Uptown’s new pizza pop-up is literally a hole in the wall

What do you get when you combine one of Denver’s Top 50 Bars with one of the city’s best bakeries? In the case of Latchkey and Hearth, a collaboration that’s equal parts fun, whimsical and delicious. 

On Thursdays through Saturdays at 5 p.m., an otherwise nondescript framed painting of tin-can men in a pizzeria behind the pool table at the Latchkey bar opens up to reveal a window into the neighboring Hearth bakery. There, Hearth culinary director Andrew Van Stee transforms the bakery into the pop-up After School Pizza, dishing out irresistible sourdough slices and whole pizzas to Latchkey patrons until sold out. 

Launched in April 2026 at 1308 E. 17th St., this collaboration between Latchkey and Hearth has proven a near-instant favorite with the Latchkey clientele. 

“The last three months have been insane,” says Cade Cauley, owner of Latchkey. “Now people come in and stay. We’re very pumped that they’re here.”

Breaking down walls between neighboring businesses

Like many exceptional ideas, After School Pizza materialized over a round of drinks.

Cauley and Van Stee first spoke about the idea in January 2026. Within three months, Cauley carved through the non-load-bearing wall separating Latchkey and Hearth’s bakery and Van Stee got to work on a menu. By the spring, After School Pizza was in session, serving its first slices.

“It was really a whirlwind,” Cauley says.

“Cade was like, ‘Oh, we’re knocking down the wall on Tuesday,’” Van Stee recalls. “So, I ordered all the equipment and ingredients so we could have everything here for Wednesday.”

Neither spared a second waiting for the “perfect” moment. An ambitious idea that might sit on someone else’s to-do list forever quickly became an actuality for the daring duo, proving that, sometimes, the best ideas don’t require years of planning.

Sometimes all it takes is two friends, a little demolition and a community eager to rally behind the people bold enough to bring a new concept to life.

Not your average slice

Named after Van Stee’s nostalgic memories of afternoons spent home alone before his parents returned from work, After School Pizza reflects his childhood experiences. “I was a latchkey kid, and I ate a lot of pizza after school, so After School Pizza and Latchkey just clicked in my brain one night,” he says.

The culinary arts alumnus of Denver’s former Johnson & Wales University brings more than two decades of professional kitchen experience across Colorado, plus a year-long stint in Spain. His resume includes five years as executive chef at Cart-Driver and time in the kitchens at Bruto, Devil’s Food, Potager and Il Posto. He joined the Hearth team in the summer of 2025 as kitchen manager, where he created the scratch breakfast and lunch menus for the Littleton location.

A true labor of love, Van Stee clocks 40 hours at After School Pizza every weekend, on top of a typical 30 to 40 hours at Hearth Littleton each week. He creates the menu, orders ingredients and handles all the prep and cooking, while his wife, Lizzy Van Stee, a full-time accountant by day, holds it down by taking orders by night.

“We were regulars at Latchkey already, so it’s just like hanging out with our friends, except we’re working,” Van Stee says.

He describes After School Pizza as “New York-inspired,” adapting his expertise in artisanal wood-fired pies to create unexpectedly complex pizzas despite being served through a window to the bar next door.

Current offerings include the Margherita, a cult classic with red sauce, basil and mozzarella; the White Pie, topped with ricotta, garlic confit, mushrooms, arugula and mozzarella; the Supreme, Cauley’s go-to (minus the onions) with red sauce, red onion, green peppers, oregano, mushrooms and mozzarella; and the Summer, a surprise seasonal banger featuring basil pesto, speck, zucchini, jalapeño, artichokes and Parmesan. Whole pies are 16 inches and cost less than $24.

Cheese slices, cut from 20-inch pies into six pieces, are $4 each and can be customized with additional toppings. The foundation of every pie begins with a tangy sourdough crust made from the same starter used in Hearth’s beloved bread loaves, delivering a superior balance of crunch and chew achieved from months of trials and tweaking from Van Stee.

More hours, more pizza, more community

“The community here is unbelievable,” Cauley says of the support Latchkey has received since opening in January 2025 and the excitement surrounding After School Pizza, “I think we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with come football season.”

With beer, $10 cocktails, pizza and plenty of TVs for game day, the collaboration seems destined to become a neighborhood staple.

Starting Aug. 19, After School Pizza will expand its hours of operation to include Wednesday evenings. As business grows, Van Stee looks forward to developing the small but mighty team and experimenting with new menu offerings.

Latchkey is located at 1308 E. 17th St. and is open from 2 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday, noon to 2 a.m. on Saturday, and noon to midnight on Sunday. For more information and updates, follow @afterschoolpizzadenver on Instagram.