See also: - Beau Jo's Colorado-style pizza includes dairy-free cheese and other veggie options - Best Pizza -- Colorado Style - 2003: Beau Jo's - Bite Me: War and Pizza
Chip Bair opened the first Beau Jo's Pizza in downtown Idaho Springs on April 1, 1973 -- a 570-square-foot store that seated only fifteen. This flagship store became a popular ski hangout, and Beau Jo's soon grew to eight locations, including six owner-operated spots in Arvada, Boulder, Denver, Evergreen, Fort Collins and Idaho Springs and two franchises in South Dakota.And Beau Jo's isn't done growing.
"Beau Jo's plans to open two to four stores per year across Colorado over the next five years," says Pam Friedentag, vice president of sales and marketing for Beau Jo's Pizza. "And it's expanding into a much bigger location in Fort Collins this fall." There are also plans to expand the already extensive gluten-free menu.
But the hallmark of Beau Jo's remains its Mountain pizzas: "A thick pie, with dough made every two to three hours out of either honey whole wheat or honey white, hand-rolled to contain mountains of the freshest ingredients," Friedentag says. "Any leftover crust can be covered with Colorado honey and eaten as a dessert!"
And for the next nine days, you can get a mountainous Mountain pie for a bargain price: Beau Jo's will be selling its five best-selling pies -- the three-pound Hamburger or Sausage Combo Mountain Pie, the three-pound Dude Ranch Mountain Pie, the Pacific Plantation Mountain Pie, the Large L'il Italy Prairie Pie and the Large Margherita Prairie Pie -- for just $19.73 each.
Beau Jo's will also provide free pizzas for a year to four lucky Facebook followers. To win, you must "like" Beau Jo's on Facebook before the end of April at www.facebook.com/BeauJos; four winners will be randomly chosen in early May.
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