Elephant & Co., owned by Eastern Market Brewing Co., is opening its flagship Midtown Detroit restaurant on Saturday at 456 Charlotte Ave, between 2nd and Cass avenues.
The new location, which follows the opening of the company’s Royal Oak restaurant, can seat more than 200 people inside and accommodate another 100 guests on the heated patio, which allows it to be open much of the year.
For the grand opening Saturday, the Detroit facility will be open from 9 a.m.-11 p.m. with DJs, Detroit-style pizza, Eastern Market Brewing Co. beer, Dooped Donuts, and coffee.
In addition to Detroit-style pizza, the new eatery has 50 self-serve taps featuring beer from Eastern Market Brewing Co., cider, and wine. It also has a Dooped Donuts cafe with a robotic barista that makes cafe drinks and a mini market featuring locally sourced crafts and produce.
Starting Saturday, it will be open seven days per week.
The focus on Detroit-style pizza was intentional, as the Elephant & Co. leadership team says it saw an opportunity to create a new brand focused on a product that pairs perfectly with its craft beer.
“The dough sets our pizza apart,” says Pauline Knighton-Prueter, president of Elephant & Co. “We’re a brewery turned pizza company, and truly understand the importance of fermentation. It’s what’s made us one of Michigan’s fastest-growing breweries and now, Detroit’s best pizza.”
During the pandemic, the company first dabbled in Detroit-style pizza at its experimental arm, the Ferndale Project, which launched home beer delivery with pizza as an add-on to drive sales. The brewing team developed those first pizza recipes, using their knowledge of fermentation and yeast to make complex doughs. Success led the team to put a hold on pizza until it could figure out how to meet demand.
“The excitement I feel with Elephant & Co. is reminiscent of the early days of opening our original brewery in Eastern Market,” says Dayne Bartscht, founder of Eastern Market Brewing Co. “We saw a gap. Detroit had this fantastic brewing history, but there was not enough unique beer. Detroit is America’s pizza capital, but no one is innovating flavor. Here is our next opportunity.”
The grand opening menu for Elephant & Co. does push the boundaries of traditional pizza. Its coney-inspired pizza has Detroit-style chili, sliced hot dogs, onions, and yellow mustard. Another pizza, modeled after crab rangoons, has wontons, sweet chili sauce, and green onions. These are in addition to the classic offerings, like a Margherita pizza and the spicy pepperoni.
Elephant & Co. also is collaborating with McClure’s Pickles on a pizza fashioned after the iconic Hudson’s Maurice Salad featuring the pickles mentioned earlier, plus olives with smoked ham and turkey. More partnerships with well-known Detroit restaurants are in the works.
