Detroit Style Pizza Salt Lake City: How Chef Josh Poticha Brought Motor City Magic to Bricks Corner

There's a moment that happens about thirty seconds after your server sets down a slice of Detroit style pizza at Bricks Corner—the exact moment when you realize that every other pizza you've eaten in Utah has been a warm-up act. The edges are so caramelized they practically crackle when you pick up the square slice, and beneath that crispy, cheese-fused crust is a pillowy interior that somehow manages to be both substantial and cloud-light at the same time. One customer on DoorDash put it simply: "Genuinely some of the best pizza I have ever had. The Sweet Salty Pig. TDF."

This is Detroit style pizza in Salt Lake City done right, and it exists because a Chicago-born chef fell in love with Utah's powder snow and decided Sugar House needed what his old neighborhood had—a place where the pizza is thick, the beer is cold, and everybody knows it's okay to eat the crust first.

From Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen to a Steel Pan Revolution in Sugar House

Josh Poticha didn't set out to become Utah's Detroit pizza evangelist. The path that led him to opening Bricks Corner in December 2020 started with a Le Cordon Bleu education in Portland, stages under Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse, and two decades of fine dining experience that taught him how to build flavor. But it was a snowboarding trip to Snowbird about six years before opening that changed everything.

"I came to Utah on a snowboarding trip to Snowbird about six years ago, and fell in love with the place," Poticha told Salt Lake Magazine. He was looking to expand—he already owned Bricks on Boundary, a successful bar and grill in Beaufort, South Carolina—but when he saw the former Liberty Park Emporium space open up on 700 East, something clicked. The Sugar House neighborhood reminded him of the Chicago 'hood he grew up in, but with one critical difference: it needed more restaurants. More specifically, it needed the kind of thick-crusted, cheese-cornered pizza he'd been dreaming about since leaving the Midwest.

So Poticha started remodeling in March 2020. You know, perfect timing. But instead of backing out when the pandemic hit, he doubled down—adding UV sterilization systems, expanding the entryway, and building what would become Sugar House's most popular heated patio. The restaurant opened in December 2020, just days after Shawn Randazzo—the 44-year-old Detroit pizza legend who helped popularize the square style—passed away. Within a year, Bricks Corner won SLUG Magazine's 2021 "Best Pizza" award.

The Detroit Style Pizza Experience: Why Those Crispy Corners Matter

Here's what you need to understand about Detroit style pizza at Bricks Corner: it's not deep dish and it's not thin crust. It's something else entirely, and as one reviewer noted, "This is a mix of Detroit and Chicago style pizza," with the airy lightness of Detroit's double-proofed dough and the substantial toppings you'd expect from Chicago. Chef Josh himself responded to that review, thrilled that someone finally made the connection he'd been going for all along.

The process starts 24 hours before you walk through the door. Poticha uses organic flour, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, and a double-proofing method that creates dough with an almost impossibly light interior. He even installed a special water filtration system because the minerals in Utah water were negatively affecting the recipe. The dough goes into steel pans—not round pizza pans, but rectangular steel that dates back to Detroit's automotive industry. Legend has it a Ford factory worker first baked pizza in a parts pan, and the rest is Motor City history.

But here's where it gets good: the cheese goes on before the sauce. Wisconsin brick cheese (though Poticha uses high-grade Italian-style Grande cheese) gets spread all the way to the edges, where it hits that screaming-hot steel and caramelizes into crispy, fight-worthy corner pieces. As Poticha explains, "Some people don't eat pizza crust, but, with Detroit style, the crust is what they eat first."

When your Sweet Salty Pig arrives—pork shoulder burnt ends, applewood bacon, bread-and-butter jalapeño chips, firecracker ranch—you're looking at a 3-inch tall slab of pizza that one reviewer described as "Crispy but light. Wasn't sloppy at all." It's engineered for structural integrity. You can pile on toppings without the whole thing collapsing, which is exactly what Poticha does with creations like the Cheesy Mushroom Afgoo (savory mushrooms, caramelized onions, baked truffle ricotta, marinated tomatoes on white sauce) and the Brick House (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, roasted peppers—a classic that was named for pizza legend Shawn Randazzo).

And if you're doing keto? Poticha presses house-made Italian sausage into the pan instead of dough. One customer raved: "The keto 'crust' pizza option is delicious!! They actually press sausage into the pan in place of bread dough."

