Steel Pan Pizza

After decades of local pizza isolationism – “no, the best pizza is the pizza I grew up with!” –Americans have more recently become open to the idea that there might be great pizza styles from other cities and countries. Steel Pan Pizza operates from a small location inside Rodeo 39 Public Market, serving Detroit-style pizzas fresh out of the oven and full of character: roughly an inch thick thanks to a solid but not overly bready crust, mild red sauce, a strong layer of cheese, and your choice of toppings.

Eleven different pizzas, including a Classic Detroit with cheese and marinara, a Pepperoni with cup-and-char pepperonis, and varied mushroom, meat, chicken, and veggie options are available. Though we’ve historically loved meaty and mixed meat-and-vegetable pizzas, Steel Pan’s basic ingredients are so fresh and perfectly cooked every time that we frequently reorder the Pepperoni, which lets each of its core flavors (salty, sweet, spicy, umami) pop on top of the crispy-bottomed crust.

Each pizza is 6.5″ square – sized for a one-person meal, with the option of salads or fries on the side – and takes around 15-20 minutes from order to pick-up. We frequently order one as an appetizer to share between people as we sample other places at Rodeo 39, and always appreciate the quality and reasonable pricing.