Denver-Born Anthony's Pizza Celebrates Forty Years of Slices

A lot of things were different back in 1984. Ghostbusters was at the top of the box office, LeBron James was a newborn, and lift tickets were less than $15. But pizza was as popular as it is today, and a New Yorker named Henry Mann started selling it by the slice out of a small storefront at 1550 California Street, ten years before the D Line became RTD's first light-rail operation.

Anthony's Pizza & Pasta would go on to become a Front Range empire, slinging pies (along with subs, salads and spaghetti) at locations all over the metro area. While the original 16th Street Mall location fell prey to the pandemic, Anthony's is still going strong, celebrating forty years of gooey New York-style slices slicked with brick-red sauce and just the right amount of unctuous orange oil.

Peter Counter has (almost) seen it all. He started at Anthony's working as a dishwasher at its still-open second location near the University of Denver when he was a teenager. Twenty-five years later, he's the manager of brand development for the company, which currently operates nineteen locations. "My story is really not unique," says Counter. "I have a couple co-workers — Noah Silverglade and Jeremy Betlach — and between the three of us, we have almost seventy years of experience in this company."
In celebration of the anniversary, Anthony's has partnered with Colorado's Icelantic Skis to give away nineteen pairs of custom skis. The limited-edition skis feature a fun pizza design that's an unmistakable throwback to 1984. "We had the opening credits of [’80s sitcom] Saved by the Bell in mind when we were designing this thing," laughs Counter. "Icelantic Skis is a really well-known brand in Colorado, and they they make all of their skis by hand — just like we make our pizza.  There's no assembly line, production line that just cranks these things out. They have an awesome team, and a really similar story to Anthony's in that their employees have been there for decades, doing what they love to do for a company that they love doing it for. So it really was a no-brainer to partner with them and give away something that Coloradans absolutely love to do."

The colorful collaboration is made with Icelantic’s award-winning Nomad 105s, which are constructed with a poplar wood core. In addition to the ski giveaway, Anthony's is celebrating National Pizza Month throughout October, with original cheese slices for $4. Two large cheese pizzas are also $40 with code 40THANNIVERSARY. The sweepstakes ends October 31 at 11:59:59 p.m., and no purchase is necessary to enter online.

Anthony's is also one of the spots offering a special during Westword's Denver Pizza Week, which kicks off October 21 and runs through October 27. The deal: a twelve-inch New York-style cheese pie for $10.

Anniversaries, ski giveaways and pizza specials aren't the only big things happening Anthony's. "We're getting everything dialed in with all of the locations that we currently have, really working on honing our products and operations efficiency," says Counter. "Once we get all of that dialed in, we're hoping to double the number of stores within the next year, and then grow to up to 200 units beyond that in the next five. So we're hoping to grow outside of Colorado. And well beyond."

Anthony's Pizza & Pasta has nineteen locations along the Front Range. For more information, visit anthonyspizzaandpasta.com. Icelantic Skis are handmade in Colorado. Learn more at icelanticskis.com.