Detroit-Style: Motor City’s Rectangular Revolution
What started in Detroit’s auto factories has become America’s hottest pizza trend. Detroit-style pizza, with its edge-to-edge Wisconsin brick cheese, stripes of tomato sauce and crispy, caramelized edges, originated at Buddy’s Pizza in the Motor City in 1946. Weirdly, it spent six decades in relative obscurity, although Detroiters knew it was something special from the beginning. Now everyone knows it, as the style has spread from north to south and coast to coast. Learn how to make the year’s biggest pizza styles: Detroit, New York, Grandma, Sicilian, Chicago Thin, Deep Dish and Roman. The caramelized edges and unique steel pan cooking method create a texture that’s part focaccia, part pizza perfection.
This isn’t your typical delivery slice. Detroit-style pizza was created when someone started using metal trays, which originally held small factory parts, to cook this rectangular deep-dish pizza. It has a thick, chewy crust and is baked not once but twice for perfectly caramelized cheese – those crispy edges are sought after! More so than specific toppings, Detroit pizza is known for having sauce on top of the cheese – it’s often applied in stripes across the pizza.
Roman Pizza Al Taglio: The Instagram-Worthy Italian Import
The Roman Pizza on trend right now is the thick, puffy version of Pizza Al Taglio (pizza by the cut) made popular by Gabrielle Bonci when he opened Pizzarium in Rome in 2003. Unlike the Roman pizzas that came before, this version has a much higher hydration dough (at least 80 percent) with a long, cold fermentation process, and often gets topped post-bake. It’s impressive because, when done well, it’s much lighter than it looks. The texture is delicately crisp on the outside yet soft and airy on the inside.
The visual appeal has made this style perfect for social media obsessed diners. To the Instagram generation (which didn’t exist when I wrote my first Roman pizza column) it’s a visual stunner both because of its toppings and sprawling interior bubbles. It might be more accurately referred to as “Bonci-style,” in reference to Gabriele Bonci, the Roman pizza-maker who put pizza al taglio on the Instagram map and has since opened numerous U.S. locations. “I think Bonci has set the standard that is now being exported to the United States,” Zimbeck says.
Grandma-Style: Brooklyn’s Homestyle Sensation
Grandma-style pizza channels old-school New York vibes – thin, crispy and cut into squares. Tavern-style, the Midwest’s thin, crunchy darling, is another increasingly popular style. This humble style has been quietly taking over pizzerias nationwide, earning recognition as one of the fastest-growing regional variations.
The Grandma-style pizza is thought to come to us from Long Island, New York. This simple style is usually rectangular due to being cooked in a sheet pan, and the pan is oiled heavily. The order of ingredients is crust, cheese, tomato sauce. However, these pizzas are often finished with a garlic-infused olive oil, oregano, and Pecorino Romano cheese. Grandma pizza is thicker than New York-style but nowhere near as thick as Detroit, Sicilian, or Deep Dish. It’s cut into squares before being served. This style has experienced significant growth and popularity in recent years.
Tavern-Style: Midwest’s Cracker-Thin Comfort Food
Don’t let the thin crust fool you – tavern-style pizza packs serious flavor. Tavern-style pizza is a type of pizza that has both a thin crust firm enough to have a noticeable crunch and slices cut into squares, as opposed to wedges. Although regional styles can vary, tavern-style pizza across the Midwestern United States typically have a crispy and thin crust. In Milwaukee, this is referred to as a “cracker” crust; crusts in Minnesota tend to be a bit softer. Unlike hand-tossed pizzas common on the east coast of the United States or in Italy, the dough is rolled out before baking.
What makes tavern-style special is its ability to support generous toppings without getting soggy. The square-cut presentation means every piece has that perfect ratio of crust to topping. According to 2013 Grubhub data and the company Chicago Pizza Tours, thin-crust pizza outsells the more widely known deep-dish style among locals, with GrubHub stating that deep-dish comprises only 9% of its pizza deliveries. In 2020 COVID-affected data, Yelp also found that thin-crust pizza was more popular in Chicago.
Quad City-Style: The Malted Marvel from the Heartland
Hailing from a group of cities in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, Quad City-style pizza features malt in the crust. This secret ingredient gives this type of pizza a toasty, nutty flavor. You can get just about any topping you’d like on Quad City-style pizza, but purists opt for the signature lean sausage cooked with fennel. This unique addition sets it apart from every other regional style in America.
The malt creates a distinctively sweet undertone that complements both traditional and adventurous toppings. It’s one of those regional secrets that’s slowly making its way into mainstream pizzerias as chefs discover how that subtle sweetness enhances the overall pizza experience. The fennel sausage pairing has become legendary among those in the know.
St. Louis-Style: Provel Cheese and Paper-Thin Perfection
St. Louis-style pizza has an unleavened, super-crispy crust and sliced (never diced) toppings. The sauce is almost sweet and instead of mozzarella, it features “provel” – a blend of provolone, Swiss and white cheddar. This controversial cheese blend either wins you over completely or leaves you scratching your head – there’s rarely middle ground.
