Eat'Ya Pizza Will Soon Bring Roman-Style Pies Back to the 16th Street Mall

"My vision has always been Americana with pizza and ice cream, and that's the trifecta we want to get to," says chef Nicholas Kayser, who is opening Eat'Ya Pizza at 1530 16th Street in early May.

The former Vesta executive chef introduced his first concept, Rooted Craft American Kitchen, inside Avanti Boulder in 2020, and added a brick-and-mortar outpost in LoHi last May. But "I'm a city boy," he says. "So it's good to be back downtown. The revitalization and renaissance down there in LoDo is gonna be exciting."

Eat'Ya is going into the spot that was once Illegal Pete's before becoming another pizza spot, Sofia's, last April. But that concept didn't last long; by August 2023, it had shut its doors for good. The space is located in LoDo’s Sugar Block, which is owned and developed by Urban Villages.

"There's not really a lot of industry places to go [in that area] anymore," Kayser says. "I think everybody's just yearning for another spot that's not named Icehouse or Society." And he's aiming to provide just that.

"All the bones were there," Kayser notes of the space. Like Sofia's, Eat'ya will be an upscale, fast-casual spot specializing in square-cut, Roman-style pies by the slice (whole pies will be available, too). But the vibes, he promises, will be completely different. Instead of Sofia's pastel-hued decor, expect "old-school, ’90s New York nostalgia vibes," complete with arcade games such as pinball, Pac-Man and Golden Tee, as well as "loud music and sports" on the new televisions in the space. And then there are the pizzas...
"Anything that you can eat with bread can go on a pizza, in our opinion," Kayser notes. "It's a more chef, artisan take on toppings," like pesto and mortadella; caramelized onions and potato; and a Mediterranean pie with roasted artichokes and chickpeas. "We're taking a lot of inspiration from Gabriele Bonci, the king of Roman pizza himself."

For the dough, Kayser is using a blend of non-GMO Caputo flour from Italy and flours from Michelin-starred restaurateur Kelly Whitaker's Dry Storage "to add a little more of that rye and spelt texture and flavor to everything," he says.

The plan is to offer six rotating specialty pizzas daily from a roster of around eighteen varieties. The menu will also include pizza dough sandwiches, such as an Italian grinder; appetizers including meatballs and the confit chicken wings that have proven to be a crowd favorite at Rooted; and a Chipotle-style build-your-own salad line. In addition to soft-serve ice cream, there will be desserts like classic tiramisu and gelato.

Eat'Ya will have a full bar complete with draft beers, shots, frosé and cocktails made with shrubs — a favorite of Rooted co-owner and beverage director Scott Ericson. There will also be specials for those in the industry.

"I just want to have fun again," Kayser says of this new venture. "We're excited to bring a level of energy to that block."

For more information, visit eatyapizza.com or follow @eatyapizza on Instagram.