To many pizza fans, it is best in its purest form: dough, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese kissed by a very hot wood-fired oven.
Others, especially in America, see pizza as a blank slate, ready to transform into any kind of cuisine. Barbecue chicken, dill pickle, hot honey, BLT, Mediterranean and Hawaiian pizzas are all standard on many neighborhood pizzeria menus these days.
Where can we go from there? These Metro Detroit chefs have stretched the limits of what can be considered pizza, and in doing so have crafted some truly unique pies.
Here are the most bizarre, curious and interesting.
Oxtail Pizza — Brightmoor Family Grille
An unassuming little coney island with drive-thru and counter ordering is home to one of the most interesting pizzas I’ve ever tasted. Brightmoor Family Grille’s oxtail pizza is beefy, sweet, tangy and just a tiny bit spicy. It has a spiral of barbecue sauce, a modest amount of mozzarella cheese, a sprinkle of Parmesan and a mega serving of tender oxtail. Diced white onions and green peppers were recommended toppings, but you can get it with just oxtail or with other pizza toppings. It’s not cheap, but it is shareable — $24.44 for a small with eight slices — and it’s hearty and finger-lickin’ good.
Open Mon.-Sat. for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 22541 Fenkell, Detroit. (313) 693-9053.
Gyro Pizza — Halal Eastside Eats
This carryout spot on the east side has everything including Indian, Middle Eastern and American cuisine. What got me in the door was their square gyro pizza, though. It’s got cheese to the edge and a creamy and garlic-y tzatziki spread under a generous portion of melted cheese with chunks of charred lamb gyro on top. The bread is fluffy and chewy with a nice golden-brown crust. In tasting for this article, it may be a toss up between the oxtail pizza and this gyro pizza for my favorite. Both are so rich, though, that it’s not something I could eat regularly. Graceland King Gyro (7505 Highland in White Lake) also serves a gyro pizza with gyro meat, onion, tomato and tzatziki sauce.
Halal East Side Eats is open for lunch, dinner and late-night daily for carryout. 11935 E. Warren, Detroit. (313) 915-3287. halaleastsideeatsmarket.com.
Big Mac Pizza — Michigan & Trumbull and Grandma Bob’s
Both these excellent Detroit-style pizza destinations in the city serve a regular and vegan version of a square pizza inspired by a McDonald’s Big Mac. Michigan & Trumbull’s is called McLovin and has Beyond Beef crumbles, iceberg lettuce, red onion, sesame seeds, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses and an “awesome sauce” that tastes a lot like the tangy, creamy spread you’d get on a McDonald’s Big Mac. Grandma Bob’s in Corktown calls theirs the Big Mack and makes it vegan with plant-based cheese, Impossible burger, pickles, iceberg lettuce, sesame seeds and a vegan Thousand Island sauce. Grandma Bob’s also offers a Halal beef pepperoni, vegan pepperoni and another unique pizza with Italian sausage, pistachio, onion, ricotta cheese and rosemary.
Michigan & Trumbull opens at noon Wed.-Sun. at 1331 Holden, #100, Detroit. (313) 637-4992. michigantrumbullpizza.com. Grandma Bob’s is open for dinner daily and lunch Wed.-Sun. 2135 Michigan, Detroit. (313) 315-3177. grandmabobs.com.
Cholent Pizza — Jerusalem Pizza and Bagels
This Southfield pizzeria and bagel shop (which also sells Kosher sushi) has a lot of flavor combos and ingredients you don’t see at every neighborhood pizzeria. I had to try the cholent pizza, which doesn’t exactly have the traditional Jewish stew on the pizza, but is more inspired by its flavors. It’s got beans, potato, kishke and vegetarian ground “beef,” plus traditional mozzarella and Dijon mustard instead of pizza sauce. The mustard definitely threw me off, but if you like beans, potatoes and the flavor of plant-based meat, you should try this. Jerusalem also has a vegetarian Coney Island pizza with mustard, onions, vegetarian chili and vegetarian hot dog pieces.
Open daily for carryout. 26025 Greenfield, Southfield. (248) 552-0088. jpizza.com.
Beetza — HenriettaHaus
This Hamtramck bar, coffeeshop and pizzeria specializes in a labor-intensive sourdough style pizza. All their pizzas are vegetarian and round with a thick, chewy, crave-able crust. Like the eclectic and colorful atmosphere inside the dining room and bar, HenriettaHaus’ pizzas also have a colorful and eclectic look. The latest invention is the “beetza,” which is topped with chopped chunks of earthy beats, plus three kinds of cheese, micro arugula sourced from Planted Detroit and a balsamic drizzle. It will be on the menu this week, but it may be gone the next like their very impressive “Polgish” pizza that was around briefly in February. That was topped with not just dill pickles, but dill pickle soup-inspired sauce, chopped potato pancakes from nearby Polish Village Cafe and a dill-infused sour cream drizzle. Another popular take is their Penniman pizza with a savory peach sauce. It’s named after Little Richard, a Georgia native.
Open at 5 p.m. Wed.-Sun. 8609 Jos Campau, Hamtramck. facebook.com/HenriettaHaus.
Mashed Potato Pizza — Clamdigger Lounge & Pizzeria
Head south to Monroe for a riverside joint that specializes in a mashed potato pizza. Described as being similar to a twice-baked potato, the round pizza comes with cheese, bacon and sour cream. Naturally, this destination on the River Raisin also has a clam pizza with clams, bacon and onions.
Open daily for lunch and dinner at 1540 E. Elm, Monroe. (734) 243-2800.
Melody Baetens is The Detroit News restaurant critic
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Oxtail pizza? Metro Detroit pizza makers think outside the box
Reporting by Melody Baetens, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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