also has the sugar tomato sauce unfortunately but isn’t bad. Not Donato’s, but not bad. Tavern style is my favorite style.
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There’s a new place called PI L.A. in DTLA (in the alley next to Bar Ama / Orsa & Winston). They call it “LA style,” but it seems pretty “Detroit style” to me. I liked it and would recommend it.
Welcome - PI L.A. - Los Angeles Style Pizza … right here in DTLA. (pila213.com)
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curious what people that have tried all the hyped detroit pizzas would think of the one from little caesar’s… when relatively fresh out of the oven, i would put it up as a very solid rendition!
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I haven’t had little caesars in years but I always thought it wasn’t bad given the really really cheap price.
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I tried Emmy Squared. It’s a nice pizza, but, for that price, I’m not eating there again for myself.
So, yes, I imagine Little Caeser’s would stack up quite nicely (as does Prime). 
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I’m really hoping that I am in Prime’s extended delivery radius
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I may have to try that. $12 for a whole pie?
The pepperoni is 2770 calories per slice, yikes. I should do the math on my homemade version. Or maybe I shouldn’t.
Where did you see per slice? I see that figure for a whole pie (which doesn’t seem unreasonable to me, actually).
They slice the Detroit pies in eight, so that’s one slice.
Seems like the thing I looked at must have the portion size wrong. Pizza Hut says one slice of their Detroit-style is 320 calories a slice. Other brands show somewhere between 300 and 450 a slice. Serious Eats says the recipe I use at home is 796.
Pi LA is so good.
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