The Best Bites We Had in August, Including a Controversial Pizza

Last month, popular hoagie pop-up Little Arthur's moved into the kitchen at Out of the Barrel Taproom, at 205 East Seventh Avenue, and introduced an expanded menu that includes sharable starters, salads and fries loaded with toppings like garlic Parmesan as well as Cheez Whiz and chopped ribeye.

But it was the pizza that got a lot of people talking when owner AJ Shreffler decided to troll the internet trolls who have long complained about his hoagie prices. On August 13, he posted an announcement on Instagram about the new location declaring: "Our pizza will be the most expensive in town most likely! So please if you can’t handle things that cost more than the 'norm,' just go to Reddit and talk shit now and save your time lol. Make a post about it. Whatever ya need to do, hun."

His claim was meant to stir up some shit-talking — and it did just that — but it also made us curious: How do the prices at Little Arthur's stack up against pies using similarly high-quality ingredients? We broke it down by the cost per square inch, and the results were surprising. Even the most expensive Little Arthur's pie, the $40 Margherita, is in line with the current standard.

But are the pies at Little Arthur's good? After a taste test of that Margherita, it's clear that Shreffler has put a lot of care and attention into his pizza dough recipe. The twenty-inch pies come in almost comically large boxes decked out in a fun design created by artist Joe Palec. Cut into eight slices, one pie is more than enough to feed a group of four (I was pretty satisfied after just one). The toppings — most notably, the imported cheeses — are indeed delicious, and the sauce offers just enough brightness to balance everything out.

The most impressive part, though, is the texture of the crust, which is super thin but also crisp enough to avoid any flop and flavorful enough that you're happy to eat the end. Even the priciest pie on the menu is just $5 a slice, which is a totally reasonable amount for a pizza this good.

Here are some more of my favorite bites from my August dining adventures:
Redeemer is another pizza favorite in town — especially for its lunch deal at the slice window, which is available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and includes a piece of cheese (or pepperoni for $1 more) and a salad for $10. It also offers several hoagies, including a chicken Caesar that was large and satisfying — even if the dressing itself tasted more like creamy garlic Parmesan than classic Caesar. It's worth sampling for the bread alone, which nails the ideal chewy texture.

In 2022, chef Joe Mazzocco opened his first restaurant, Mama Lolita's, in Broomfield. The next year, it nabbed the Readers' Choice pick for Best New Restaurant in Westword's Best of Denver, but after a sharp decline in business when the 1STBANK Center closed, it shuttered in February.

Now, Mazzocco has taken the helm at Señor Bear in LoHi, where he's slowly introducing new dishes. One favorite on a recent visit was the patatas bravas, which he's serving with a punchy pickled Fresno aioli that has a light, creamy, almost fluffy texture.
Two old favorites proved to still be hits last month. Maria Empanada started in a tiny Lakewood storefront in 2011 and has since become a mini empanada empire grounded in owner Lorena Cantarovici's inspiring story. It currently has locations on South Broadway, Platte Street and in Stanley Marketplace, with two more in the works: A new standalone at 2730 East Colfax may open as soon as late September, and a DIA location is slated to debut next year.

While you can't go wrong with any of its empanada flavors, my favorite remains the classic ground beef with red bell peppers, green onion and green olives, with the sweet chile mayo sauce.
After moving closer to downtown last year, I've missed many of my former favorites in my old neighborhood near the University of Denver. While in the area in August, I popped by one former go-to — Gyros Town, at 2276 South Colorado Boulevard — and was happy to find everything just as I remembered.

The move here is to skip the traditional gyros and shawarmas and opt for the Syrian-style shawarma, which can only be ordered in person, as it's not listed on the online menu. It's a tightly wrapped sandwich on thin, almost tortilla-like flatbread with a creamy sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and pickles. There is a beef option, but I prefer the tender, well-seasoned chicken. Pair it with the appetizer sampler (which could be a meal by itself) loaded with tomato-studded Syrian green beans, garlicky toum, baba ganoush, hummus rice and falafel.