The ultra-thin crust means toppings take center stage, while the Provel cheese creates a unique melting experience unlike traditional mozzarella. Louis style are “gaining fast” as Americans continue to expect more from their pizza – whether it’s a cracker-thin crust topped with Provel (for which Imo’s in St. Louis has become legendary) or Roman-style pizza al taglio that is properly cut with scissors. It’s definitely an acquired taste that’s gaining converts nationwide.
New Haven Apizza: Coal-Fired Charred Perfection
This type of pizza, known locally as “apizza”, is popular in the New Haven, Connecticut, area. With Neapolitan roots, it’s similar to New York pizza, but New Haven-style pizza is known for its oblong shape and chewy crust. It’s cooked in a coal-fired oven, giving it a charred flavor. The pronunciation “ah-beetz” immediately identifies you as either an insider or an outsider in Connecticut pizza culture.
The most simple version of New Haven pizza, sometimes also called tomato pie, focuses on the crust and sauce, with just a sprinkle of grated Romano on top. This minimalist approach lets the coal-fired cooking method and high-quality ingredients shine through. The charred spots aren’t burnt – they’re flavor enhancers that add smokiness you can’t replicate with traditional gas or electric ovens.
Brooklyn-Style: New York’s Larger-Than-Life Cousin
If we asked you to name the places where pizza is most beloved, we’d bet your top two answers would be Italy and New York. You’d be right, as the Big Apple is known as the pizza capital of the USA, with nine of the top 50 pizzerias in the country being located in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn borough has a pizza style all its own, and it’s a style that consumers are searching for in 2025. Brooklyn-style pizza is large when compared to other styles and characterized by a thin, stretched crust.
What sets Brooklyn-style apart from regular New York pizza is the size and the specific stretching technique that creates an even thinner, more flexible crust. The large diameter means each slice provides more surface area for toppings while maintaining that signature New York chew. It’s become popular beyond New York as chain restaurants have adopted variations of this generous sizing.
California-Style: Gourmet Toppings Meet Artisan Crust
The chef behind California Pizza Kitchen, Ed LaDou, created this famous chewy hand-tossed crust. This pizza style has made waves all over the U.S. You’ll find a California-style pizza topped with all sorts of non-traditional ingredients, such as smoked salmon, Peking duck, goat cheese and arugula. California-style opened the door for creative toppings that would have been unthinkable on traditional pizzas just decades ago.
The influence extends far beyond upscale restaurants now. Fusion pizzas that incorporate global flavors are gaining popularity. Pizzerias are blending international cuisines with traditional pizza formats, creating bold and exciting flavor combinations. Whether it’s Asian-inspired pizzas with flavors like hoisin or sesame, or Mediterranean pizzas with hummus and falafel toppings, the possibilities are endless. California-style essentially gave permission for pizzaiolos everywhere to experiment freely.
Sicilian-Style: The Original Square Slice
These mysterious alternatives are likely none other than Sicilian pizza. This variation of pizza offers up a square slice baked in a deep dish, with a far thicker crust and a lot more chewiness than its flatter cousin. The pies did in fact originate in Sicily. While Detroit-style gets more attention these days, Sicilian pizza remains the grandfather of American square-cut styles.
Sicilian-style pizza – or sfincione – is distinguished by its thick, rectangular crust, which is fluffy and light in texture, not dissimilar to a focaccia. The cheese – usually caciocavallo or pecorino romano – usually sits underneath a layer of savoury tomato sauce made with anchovies, onion and breadcrumbs, though different variations can be found across the world. Compared to Detroit-style, Sicilian is definitely saucier and less cheesy. Roman versions are commonly rectangular with a thinner crust (approximately one-quarter of an inch versus Milana’s one-inch thickness).
The Regional Pizza Revolution Continues
The explosion of regional pizza styles reflects America’s growing food sophistication and desire for authentic experiences. Meanwhile, regional styles are having a renaissance. Detroit-style, grandma-esque and tavern-inspired pizzas are no longer confined to their geographic roots. “Pizza lovers are exploring these regional varieties more than ever before,” Moore said. Pizza’s regional renaissance is in full swing, with varieties like Detroit-style, “Grandma” style and tavern pies entering the spotlight. “These aren’t just recipes, they’re stories,” Moore said. Detroit-style pizza, with its thick, caramelized edges, is a canvas for toppings of all forms and flavors.
Globally, the pizza market is rising as fast as a well-proofed sourdough base. According to IMARC Group, the category reached $154.8 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $233.4 billion by 2032, powered by a combination of innovation, convenience, cultural relevance and a strong emotional connection with consumers. This growth isn’t just about volume – it’s about variety and regional authenticity finding new audiences hungry for something different than the same old pepperoni slice. What regional style will be next to break out beyond its hometown borders?
