History of Cloverleaf

In 1946, pizza wasn’t being served at many places in Detroit, but soon many took their first bite of what is now famously known as Detroit-style pizza when Cloverleaf founder, Gus Guerra and his wife Anna (Passalacqua) first introduced her mother’s recipe – the thick crusted, square pie topped first with a layer of cheese followed with a layer of tomato sauce – at their first bar, Buddy’s Rendezvous. Gus Guerra sold Buddy’s in 1953 along with his pizza recipe and purchased Cloverleaf Bar in East Detroit, now known as the City of Eastpointe. Cloverleaf has grown from a small neighborhood bar which Gus described as looking like “a little white farm house” into the Eastside institution it is today.

Award Winning Pizza Since 1946

Since Gus Guerra introduced the square pizza in Detroit, many establishments began making the square pizza but it has been said this original recipe is “The one everyone copies but no one equals.” To ths day, Buddy’s Pizza credits Gus as the founder of Detroit-style pizza.

Throughout the years Cloverleaf has received many awards for their famous pizza, including the most recent award The Detroit Free Press / Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers Restaurant of the Year Classic 2020 and The Sylvia Rector 2020 Hospitality Award.* In May of 2020 the Cloverleaf was featured on the Cooking Channel on the Food Paradise’s Pizza Playoffs’ episode and also in May 2020 on Man v Food with Casey Webb also on the Cooking Channel.

* We are humbled and thrilled at the same time to recive this recognition. We hope your visit will be one of many to our restaurant in Eastpointe or to one of the Cloverleaf Pizza Carry out locations. It will be our pleasure to serve you!

Warm regards,
The Guerra Family