Lake Orion — It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person enjoying the pleasures of a Michigan lake on an August afternoon is in want of a hot pizza.
But only one place is enterprising enough to sell pies where there are no roads, only waves.
Rick’s on the Lake is a party store that sells delicious coney dogs, spaghetti, sloppy joes, and pizzas.
Like most pizza places, Rick’s on the Lake offers pickup or delivery, but because of their proximity to the lake and a spirit of enterprise, Rick’s also goes direct to consumers without screens or phones. In the winter, when the ice is thick enough, the store uses snowmobiles to take hot slices out in the cold.
And during select weekends in the summer, they take the pizzas out to hungry boaters and beer-toting floaters.
Jay is driving the vessel today, and he’s good at it. He’s able to sidle up close to a neighboring boat without colliding. It’s an art.
Alynnda has worked for Rick’s on the Lake for years. They stayed open during Covid, she tells me. She’s out with Jay to help sell pizzas, a firework who cracks jokes and shouts down other boaters, telling them what they want. (Hint: It’s pizza from Rick’s.)
Alynnda and Jay tease each other like siblings as they troll around hotspots for boaters, waiting for someone to hail them.
Selling the first 10 pizzas takes a while. Then business picks up. Eventually a young man buys the last four of them.
They’re all medium pepperoni, $17. Cash or Venmo.
Then we head back to the restaurant to get more hot pizzas and take them out for the dinner rush. Jay says they sell more as the afternoon goes late and people realize they need dinner with their drinks, but they don’t want to come in quite yet.
That unwillingness to leave the water is a testament to the culture of this small village. Its motto is: “Where living is a vacation.”
And the entrepreneurial spirit of Rick’s on the Lake shows the power of the free market: Getting people what they want where they want it. The business sees a need and meets it on weekends during the summer.
So if you’re lucky enough to be on Lake Orion this summer, look for the pontoon with “Hot Pizza” flags flying. Listen for Alynnda’s voice calling out across the water. Watch for Jay’s artful steering behind the wheel as he approaches slowly.
Then eat and stay in the water as long as you can. Just make sure you leave a tip.
Brendan Clarey is deputy editor of Michigan Enjoyer.
