Best Pizza -- Colorado Style 2003 | Beau Jo's | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Pizza -- Colorado Style

Beau Jo's

Beau Jo's Pizza
Sometimes you just have to go with a classic. Beau Jo's invented the concept of Colorado-style pizza, and since 1973 has been serving mountain pies with its slightly spicy signature sauce, heaps of toppings and fresh braided crusts. You can use those bones to mop up honey, making a slice both a main course and dessert. Whether you're rewarding yourself after a rigorous day at the office or one on the slopes, Beau Jo's pizza is a Colorado staple worthy of its reputation.

Best Pizza -- New York Style

NY Pizzeria

For East Coast transplants, there's only one way to do pizza properly -- and that's the way they've been doing it since day one at NY Pizzeria. The hands-down favorite of many ex-pat Big Apple kitchen crews in Denver, this slightly run-down strip-mall pie joint does everything right. The crusts are thin -- a little crispy, but pliable enough to fold. The toppings are basic, but they're the real McCoy -- real shredded mozzarella rather than mozzarella-flavored cheez product, Italian sausage and pepperoni, fresh veggies -- and the sauce is mild, a little sweet and not messed up with a lot of spices or chile powder. Most important, the 'za at NY Pizzeria has the grease: that mysterious orange oil that oozes out the back of every folded slice, burns your hand and ruins your best party shirt as soon as you take a bite.

Best Pizza -- New York Style

NY Pizzeria

For East Coast transplants, there's only one way to do pizza properly -- and that's the way they've been doing it since day one at NY Pizzeria. The hands-down favorite of many ex-pat Big Apple kitchen crews in Denver, this slightly run-down strip-mall pie joint does everything right. The crusts are thin -- a little crispy, but pliable enough to fold. The toppings are basic, but they're the real McCoy -- real shredded mozzarella rather than mozzarella-flavored cheez product, Italian sausage and pepperoni, fresh veggies -- and the sauce is mild, a little sweet and not messed up with a lot of spices or chile powder. Most important, the 'za at NY Pizzeria has the grease: that mysterious orange oil that oozes out the back of every folded slice, burns your hand and ruins your best party shirt as soon as you take a bite.

Best Pizza -- Chicago Style

Nicolo's Chicago Style Pizza

It's tough to find a good taste of the Windy City out here on the wrong side of the Midwest. A decent vendor's-cart hot dog with ballpark mustard and all the trimmings? Good luck. Pepper and sausage (pronounced "sassage") like old Ma used to make? Forget it. But if you're looking for a good Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and aren't quite ready to hop a flight for a real Gino's East double-cheese pie, try Nicolo's Chicago Style Pizza. With a thick, chewy crust loaded deep with toppings, sweet tomato sauce with just a little bite, and fresh ingredients laid on all the way out to the rolled edges, Nicolo's is doing the Second City proud. Plus, Nicolo's offers a margherita (white) pie layered with provolone, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil and tomato; a thirteen-inch EBA (Everything But Anchovy) version for just $13.95; and a whole host of other Italian specialties for those of you who think that man can't live on pizza alone.

Best Pizza -- Chicago Style

Nicolo's Chicago Style Pizza

Cassandra Kotnik
It's tough to find a good taste of the Windy City out here on the wrong side of the Midwest. A decent vendor's-cart hot dog with ballpark mustard and all the trimmings? Good luck. Pepper and sausage (pronounced "sassage") like old Ma used to make? Forget it. But if you're looking for a good Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and aren't quite ready to hop a flight for a real Gino's East double-cheese pie, try Nicolo's Chicago Style Pizza. With a thick, chewy crust loaded deep with toppings, sweet tomato sauce with just a little bite, and fresh ingredients laid on all the way out to the rolled edges, Nicolo's is doing the Second City proud. Plus, Nicolo's offers a margherita (white) pie layered with provolone, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil and tomato; a thirteen-inch EBA (Everything But Anchovy) version for just $13.95; and a whole host of other Italian specialties for those of you who think that man can't live on pizza alone.

Best Pizza -- Connecticut Style

Papou's Pizza

Up-and-comer Papou's Pizza has cornered the Denver market for Connecticut-style pizza -- primarily because it's the only place in town making pies this way. The toppings are high-quality and laid on with a generous hand, but what really sets this pizza apart is the way it's cooked: pan-baked in a brick oven. With thick, soft, chewy crusts on the bottoms and crisp bones, Papou's pies fill that space on the pizza spectrum between the thin-crust New Yorker and the deep-dish Chicago variety.

Best Pizza -- Connecticut Style

Papou's Pizza

Up-and-comer Papou's Pizza has cornered the Denver market for Connecticut-style pizza -- primarily because it's the only place in town making pies this way. The toppings are high-quality and laid on with a generous hand, but what really sets this pizza apart is the way it's cooked: pan-baked in a brick oven. With thick, soft, chewy crusts on the bottoms and crisp bones, Papou's pies fill that space on the pizza spectrum between the thin-crust New Yorker and the deep-dish Chicago variety.

Best Pizza -- Sicilian Style

Vita Bella Pizza & Pasta

Anthony Sarlo, owner and top pizza guy at Vita Bella, has a lot of history in the pie game. His father (owner of Armando's in Cherry Creek) and grandfather (who owned the Continental and the Oriental Manor in New York) have spent their lives in the business; his grandmother has spent her whole life cooking for the clan; his aunt owns Cafe Jordano. And all of this know-how comes together at a fine point: the double-crust fresh-leaf spinach pie with sliced black olives, garlic, romano and mozzarella for which the family restaurants are rightly famous. And how can we be sure that young Tony is sticking to his Sicilian roots? Because Grandma is right there just about every day, working the register and keeping a close eye on the kitchen to make sure he does.

Best Pizza -- Sicilian Style

Vita Bella Pizza & Pasta

Anthony Sarlo, owner and top pizza guy at Vita Bella, has a lot of history in the pie game. His father (owner of Armando's in Cherry Creek) and grandfather (who owned the Continental and the Oriental Manor in New York) have spent their lives in the business; his grandmother has spent her whole life cooking for the clan; his aunt owns Cafe Jordano. And all of this know-how comes together at a fine point: the double-crust fresh-leaf spinach pie with sliced black olives, garlic, romano and mozzarella for which the family restaurants are rightly famous. And how can we be sure that young Tony is sticking to his Sicilian roots? Because Grandma is right there just about every day, working the register and keeping a close eye on the kitchen to make sure he does.

Best Place to Get Head on the West Side

Taquería Patzcuaro

The defining characteristic of peasant cooking is the creative use of those less attractive bits of an animal so that absolutely nothing goes to waste. And the big secret of peasant cooking is that a lot of these cuts, scorned by the casual carnivore, are actually the tastiest bits there are. Exhibit A: the tacos cabeza at Taquería Patzcuaro. The kitchen takes beef cheek meat -- as tender as filet mignon, but even tastier -- and gives it a quick burn on the grill, then lays it medium rare on a fresh corn tortilla with a little lettuce and pico de gallo.

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