Buddy’s Pizza Opens Restaurant at the Detroit Zoo on Thursday | Eater Detroit

"Opening to the public at 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 4, the new Buddy’s Pizza at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak occupies a 5,200-square-foot space in view of the Horace H. Rackham Memorial Fountain near the Ford Education Center and Asian Forests exhibits and will seat 163 people (88 inside plus about 75 across an outdoor patio and rooftop deck). Founded in 1946, Buddy’s is known for serving square Detroit-style pizzas with Sicilian-style crust, brick cheese, and sauce on top, and the zoo location will offer a variety of the chain’s pies including a Detroit Zoo pizza topped with roasted tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, tomato sauce, and cheese. As a playful preview, zoo animals will be given their own personalized Detroit-style pizzas (anteaters with avocados, oranges, and bananas; polar bears with fish and peanut butter). This marks the chain’s thirteenth location as it pursues a larger Midwest expansion, and the company recently listed its original restaurant property (not the business itself) in June to pursue a sale-leaseback arrangement to raise capital for that expansion." - Brenna Houck