Buddy's Pizza — Restaurant in Detroit

Ah, the pizza chain with the giant varsity jacket of the D-Style. I finally got a chance to have my Buddy's experience, and out the gate, the pizza itself is good; just making it plain.

It's the archetype of the D-style, however, it's not as 'tall' in height as most D-style pizzas (kinda odd). Despite that, it is definitely one of the better pizzas I've had while in Detroit.

Now, the reason it gets 3-stars comes down to the coup de grâce of all restaurants: SERVICE. I had time to dine-in, so I was seated immediately, and the server was able to take my order right away, who was very helpful.

The table I was seated at had crumbs on the seat that I had to brush off, and the floor felt like there was sand covering it. Clearly the table had not been thoroughly cleaned, and that's never a good setup for a dining experience.

I went during the daytime (not busy at all), and the pizza took a solid 30 minutes to arrive. Luckily I had a bit of time, but 30 minutes for a D-Style pizza is insane (15-20 mins average). To their credit, they did have ginger beer (Goslings), which most pizza places seem not to have, so that was a shocker.

It also took me a while for my server to return so I can cash out, which is always exhausting.

They do have a carry-out side of the restaurant where you can get a slice much quicker, and when I came back, this was the more expedient option.

Dining in leaves you at the mercy of college and H.S kids in a chain restaurant that meander around making idle conversations near your table, while I witnessed other tables experience service lag for the same reasons.

The management needs to clamp down and raise the standard of service execution, or they need to make a change with management for efficiency reasons. The potential is there, but the expectations fall short.

If you want to try it, get it carry out or a slice to go, but dining in is a slow...

Update: Spoke to the General Manager Mark today, and he is beyond amazing and very considerate to speak with. It was a pleasure being able to speak with someone who completely understood the situation and took the time to read and evaluate it. The business corrected their mistake and will 100% go back. Thank you very much!!

Went here on Friday and the pizza was amazing! But the service made it an absolute awful experience. Adding 20% gratuity to every bill means a server should be on top of there game for the customer experience!! Our server we had didn’t ask us if we needed more beers or pop our entire dining experience, which we would have 100% added, (she could have upsold and gained the business quite some money by offering us refills or more beer.) Not only that but she tend to disappear a bit during our time eating. We never were asked how the food was the entire time (for appetizers and main course). Also our server failed to give us boxes or bags but the host who was by far amazing gave us everything we needed to take our leftovers home. Not only that but our server assumed our bill was together. When we asked for it separated she said “ well no one told me it was seperate… that’s going to take me time to seperate it”. As a server myself I never assume it’s together or separate for anyone so I was quite shocked when she replied with such attitude about separating SIX items. When we finally got our bills and paid she did not give me my correct change for my bill. No coin change back. I tried to look for her after the fact and could not find her and honestly didn’t want to wait any longer to ask about why she decided upon her self to take my coin change and keep it. This server will absolutely cost the restaurant business in the future if she thinks it’s okay to keep people’s...

So, I don't leave reviews often, but despite two previous positive experiences at this Buddy's location (the last one with the same bartender), I'm compelled to leave this review. To be clear, the pizza, cocktails, and dessert I ordered were delicious, but the service was terrible. The service was terrible because I had to wait 10 minutes after sitting at the bar before before I was ever acknowledged. After my food arrived, I had to walk over to a table away from the bar to retrieve my own parmesan cheese and red peppers. And, service was sporadic throughout my dining experience. However, when the bartender's friends showed up, she was fully present and attentive. So, when my check showed up with an automatic 20% gratuity added, it was much to my dismay. I asked if I could adjust the tip and provide the company feedback to which she responded, "you can leave a Google review and offered to remove the automatic gratuity." I took her up on both offers. I promptly tipped her ZERO and here is my review. I'm on the road about 50% of the time and I normally leave 15-25% where 15% is for okay service and 25% is for outstanding service. I only refrain from mentioning her name, because she was my bartender during my last visit and provided good service and I tipped her 20% accordingly. So, great food, but inconsistent service. This makes automatic gratuity and no formal feedback mechanism unacceptable. I hope Buddy's reviews their Google feedback and takes it to heart since their employee relegated me to writing this review. I will likely give Buddy's another shot based on the quality of their food, but if I experience this dismissive service again,...