A life-size cut out of the patron saint of square pie, Huey “It’s Hip to Be Square” Lewis, stands near the entrance of Ranch PDX’s Woodlawn location. Owners, Eric Wood and Richard Corey, created their pizza to satisfy a nostalgic craving for the pizza dipped in ranch they ate as children at Roundtable and Papa’s Pizza. They modified these fast food pies for adult tastes by creating a cloud-like deep dish crust, topping it with aged mozzarella, and adding complex and spicy toppings for a more mature palate. The #4 with pork sausage and Calabrian chilies tastes complete when cooled with a generous dousing of Ranch PDX’s dill-forward ranch dressing. Ranch PDX has three other locations, including this location in Nob Hill. After ordering online, customers are given a three digit code to use when picking up the pizza; the shop is also open for delivery.

The entire Detroit pizza at this Eliot neighborhood brewery equals the size of one slice of pizza at Detroit chain Buddy’s Pizza, but larger versions of this square pie are available at the brewery’s new Beaverton location, built with pizza ovens designed to increase pizza output. Detroit pizzas here start with dough made specially for Ex Novo by Fressen Artisan Bakery, followed by a mix of cheese, including Wisconsin brick cheese. That blend melts and spills over the sides forming a cheesy layer around the crust as it bakes in real-deal Lloyd steel pans. Both locations are open for indoor dining, outdoor dining, and takeout.

The inside of this Buckman spot looks like a factory assembly line, with mountainous stacks of brightly logo-ed pizza boxes and a counter covered with neat lines of small plastic containers of sauces and dressings. It’s fitting design for a place that pulls inspiration from the ultimate factory town: Detroit. Pop’s crust is light in the middle and crunchy on the bottom with the Detroit signature crunchy cheese around the sides. Fresh salads and chewy squares of chocolate chip cookies go well before and after eating the pizza. It’s open for takeout and delivery.

When Scottie Rivera decided to open his own pizzeria, he wanted to recreate something he thought was missing from the Portland pizza scene - the square slices abundant in his hometown of Brooklyn. He gave this special pie on his menu his great-grandmother’s last name — Defino. The Defino starts with naturally leavened dough made with Pacific Northwest wheat, baked in a high-heat electric deck two times: The first baking at super high heat gives the crust char and blistering, while the second baking, on a lower temperature, gives it a nice crisp crust. When the pizza comes out of the oven, Rivera adds garlic-infused olive oil, a forest of fresh basil, and a dusting of pecorino. The basil smell permeates the closed pizza box, making it absolutely necessary to tear it open and grab a slice immediately. Scottie’s is open for takeout.

Odie O’Connor started his vegan pizza empire making wood-fired pizzas at his SE Hawthorne food truck Baby Blue. After shutting down the truck at the beginning of the pandemic, O’Connor bought a blue steel pan and started experimenting with Detroit pizza. Fortuitously, a spot became available in The Zipper, where O’Connor opened Boxcar Pizza with vegan square pies that often sell out. Creating the distinctive crust of cheese around the sides proved difficult with lower fat vegan cheese, but after playing around with the dough, O’Connor achieved a vegan version of the Detroit classic. The Bianca, with Good Planet mozzarella and Boxcar’s own spicy, fennel-packed Italian sauce and tofu-based ricotta, certainly tastes vegan — the coconut flavor of the mozzarella gives away its plant-based origins — but still, the sweetness of the coconut and heat of the tomato sauce adds an interesting interplay of flavors. Boxcar is open for takeout, with shared outdoor seating available at the Zipper.

Assembly Brewing’s pizza is the Detroit-est of all the local Detroit pizzas. Owner George Johnson hails from Detroit and sought to replicate his hometown pizza after moving to Portland. Johnson trained with Shawn Randazzo, who learned his Detroit-style pizza skills from the Guerra family — the originators of Detroit pizza. The result tastes exactly like Buddy’s Pizza: a pillowy crust, crisp on the bottom, surrounded by oven-blackened Wisconsin brick cheese, and topped with a dollop of chunky tomato sauce flavored with fresh herbs from Johnson’s home garden. To give his brewery a special Detroit feel, Johnson hired Portland artist Theo Holdt to create a mural inspired by the famous Diego Rivera Detroit Industry Murals found at the Detroit Institute of Art. Assembly Brewing is open for takeout.

When East Glisan co-owner Kristen Brown saw Detroit pizza pop up in food blogs and on social media, she decided to try serving it on a Tuesday night, to see if there was any local interest. A crowd of ex-Detroiters flooded the bar; soon, it became a hit with pizza aficionados throughout Portland. Now, Detroit pizza is a regular menu item at this neighborhood spot. These deep-dish square pies come in eight-inch-by-ten-inch squares, with four slices blanketed in mozzarella and Wisconsin brick cheese that slide around the edges while cooking, creating the distinctive lacy caramelized cheese perimeter characteristic of Detroit pizza. East Glisan is open for outdoor dining and takeout; for to-go orders, tomato sauce comes on the side to prevent sogginess.