Louisville Shop Celebrates Fifteen Years of Pizza and Community

Fifteen years ago, Brendan McManus set out to bring elevated wood-fired pies to his hometown of Louisville, Colorado. The shop – with its quality ingredients, local sourcing and minimalist approach – quickly became a neighborhood favorite.

The numbers tell the real story: Since 2012, Lucky Pie Louisville has served approximately 1.3 million guests, poured 356,000 pints of beer, and sold 105,000 pepperoni pizzas and 70,000 Caesar salads.

August 3 will be the pizzeria’s fifteenth birthday, and it’s celebrating with a weekend-long party. The party will honor its roots, loyal customers and the town that’s supported it every step of the way.

“Brendan wanted to create a space that served great food but could also be run by high school and college students, a neighborhood spot that belonged to the community,” says general manager Nicole Stack. “We only have a wood-fired oven. No fryers, no grills. It’s a super-minimalist operation, and that’s part of what makes it special.”

Lucky Pie’s longevity is a rarity in the restaurant world, where trends come and go and challenges like labor shortages, rising food costs and shifting customer habits are constant. Stack attributes the eatery's staying power to consistency and community.

“Do what you do, and do it well. We’ve always focused on doing one thing here, which is pizza, and doing it really well,” Stack says. “Our dough is still made from the same starter we used fifteen years ago. Every day, we hold back a portion of the old dough and incorporate it into the new batch, so there’s a little bit of that original dough in every pizza we make.”

It’s not just the dough that’s stayed steady. Much of the core menu — like pepperoni pizzas, Caesar salads and a rotating lineup of craft beers — has remained consistent over the years. Specials change weekly, with ingredients sourced from local farms and Lucky Pie’s own garden.

“We just pulled our first eggplant of the year,” Stack notes.
Some guests have been coming since the beginning, and some staff members have grown up alongside the restaurant.

“We’ve had high schoolers start here at fifteen or sixteen, and now they’re old enough to be serving tables,” says Stack. “One couple even met while working here ten years ago. They’re actually getting married in September and having their reception here.”

Lucky Pie has also long prioritized giving back to its community, partnering with organizations like local schools and nonprofits.

Twice a year, it hosts fundraising nights where 10 percent of proceeds go to local schools. “Those are some of the most successful nights we have,” she says. “I am constantly in awe of how Louisville supports the restaurants that are up here because it's such a tiny town…It’s just a great little community. We have so many longtime customers, and that’s really what inspired the big anniversary celebration. It’s our way of saying thank you for being part of our story and supporting us all these years.”

The free anniversary festivities span the weekend. Highlights include:

All Weekend (noon to 2 p.m.):

• $15 menu pizzas

Friday, August 1:

• Swag giveaways with Wilding Brands in the beer garden
• A Precious Child onsite with a keychain making station. There will also be a fundraising campaign for Precious Child, and a portion of Lucky Pie Louisville’s proceeds over the weekend will go to the organization.
• Table-side magic by Nate Reeves (5 to 7 p.m.)

Saturday, August 2:

• Puppy adoptions with Woof and Willow Rescue
• Touch-a-Truck with Louisville Fire Protection (noon to 2 p.m.)
• Houseplant sale with Paradise Plant House (noon to 4 p.m.)
• Live music in the beer garden by local artist Mike Holt (5 to 7 p.m.)
• Free “birthday cake”

Sunday, August 3:

• Free face painting (1 to 5 p.m.)
  

Lucky Pie Pizza and Taphouse is open from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday; it's located at 637 Front Street in Louisville. Order online at luckypiepizza.com.