2020 Restaurant of the Year Classic: Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant

You could make an obvious case for Naples or New York, but Detroit must also be included in any discussion of great pizza cities.

And any really serious conversation about “Detroit-style pizza” — as a growing number of people outside of Michigan now call what we locals have always known as “square” — begins with Gus Guerra, an immigrant from the tiny Republic of San Marino.

It was Guerra who first adapted his mother-in-law’s recipe for traditional Sicilian Christmas pizza (sfincione) to fit inside a blue steel pan common to the auto shops abundant around the Motor City.

In place of caciocavallo cheese, Guerra substituted a blend of Wisconsin brick and mozzarella, cut and ground by hand and spread all the way to the edges of the deep pans for that distinctive Detroit edge. Sauce came last, on top of everything else, where it would reduce and sweeten in the oven.

From Italy to the east side

The year was 1946 and business was slow at Buddy’s Rendezvous, the shot-and-beer bar at Conant and 6 Mile Guerra and his wife, Anna, had bought two years prior in partnership with her two uncles.

Business wouldn’t stay slow for long. An instant hit, the pizza propelled Buddy’s to fame and acclaim, forever cementing itself as the birthplace of the distinct style that swept the nation some 70 years later.

But it was as early as 1953 that Guerra’s fortunes split from Buddy’s.

According to Guerra's son, Jack, the relationship between the original partners had deteriorated beyond repair and it was decided the restaurant would be sold. With the earnings, Guerra bought a little bar called the Cloverleaf 8 miles away in East Detroit (now Eastpointe), a predominantly Irish neighborhood. Guerra didn't dare change the name.

In the intervening years Buddy’s changed hands a few more times, most recently selling a major stake to a private equity firm with plans to scale the brand both in and out of Michigan.

But the real spirit of Guerra’s creation lives on most faithfully at Cloverleaf, where his children still serve the original recipe to east-siders and intrepid pizza aficionados hungry for a taste of what loyalists — myself among them — deem to be the best square pie around.

It’s true, I may prefer the kitschy Chianti-bottle ambiance of Loui’s in Hazel Park or the convenience of Buddy’s well-placed locations and growing footprint, but there’s a charming familial spirit and something special in the dough at Cloverleaf.

A Cloverleaf slice is light and airy in the center, surrounded by a lacy crust that packs a serious crunch. Proportions are just right, and the pizza isn’t overly greasy or heavy. But what truly sets it apart is that crackling frico — the fancy Italian word for the caramelized cheese that crisps up around the edges of Detroit pies.

Eating a Cloverleaf slice, preferably a coveted corner, is a full-on sensory experience — satisfying in the same way as trampling fallen leaves or popping bubble wrap, with the additional welcome element of gooey melted cheese and overall deliciousness.

A rich legacy of service

Buddy’s often gets top billing in the Detroit-style pizza lineup, but it’s Cloverleaf that has remained a Guerra-owned and continually operated east-side institution since the beginning.

That’s why Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant in Eastpointe is this year’s Detroit Free Press/Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Restaurant of the Year Classic, an award that goes to places under continuous ownership for at least 10 years that have withstood the test of time, and remained relevant against the odds.

“My dad was a very humble man on top of everything else,” Jack Guerra said. “He believed that you work hard, you get what you work for and you try to do your best. He said, ‘Jack, I'm no better than any other man out there. I got lucky. I just happened to do the right thing at the right time.’ So I think he'd be really, really happy to know that it's going on in Colorado, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania — they're doing this (Detroit-style pizza) all over the place now. I think he’d be proud.”

Jack Guerra, and his sister, Marie Guerra Easterby, started working at Cloverleaf when they first learned to walk. To this day, they still tend the flame of their father’s legacy all these years later. For that dedication to the family business, the brother-sister team are this year’s recipients of the Sylvia Rector Lifetime Achievement Award for Hospitality.

“It's long hours,” Easterby said of the business. “It's being away from your family a lot. But you look at the big picture — this place becomes your family, too. Your customers come for years and generations. The babies start with our crunchy bread and then they grow up and they bring their children.”

Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant

*24443 Gratiot, Eastpointe.

(586) 777-5391

cloverleaf-pizza.com

*In addition to the main restaurant, there are seven Cloverleaf franchise carry-out locations, all in Macomb County.

Send your dining tips to Free Press Restaurant Critic Mark Kurlyandchik at 313-222-5026 or mkurlyandc@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKurlyandchik and Instagram @curlyhandshake. Read more restaurant news and reviews and sign up for our Food and Dining newsletter.