As we celebrate National Pizza month, traditional heavyweights Chicago and New York have a challenger in the battle of American city pizza styles.

Detroit has entered the ring.

The thicker, rectangular pizza is growing in popularity outside of the Motor City, with national chains like Jet’s Pizza bringing notoriety to the style.

Bartlett’s Squares Pizza Pub is the newest entry into the growing category.

Owner Lawrence Colburn said when it comes to pizza, people look past the provincial argument of Chicago vs. New York vs. Detroit.

“I think when you give them a great product, once they have that first bite they’re like, ‘that’s pizza and it’s delicious,’” he said. “Doesn’t matter where it’s from.”

Squares occupies a little more than half the space of sister restaurant Atlas Chicken at 1048 Army Trail Road. That restaurant, which specializes in chicken tenders and wings, opened in 2023.

Guests can order from both concepts if they like as they share a patio out front.

The setup is similar to Colburn’s restaurants in Geneva, where the original Atlas Chicken Shack and neighboring Preservation restaurant share a patio and outdoor bar.

“We decided we had the bandwidth to add another concept here to Bartlett’s restaurant mix, and Squares felt like a good fit with our Atlas Chicken brand,” Colburn said. “And truthfully, the reaction has been 100% positive. People are like, ‘Wow, this is delicious.’”

While the initial idea was pizza, they honed in on Detroit-style at the urging of Preservation chef Blaine Jones, who is from Detroit.

They did about a year of research and development to get the product dialed in. Colburn said he wanted it to be authentic, and he found that most versions of Detroit-style pizza you get outside of Detroit just aren’t.

“Detroit-style pizza is not two-inches thick; it’s a three-quarter-inch rise to a nice fluffy, light crust,” he said. “Ours eats like a pizza, it tastes like a pizza. I’ve had others where I’m like, ‘Is this focaccia?’ and others that are like a square Chicago deep dish.”

The sauce has to be on top and, of course, you need the cheese to caramelize over the edge if you’re going to do it right, Colburn said.

And Squares is doing it right. The Stack, topped with traditional favorites including sausage, pepperoni, ham, red onions, mushrooms and green peppers, has a crunchy bite to the outside of the crust followed by a nice soft chewiness inside.

Baked on top of the sauce and cheese, the flavor of each topping comes through. This works especially well for the pepperoni, which has a nice crunchy texture that brings out the meatiness, rather than the greasy mess it can be when hidden under the cheese.

The menu features less traditional, more artisanal pies as well, including the soprassata and olive, the sausage and fennel with pearl drop peppers, and the mushroom goat cheese, featuring a white sauce with goat cheese, mushrooms and thyme.

“We’re a modern take on what pizza can be,” Colburn said.

In addition to pizzas, the menu features traditional salads and “stuff salads,” which are just as they sound, with more stuff than salad. The BBQ chicken ranch features a layer of lettuce at the bottom of the bowl and a pile of fried or grilled chicken, bacon, black beans, jalapenos and fried onion straws on top.

The restaurant also has a robust wine and cocktail program, including the Atlas row of slushie machines that crank out real fruit puree frozen drinks that can be ordered with or without alcohol.

Squares is open for lunch and dinner, with table service and carryout options. Colburn said they’ll soon be adding a half-price pizza night on Mondays and half-price bottles of wine on Wednesday.

“I think we’ve created a space that’s an original that we’re really proud of, brought to you by a guy with a passion for it,” he said. “It’s exciting.”

More pies to try

With Detroit-style pizza gaining in popularity, there are several places around the suburbs you can grab something that is at least a Detroit-adjacent pie.

Bar Salotto

Though not strictly Detroit-style when it comes to their pizzas, this Arlington Heights eatery at 1421 N. Rand Road offers each of their artisan pies in a pan version with a very similar crust. Favorites include the fig & pig and namesake The Salotto, with hand-sliced mozzarella, potato, white onion, rosemary, olive oil and Asiago crust. barsalotto.com/.

Chicago Street Pour House + Kitchen

The gastropub on Elgin’s east side, at 1350 E. Chicago St., offers classic Detroit-style pizzas just the way you might picture it, with edge-to-edge cheese carmalized on the side and sauce on top. Every Monday is half-off pizza night. pourhousekitchen.com/.

Freedom Brothers Pizzeria and Alehouse

The rock ’n’ roll-themed brick-oven pizzeria at 1293 S. Naper Blvd., Naperville, serves both artisanal Neapolitan- and Detroit-style pizzas (gluten-free crusts available for both) while also offering over 20 beers on tap and over 300 whiskeys. freedombrotherspizza.com/.

Pizza Pushers

This small, friendly shop at 644 S. Main St., Algonquin, is open for dine in or carryout from 3:30-9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and is well-liked in the world of online reviews for the perfectly crispy edges on its crust. pizzapushers.pizza.

Station 34

Mount Prospect’s Station 34, at 34 S. Main St., is a sports bar and grill with a chef-driven food menu featuring Detroit-style pizza with a Chicago twist. Specialty offerings include a Reuben pie and a honey-sriracha with chicken. stationthirtyfour.com/.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251008/dining/make-it-a-detroit-style-pizza-for-national-pizza-month/