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Acclaimed pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani — winner of 13 world pizza championships — is bringing the latest expansion of his Slice House pizza franchise to Colorado this year.
First up: Loveland, where on October 11, Gemignani himself will be on hand to celebrate the opening in the Van de Water Plaza. That location is franchised and operated by Loveland resident Michael Tingus and his business partner, Dean Crescenzi.
In December, another location is planned to open in Boulder’s Twenty Ninth Street mall. It is one of seven locations from Mile High Pizza Cutters LLC, which is owned by the Cutter family, Colorado locals who plan to add Slice House outposts in Denver, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs in the months ahead.
All will offer a range of pizza styles, including hand-stretched New York crusts, Sicilian focaccia pan crust, a “grandma style” pan-fried thin crust, and Detroit-style crispy cheese-edged pies. The Loveland location will add a specialty pizza called the Colorado Kid. Available only by the slice, it’s topped with alfredo sauce, mozzarella, applewood smoked bacon, sliced buffalo sausage, green and fried onions, Romano cheese, oregano and garlic oil.
When it opens, the Slice House will join an impressive lineup of homegrown pizza options. In the Boulder area, that includes Pizza Alberico from the Frasca Hospitality Group, Id Est Hospitality Group’s Michelin Bib Gourmand spot Basta, Barchetta, and Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage. In Loveland, there’s Urban Field Pizza and Market. (See our full list of pizza hotspots in our 2025 ultimate guide. )
According to the announcement, all Slice House options will be available by the slice or as whole pizzas. Slice House also offers pastas with meat, pesto and vodka sauces, with gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options throughout.
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Ironically, what it won’t offer is traditional Neapolitan-style pizzas, which is the calling card of Gemignani’s flagship restaurant, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco’s North Beach, where he also owns Capo’s, Toscano Brothers Bakery and Giovanni’s Italian Specialties.
Perhaps Gemignani’s biggest claim to fame, however, is that in 2007, he was named World Champion Pizza Maker at the World Pizza Cup in Naples, Italy, becoming not only the first American, but first non-Neapolitan ever to win the title. He’s also authored several books on pizza making, including the humbly-titled The Pizza Bible.
The Slice House is his burgeoning franchise business, which since 2022 has spread across twenty locations in California, and more recently expanded to Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Tennessee.
“Boulder represents everything we love about great food communities – it’s got this perfect blend of academic energy, outdoor culture, and people who really appreciate quality,” Gemignani says in a statement. “We’re excited to add something special to Boulder’s already impressive restaurant landscape.”
Craft pizzeria franchising appears to be a thing in Colorado recently. The first standalone U.S. locations of Italian pizza chain Rosso Pomodoro appeared just over a year ago in the Central Park neighborhood and Greenwood Village, offering traditional Neapolitan-style pizzas in a similar fast-casual setting.
Slice House will be located at 1385 Sculptor Drive in Loveland, and 1805 29th Street in Boulder. For more information, visit slicehouse.com.