Sugar House's Pizza Institution: Community, Craft Beer, and Utah Hockey Club Games

Walk into Bricks Corner on any given evening and you'll find exactly what Poticha intended: a neighborhood spot that works whether you're bringing the kids for a cheese pizza or posting up at the bar to watch the Utah Hockey Club. The restaurant is known as a go-to spot for watching Utah Hockey Club games, adding to the lively and enjoyable dining experience.

The space itself feels like equal parts ski lodge and pizza parlor, with murals of Bob Marley, Freddie Mercury, and a giant pizza monster decorating the walls. There's local art throughout—original signed prints that give the place that rock-and-roll vibe Poticha was going for. The bar area is separated by a pony wall (Utah liquor laws, you know), but the energy bleeds through. One reviewer captured it perfectly: "Bricks Corner has a really great atmosphere, a lively bar with background music set to JUST the right volume."

But the real star of the space? That heated patio. In a state where outdoor dining is basically a religion, Poticha built an enclosed, heated patio that keeps the garage doors open and the temperature at 60 degrees even in January. One customer rented out the covered patio for a 14-person birthday party, noting that "Bricks even provided a birthday banner, flowers for the table and balloons to make the venue festive."

Beyond the pizza (which, let's be honest, is why you're here), don't sleep on the Cracked Tots. These aren't your high school cafeteria tater tots—they're covered in pepper, sea salt, fresh herbs, truffle oil and parmesan and can be enjoyed with Awesome Sauce—fry sauce with a horseradish kick. SLUG Magazine's reviewer admitted, "I had never considered tots as a viable accompaniment to pizza, but now I'm not sure I can imagine pizza night without this addition."

Poticha sources from local farmers' markets whenever possible, prioritizing Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah farms for fresh ingredients. It's chef-driven without being precious about it—the kind of place where you can get vegan options (the Gucci Goooo with vegan cheese on roasted butternut squash and peppers) or go full carnivore with the Sausage King of Chicago.

Planning Your Visit to Bricks Corner

Location: 1465 S 700 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84105 (Sugar House neighborhood, just blocks from Liberty Park)

Hours:

• Monday-Tuesday: 11am-9pm
• Wednesday-Saturday: 11am-10pm
• Sunday: 11am-9pm

What to Order:
Based on customer reviews, start with the Cracked Tots, then go for the Sweet Salty Pig or Cheesy Mushroom Afgoo for your pizza. The lunch special (available weekdays) is a steal at $12.95. And yeah, order extra for tomorrow—Detroit style pizza reheats like a dream.

Parking: Street parking on 700 East or validated underground parking. As multiple reviewers noted, parking can be tight, so give yourself a few extra minutes.

Pro Tips: The bar serves local craft beer and High West spirits. If you're bringing kids, they don't have a kids menu, but the cheese pizza works great for sharing. The bar section is 21+ but the rest of the restaurant is suitable for families. 

Instagram: @bricks_corner (they post specials and mouth-watering pizza photos regularly)

Why Bricks Corner Matters to Utah's Food Scene

There are plenty of good pizza places in Salt Lake City. Pizzeria Limone does excellent New York-style, The Pie has been serving underground pies for decades, and Via 313 (in Murray) offers Detroit-style if you want the chain version. But Bricks Corner is something different—it's chef-owned, award-winning, and born from a genuine love of both the craft and the community.

As one reviewer put it: "It's comical to me that this spot isn't rated higher in a place as devoid of good food as Utah."  Harsh assessment of Utah aside (we'd argue the food scene has come a long way), the point stands: Bricks Corner is delivering at a level that belongs in a much bigger city, but it's here in Sugar House, serving squares until 10pm on weekends and creating the kind of neighborhood gathering spot that makes you understand why Poticha fell in love with this place in the first place.

And if the success of the original location is any indication, Utah's getting more of it. The company announced a second location in West Valley City, expected to open in May 2026, featuring 5,000 square feet, a private dining room, an arcade, and a gelato bar.

So yeah—if you haven't tried Detroit style pizza in Salt Lake City yet, you're missing out on the best pizza corners in the state. Get to Bricks Corner, order the Sweet Salty Pig, and prepare to eat your crust first. It's what Josh Poticha would want.