Farmington Hills-based Buddy’s Pizza will open its first downtown Detroit location on Wednesday, Dec. 11, on the first floor of the Madison Building at 1565 Broadway St. The location is a block east of Woodward Avenue and just south of Park Avenue (near Comerica Park).
The original space served as the lobby, along with office space, for the Madison Theatre, built in 1917. Designed by noted architect C. Howard Crane, the 1,806-seat theater was demolished in the early 2000s and replaced by a surface parking lot. Bedrock, a real estate company that is part of the Quicken Loans Family of Companies, redeveloped the Madison office building into a mixed-use space.
Most recently, the Buddy’s space was occupied by Angelina Italian Bistro, which closed in late 2017 when the lease wasn’t renewed. Buddy’s Pizza Downtown will occupy 7,000 square feet of space, have around 200 seats, along with a bar. A 25-seat seasonal patio is planned along Broadway St., across from the Detroit Opera House.
“We are excited to announce the grand opening date of Dec. 11 for our downtown Detroit location. This is our first restaurant downtown – in the heart of the city where the Buddy’s story began,” says Wes Pikula, chief brand officer for Buddy’s Pizza. “We are looking forward to continuing to create happy memories with Detroit residents and visitors for generations to come.”
The downtown Detroit location will offer dine-in, carryout, and catering options. Further details have yet to be released.
Buddy’s was founded in 1946 at the corner of Six Mile Road and Conant Street in Detroit and has been serving what it calls the Original Detroit-Style Pizza since then. It offers its square pizza, from-scratch soups, salads, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, chicken tenders, meat balls, fries, and more.
Locations are in Ann Arbor, Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn, Detroit, Farmington Hills, Grand Rapids, Grosse Pointe, Livonia, Novi, Plymouth, Royal Oak, Shelby Township, Warren, and Woodhaven.
