Detroit: Grandma Bob’s & Grey Ghost Specialty Pizza
Grandma Bob’s, in Corktown, was opened in 2019 by brothers Dave and John Kwiatkowski. John founded the Detroit Optimist Society in 2014, as a parent company to his growing number of hospitality businesses.
His first was 2011 when he opened the Sugar House, a nationally recognized craft cocktail bar, on Michigan Ave right next to Slows BBQ. In 2014 they signed the lease to occupy the 2nd floor of the Wright Kay building at 1500 Woodward and Wright & Company was born. Since 2014 his empire has grown to 8 of the most popular bars and restaurants in the city: The Sugar House, Wright & Company, Honest John’s, The Peterboro, Bad Luck Bar, Mutiny Bar, Time Will Tell & Grandma Bob’s
Grandma Bob’s may seem like an odd name for a pizza place . . . but of course when there is an odd name, there is usually a good story behind it. It is actually named after John & Dave’s grandmother Roberta. She was nicknamed Robby, and their grandfather affectionately called her Bobby and the grandkids always called her Grandma Bob.
If you have been following our blog (before it was officially a blog) you may remember Grandma Bob’s going back to our Food Dude Reviewed Facebook page. We did a short write up back in 2019, 5 months after they had opened. Here we are, almost 6 years later, and they are still going strong! They are in a prime location with Ford recently reopening the Michigan Central Train Station.
With a name like Grandma Bob’s, you might expect to find some doilies or crochet throw pillows . . . but that can’t be further from the case. Grandma Bob’s is very modern and colorful inside and out. It is a wide open space inside with exposed warehouse ceilings, cement floor and a large mosaic tile pizza decorating on one of the walls. They have communal seating, and a long marble bar with plenty of additional seating. It’s a fun and welcoming atmosphere, and is kid friendly.
But we are here for the pizza, which is absolutely fantastic! They offer “bar style round pies” as well as deep dish, a variety of appetizers, a full bar and even vegan ice cream. Yes! Vegan ice cream, which you can get on its own or in one of their Boozy Shakes.
This week we are in for a special treat. In January of 2024 Grandma Bob’s started “Spread Dough” where on the last Tuesday of the month they invite a chef from another restaurant to takeover their kitchen to create their own style of pizza and donate all the proceeds to a local charity. This week they welcomed in Chef John Vermiglio from Grey Ghost, Second Best and Basan. For those of you that know Grey Ghost, you know that they are not afraid to use bologna. They have had it on their menu at GG since they opened 8 years ago. This is not bologna as you may imagine it. It’s their homemade Italian bologna, also known as Mortadella.
John’s creation for this event, of course a bologna pizza consisting of fried bologna, cheddar cheese, cream cheese fondue and jalapeno. They also had a special cocktail for this event called the Dirty AF Martini made with “olive washed” Grey Goose Vodka, Carpano Bianco Dry Vermouth and garnished with Smoked Kalamata Olives.
So . . . how was the pizza? It was really good, even though true pizza connoisseurs may say “it’s really not a pizza if it doesn’t have regular pizza toppings on it”. It had a ton of different flavors going on. It was sweet, it was salty, it was rich and hit every taste bud in your mouth. Very well balanced and delicious. It was also cooked perfectly with those burnt, crispy, and cheesy edges. We also tried the Dirty AF Martini and it was good, but not as good as the pizza. I have had a number of dirty martinis with regular olive juice and olives. This was made with Kalamata olive juice and garnished with smoked Kalamata olives, definitely different.
If you are not a fan of wild flavored specialty pizzas Grandma Bob’s has a number of other pizzas to choose from. They offer both thin crust round (bar style pizzas) and deep dish square (Detroit style pizzas) with everything from cheese and pepperoni to their Big Mac (a vegan pizza with Impossible burger, vegan mozzarella, vegan 1000 Island, pickles, iceberg lettuce, onion and sesame seeds) and Pickle (roasted garlic and chili pepper cream sauce, bacon, McClures sweet and spicy pickles fresh dill and house ranch drizzle) pizzas. They have a sausage and pistachio pizza that is so good made with Italian sausage, pistachios, red onion, ricotta cheese and rosemary. We were reluctant to try it but are so glad we did.
Grandma Bob’s is a great place to pop in and grab a quick bite or hang out for a while before or after heading to a game. However, they do not have TV’s so you aren’t going there to watch any sporting events.
Grandma Bob’s is located 2135 Michigan Ave right next to the Mercury Burger Bar. They are open Mon-Thurs from 3-9 PM, Fri-Sat from 12-10 PM and Sunday 12-9 PM.
Until next time . . . live well, eat well and enjoy life!
-Keith & Teresa Becker
