The Motor City Is Now Dough City: Study Names Detroit Pizza No. 1

DETROIT — Kudos to a new study finally recognizing Detroit's pizza. While the Motor City was already arguably the best pizza maker in the Midwest, the new study named Detroit the best city in America for grabbing a slice of pizza.

Anytime Estimate declared "Motown is Dough Town," and why not? Consider our delicious hometown Detroit-style pizza: a thick crust square pizza with crisp corners of brick cheese, first originated by Buddy's Pizza at Six Mile and Conant roads.

The finance website used multiple metrics in ranking the top 50 cities, including Google trends, pizza restaurants per 100,000 residents, pizza restaurants per square mile, average price and big chain pizza restaurants.

"No matter how you slice the data, Detroit comes out on top in our 2022 rankings. The Motor City ranks high in multiple metrics, including No. 1 in pizza passion — meaning Detroiters appreciate a wide variety of pizza styles, according to local Google search trends," the website said.

The Motor City has the most independent pizzerias per capita — around 6 per 100,000 residents — which is nearly double the average of the 50 cities analyzed by the finance group.

Moreover, the group also said there is a pizzeria every 1.5 miles for Detroiters, with the best prices for pepperoni pizza at an average of $7.54, according to the website.

While Detroit earned the first spot for its homemade Detroit-style pizza, the city also ranked first for BBQ chicken pizza searches. The Motor City also ranked high in searches for Chicago-style pizza and taco pizza, making Motown the true "pizza capital" of the country, according to the website.

While seeing Detroit top the country's best pizza makers comes as no surprise to most Detroiters, the rankings have sparked outrage among many, with some blasting the group's study for noting that its criteria does not say anything about taste.

And some in Chicago attacked the group's study as a "bunch of bunk," and insisted Detroit will never be America's top pizza city. Chicago placed a paltry 14th on the list.

As Detroiters and Michiganders celebrate our well-deserved moment, it's worth mentioning on a somber note that our rivals to the south, the Buckeye State, saw three cities make the top 20 on the group's list, including Cleveland at No. 2, Columbus at No. 3 and Cincinnati at N0. 19.