The Mile High City may have a list of pizza places that’s a mile long, but we walked those 5,280 feet just for you. While Colorado may not be known for pizza, you’d be remiss to pass up the chance to try all that Denver has to offer as a culinary destination. This city — from Lakewood to Larimer Square, Congress Park to Five Points and Colfax to Broadway — has every type of pizza you can ever ask for including Neapolitan, New Haven-style, deep-dish pizza and hand-tossed creations.
Here are the best pizza places in Denver, CO for when you need that cheesy, saucy Italian fix. Most of these pizza joints have gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options if you ask nicely.
Grabowski’s Pizzeria
The Windy City of Chicago may be most well-known for their deep-dish, but don’t sleep on a Chicago-style pie made tavern-style with cracker-like thin crust. Grabowski’s Pizzeria located inside RiNo market hall delivers a crunchy, crispy pie with adventurous toppings like the Old Comiskey made with giardiniera — an Italian spicy relish of sorts that’s made of chopped peppers and veggies. We recommend you add fennel sausage if you’re feeling naughty.
Bar Dough
Bar Dough is a beloved LoHi institution that serves no-fuss pizza from a stunning tiled pizza oven. Here, you can get inventive pizzas like the Ragazza Bianca made with taleggio, prosciutto cotto, delicata squash as a drizzle on barrel-aged maple syrup or the divine clam pizza that’s finished odd with pancetta, saffron and chili flakes.
Blue Pan Pizza
If Detroit-style pizza is what you’re after, Blue Pan Pizza will hit the spot. The team here has won international competitions for their creations, if you need another ringing endorsement. Baked on square steel pans that deliver the caramelized cheese edges that are synonymous with Detroit-style, these pies range from classic to meaty, like the Parma Italia featuring parmesan, burrata, scamorza, soppressata, prosciutto and arugula.
Redeemer Pizza
Redeemer Pizza in RiNo is the brainchild of Alex and Spencer over at Dio Mio, the best pasta joint in town. Clearly they know their way around some dough, because Redeemer is so busy they even have an alley window for slice service. After a classic 72-hour fermentation with natural leavening, the pizzas are ready to hit the oven with standouts and daily specials including cacio e pepe pizza made with a garlic cream base, east coast cheese blend and pink and black peppercorns or a sausage and peppers pie.
Cart-Driver
Wood-fired pizzas with surprising toppings is the name of the game here at Cart-Driver. Housed in a RiNo shipping container, the menu here is as quirky as its surroundings with crowd favorites that include the flagship Cart-Driver made with sausage, mozzarella, kale and chili flakes, a killer Margherita, and a clam pie with littlenecks and roasted garlic to boot. Be sure to peep their daily specials where pies made with bratwurst might grace the menu.
Famous Original J’s Pizza
Brought to you by the owner of Rosenberg’s Bagels & Delicatessen, Famous Original J’s Pizza next door uses the same engineered water supply to mimic the mineral content of that in New York. And we are here for it. These New York-style street slices are reminiscent of the crunchy, red sauce-laden pizzas you’d find in Brooklyn (NYC) with toppings to match including meat lover’s, pepperoni, veggie pizza and a white pie. For those who love rectangular-style pizza, the Grandma-style is a crowd favorite.
Say Cheese
Now grab your friends for a happy hour with the tastes of Italy and visit one of these pizza places.
While these six pizza restaurants are our favorite, here are more submissions for reader’s choice — Marco’s Coal Fired, Pizzeria Locale, Kaos Pizzeria, Fat Sully’s and Hops & Pie. Please don’t come for us in the comments.
