I've said it before and I'll say it again, I truly do not understand the hype of Detroit-style pizza other than the fact Michiganders hype it up because "it's a Michigan thing."

See Related: Detroit-Style Pizza Is Not As Good As MI Says: Unpopular Opinion 

However, while I have yet to have a Detroit-style pizza change my mind, it does appear a lot more people got a lot more into it over the course of 2021 and GrubHub pulled the data to prove it.

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The Growth of Detroit-Style Pizza in 2021

People were definitely all about trying new and exciting things with the little bit of extra freedom to get out and about more we were afforded in 2021.

Of course, we already know that people love their pizza and while searching for new and exciting ways to prepare those precious pies (ever had a pickle pizza?), maybe 2021 was the year they realized their new favorite kind of pizza had been "hidden" in the Mitten this entire time?

Whatever the reason for the rise in Detroit-style pizza, it happened.

We've always had Jets and Detroit original, Buddy's Pizza found great success in the Lansing area and even chains like Pizza Hut started adding the Michigan-made "delicacy" to their menu, inspiring many other chains and other restaurants to follow suit.

So, how does one quantify just how much Detroit-style pizza blew up across the entire United States this year?

GrubHub's Hottest Menu Items of 2021

Every December food delivery service GrubHub releases their conclusions, based on data of what people ordered most that year, of what the top "dining trends" were.

Well, in this year's "Taste of 2021" the data showed that while the "Impossible Cheeseburger" and plant-based options were the most-ordered items this year, Detroit was represented in the top five!

We Americans apparently really loved shredded pork tacos and apple pecan chicken salad (ranking second and third, respectively). Coming in just before fifth-ranked margaritas, Detroit-style pizza was ranked the fourth-most popular menu item ordered in 2021.

Bake magazine breaks down the findings even further, reporting that GrubHub orders for the Motown-made favorite were up over 260-percent from 2020.

Congratulations to Fans of Michigan-Made Foods

Now, while I may be holding out on punching my "Detroit pizza love club" card, I still love when a food that is so special to our state is discovered, enjoyed and celebrated by the masses!

Now if only we could make it so everyone knows the proper way to pronounce "pasty"...

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