Short Stop: Rethink What You Know About Calzones at Full Afterburner

Denver's dining scene is making a big comeback — and we're hungering to go out. With so many new ventures and old favorites to visit, the choices can be overwhelming. So we're serving up Short Stop, with recommendations for things that should definitely be on your culinary short list. This week, jet over to Full Afterburner Calzones.

What: Full Afterburner Calzones

Where: 32 Broadway

When: Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday

For more info: Visit fullafterburnercalzones.com
The place: When Ben Todd was a kid, his grandfather, who was a fighter jet instructor in the 1940s, gave him a toy fighter jet. Through years of moves, he never lost that toy or his interest in fighter jet culture. He also hung on to a special recipe, one that he learned while working at a calzone shop when he was a student at Purdue.

After years of working in IT, he was watching Top Gun with his now-wife, Hillary Schefter, when he pitched an idea: a calzone food truck. "I could still make the calzones," he recalls thinking. "I remembered it was my favorite food from back in college. I still had the recipe for the dough. I was still making it every couple of years. And the other shop [in Indiana] had closed down."

Calzones and fighter jets evoke the same feeling of joy and nostalgia for Todd, so combining the two made perfect sense. In 2019, he and Schefter launched the Danger Zone food truck, selling to the bar crowd in LoDo for two years — until the pandemic knocked out nightlife. By then, they'd signed a lease for their first brick-and-mortar location, so they began building out the space while shifting the food truck operations to neighborhoods instead of downtown.

Danger Zone became the first restaurant to open in Denver in 2021, but shortly after its debut, Todd and Schefter got a cease-and-desist notice from another calzone chain that has a trademark on the name. Though the news was disappointing, it led to an unexpected opportunity to connect on a new level with the fighter jet pilot community, and to realign the brand with broader fighter jet culture: "Danger zone" is a Navy term, and the name led many people to assume the restaurant was Top Gun-themed.
Todd turned to the pilots with whom he'd connected. "In a squadron, when you become a fighter pilot, you don't get to choose your own call sign; it's assigned to you," Schefter says. "So [Ben] put together a poll in a spreadsheet, and we let them choose the name, which actually gives us a layer of credibility we didn't have before."

The new name: Full Afterburner. "It's the flame at the back of the jet that takes you basically from a couple hundred miles per hour to 1,000 miles per hour," Todd explains.

Like the name, the restaurant itself is an homage to all things fighter jets. The mural covering the walls depicts all types of fighter jet aircraft, and a large jet model — which actually lights up and makes noise — hangs in the back of the long, narrow space. A collection of memorabilia gifted to Todd from the pilots he's met hangs on the wall, and each employee has their own call sign, like Fanboy, who made me a Wingman calzone loaded with meatballs, pesto and mozzarella — plus ricotta, which I opted to add in.
What you're eating: Calzones, duh. But these aren't like most other calzones. Todd is a self-described pizza fanatic, but he's not a fan of the standard approach of using pizza dough to make calzones. Often, the result is far too thick.

While basic pizza dough is made with flour, water, yeast, salt and olive oil, the dough at Full Afterburner is made with five additional (secret) ingredients. The result is a super thin, slightly crisp, exterior that eats more like a sandwich. You definitely don't need a fork — in fact, if you ask for one, you'll be presented with the large wooden "fork of shame" that hangs near the menu up front.

This handheld take on the calzone is ideal for grabbing on the run or for downing late-night after drinks at the bar, though you can also dine in. The restaurant has a liquor license, too, if you want to pair your calzone with a beer.

There are seven standard calzones on the menu, including a breakfast option with sausage, egg, green chiles, onion and mozzarella, and a dessert calzone with Nutella, powdered sugar and your choice of fruit filling. Each is priced at $10.50, or you can build your own: A custom calzone starts at $8, with additional ingredients priced individually. There is also a gluten-free option available for a $4 upcharge, as well as vegan meat and cheese fillings.

The most popular version is the Goose, with pepperoni, marinara, mozzarella and ricotta, but the Wingman's fresh herby pesto and tender meatballs make for a crave-worthy combo, too. Dipping sauces like garlic butter and Frank's Buffalo sauce are also available, as is Full Afterburner's very, very spicy Jet Fuel hot sauce made with Carolina Reaper chile peppers.

While these calzones may be a bit pricier than a slice, they're also far more filling — plus the comparison with pizza doesn't really do them justice. These are more like grown-up Hot Pockets, in a really, really good way. And like a Hot Pocket, they're ready in minutes, piping hot and super satisfying.