SoDough Square, known for its Detroit-style square pizza, open later this month in St. Pete | SoDough Square

Orlando-based SoDough Square, known for its Detroit-style square pizza, is expanding into the Tampa Bay area with the debut of a new slice shop in north St. Pete.

Detroit native Robert Bair, who is also the founder of Gringos Locos and Tin & Taco, has been quietly baking pies and fine-tuning recipes ahead of the soft opening of SoDough Square at 6925 4th Street North, formerly home to The Bread Artisans bakery.

The new pizza shop will host a soft opening celebration on Friday, January 23rd.

While dozens of pizzerias and Italian eateries serve thin, New York-style or brick-oven pies, only a handful of local shops offer Detroit-style pizzas, known for its thick, yet crispy crust.

“I grew up eating this pizza, and I wanted to make sure we opened restaurants that truly did my city right,” Bair said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising.

Robert Bair, owner of SoDough Square, coming soon to St. Pete | SoDough Square

Bair, who years ago traded the hustle and bustle of Motor City to move to “where you vacation,” opened his Orlando flagship shop in 2022. He followed that with two additional locations in the greater Orlando area a year later.

The rise of Detroit-style pizza is widely credited to Gus Guerra, the late owner of Buddy’s Rendezvous Pizzeria on Detroit’s east side. He famously baked his pies in forged blue steel pans sourced from local automotive plants, giving them their signature square shape and crispy caramelized edge known as “frico.”

“For years, my wife encouraged me to open the restaurant. I learned the techniques and recipes from Gus’ family, making it the same way they’ve done since 1946,” Bair said.

SoDough Square’s pies are baked in well-oiled blue steel pans from Michigan, with every component made in-house, including the restaurant’s signature Stanislaus tomato sauce and a proprietary brick cheese blend of high-fat Wisconsin brick cheese, Amish white cheddar, and mozzarella.

While dozens of pizzerias and Italian eateries serve thin, New York-style or brick-oven pies, only a handful of local shops offer Detroit-style pizzas, known for its thick, yet crispy crust | SoDough Square

Diners can build their own pies or select specialty creations such as the Detroit Rob City, made with Detroit red sauce, pinched sausage, Ezzo cup pepperoni, whipped ricotta, hot honey, and basil; the P.B.J. aka “pineapple, bacon, jalapeno,” made with alfredo sauce, brick cheese blend, pecorino Romano, and green onion; or the Notorious P.I.Z. created with Detroit red sauce, brick cheese blend, lots of pepperoni, basil, pecorino romano, and drizzled with ranch and hot honey.

While pizza is the star of the menu, SoDough Square also offers Detroit Coney beef hot dogs that are served in a steamed bun, smothered in chili and topped with yellow mustard and diced raw white onions.

SoDough Square also offers Detroit Coney beef hot dogs | SoDough Square

“For the Coney dogs, we fly our chili in from Detroit,” noted Bair. Other ingredients will be sourced locally.

For dessert, SoDough Square offers Detroit Dough Dots, which are fluffy, fried dough pieces tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with hazelnut dipping sauce.

For the upcoming soft opening, SoDough Square’s St. Pete location will be open at 4 p.m. and serve a maximum of 200 pies a night or until 9 p.m.

After the soft opening, the shop will operate from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily and will be closed on Mondays.

Blair also plans to open a location in downtown Tampa in April, followed by an eighth location inside Orlando International Airport, set to debut in July.

Be sure to follow SoDough Square on Facebook and Instagram for more information on its highly-anticipated St. Pete location.