Buddy’s Pizza Closes Last West Michigan Location, Focuses on Metro Detroit

Buddy's Pizza will shut down its restaurant at 4061 28th St. SE in Kentwood on Friday, Jan. 23. This ends the chain's run in West Michigan. The shop announced this Monday on social media according to MLive.

"We are grateful for the support and memories over the past seven years and proud we were able to bring The Original Detroit-Style Pizza to the Grand Rapids community," the company said. "We hope to see you at one of our other locations the next time you visit the Metro-Detroit area."

The Kentwood shop opened in 2019 as the first one for the chain in West Michigan. It became the last remaining site in the region after other stores shut down in recent years.

A location on Alpine Avenue in Walker closed in July 2024, less than a year after opening. Another one in Portage, near Kalamazoo, closed in May 2025.

With the 28th Street shop gone, the chain now runs 19 locations across Michigan. The remaining ones sit in metro Detroit, with exceptions in Okemos and Ann Arbor, according to the company's website.

The pizzeria's roots stretch back to 1946 at what was then Buddy's Rendezvous Pizzeria on Six Mile and Conant Street on Detroit's Eastside. Gus Guerra made his first square-shaped pizza in forged-steel pans.

The method created a light and crispy crust which is now known as Detroit-Style Pizza, according to the company's website. The chain gets credit as the originator of the style.

The company tried adapting to West Michigan tastes by adding round pizzas to its menu for the first time in February 2025. The new pies were offered only at West Michigan restaurants in Grand Rapids and Portage. All of those sites have now closed.

The metro-Detroit based pizzeria is known for its rectangular deep-dish pies. Fans in West Michigan can visit the chain's remaining shops in the Detroit area.