You Knead To Know Denver Is No Longer In A Pizza Rut; Mile High Scores 82 Out Of 100, 14% Higher Than The Average City
by Glen Richardson
Top In Town: Angelo’s Taverna on E. 6th Ave. is city’s longtime favorite pizza eatery. Google rates it 4.6 stars on 2,983 reviews. Yelp ranks Larimer Square’s Osteria Marco best restaurant.
Step aside, New York and Chicago. Denver is the best pizza city in America. Pizza restaurants in Denver are among the highest rated on Yelp, and pizza prices here are more affordable than most metros. Moreover, demand for pizza is so strong that pizza prices are rising faster than overall inflation — 4.0% compared to 3.5%.
Denver ranked 7th last year. Furthermore, five years ago people coming to Denver from Pizza meccas (New York, Chicago, or Connecticut) couldn’t find anything tolerable in Denver. “Residents didn’t know. . . or had ever tasted good pizza,” locals recall.
Today, pizza restaurants in the Mile High City average 4.05 stars out of 5 on Yelp — one of the highest averages in the country. Buying a cheese pizza each week for a year in Denver requires 1.03% of the median annual income — 30% less that the income required in the average city reviewed (1.47%). Denver beat out popular pizza cities — including New York, Chicago, and Detroit — in part because of lower prices, but just as important, due to far better pizzeria reviews!
Top At 4.05 Stars
Pizza Popularity: Denver is the best pizza city in America. Pizzerias — including Redeemer Pizza on Larimer, shown, are among the highest rated on Yelp.
Clever Real Estate ranks the country’s 50 largest metros in the nation. They use data-driven metrics, based on the quality of pizza restaurants per capita: Google search trends, Yelp reviews, plus two surveys of 1,000 Americans, and multiple affordability metrics. Here’s how Denver’s pizza scene surpassed the competition:
Denver pizza restaurants averaged 4.05 out of 5 stars on Yelp — better than the average city’s 3.89 stars and New York’s 3.93 stars. Plus, Denver pizza is more affordable. Based on local prices and incomes, buying one large cheese pizza each week for a year would cost the typical resident 1.03% of their annual income. Nationally, the figure is 1.47%, and in New York, it’s 1.77%.
Giles Flanagin admits change in the local pizza scene has been dramatic in the past few years. Cofounder in 2015 of Denver-based Blue Pan Pizza, he says countless top pizzerias have opened since. Eateries he defines as “small businesses with a passion for pizza, dough, fermentation and quality.” Denver residents, he adds, are supporting high-quality products with high-quality ingredients. Thus, growth has been very rapid, featuring a lot of different pizza styles all done very, very well.
Denver Diversity
Denver’s pizza diversity — as discussed by Flanagin — can easily be found on a local pizza map. Mile High pizzerias offer New York-style thin-crust pizza, Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas, Sicilian pies; and even Connecticut’s signature New Haven-style pie.
But, but that’s just the beginning: Once known as “cow town,” pizzerias in the Queen City of the Plains now feature eclectic offerings like breakfast pizza, plus exotic toppings like Guinness cheese, Sichuan sauerkraut, crème fraiche, limoncello-marinated chicken, and pistachio pesto.
The creativity never stops: Consider a Middle Eastern lamb pizza, a sweet potato, goat’s cheese & pine nut pizza, or a Tandoori chicken pizza. Or, maybe a veggie supreme or dessert pizza.
Top Restaurants
Delightful Duo: Being the epicenter of the west’s beer culture enhances Denver’s pizza popularity. Pizza and beer make a classic pair, bringing out the best of each other’s complementary flavors.
Yelp ranks Osteria Marco on Larimer Square as Denver’s top pizza restaurant. It is known for hand-tossed pizzas such as Artisan, Fig & Gorgonzola, and Carne. The cozy basement eatery also serves Italian plates. Information: 303-534-9855. They also list Marc’s Coal Fire — an Italian eatery-bar by Coors Field — that serves Neapolitan and New York-style pizza with choice of toppings. Information: 303-396-7000.
Many residents and the Chronicle rate Angelo’s Taverna on E. 6th Ave. as the Mile High’s top pizza restaurant. Google ranks it 4.7 stars based on 2,532 reviews; Yelp gives it 4.5 for 1,501 reviews. Information: 303-744-3366. Esters Neighborhood Pub on S. Holly in Virginia Village — albeit not strictly a pizza restaurant — also has seriously delicious pizza in a welcoming atmosphere. Information: 303-955-4904.
Among local pizza spots, some of the most popular newcomers are Dough Counter on S. Colorado Blvd. that specializes in New York and Sicilian-style pies. Information: 303-997-8977; and funky pizza joint Blue Pan — with a location on E. 12th Ave. — that brought the crispy pan pizza style to the Mile High City. Information: 720-519-0944. Furthermore, new dough spots keep popping up: Rolling Pin Pizza is among the latest, opened in early April at 1514 York St., followed by Eat’Ya Pizza on the 16th Steet Mall in early May.
Pizza Passion
Denver scored 14% higher than the average city based on pizza passion. The city’s score was 82 out of 100, compared to the average city’s score of 72. The ranking includes placing No.1 out of 50 cities for
Passion For Pizza: Blue Pan Pizza that opened here in 2015 is in the forefront of Denver’s pizza revolution. Due to technique and quality, their Detroit-style pizza remains a crowd favorite.
online search interest in pan pizza. The metric measures how often locals are searching Google for pizza, and pizza-related terminology.
The abundance of options ranges from Neapolitan and Detroit-style, to square-cut tavern pies of the Midwest, to the New Haven-inspired wood-fired pies.
With 72 breweries, Denver is the epicenter of beer culture in the West, enhancing the popularity of local pizza. Pizza and beer make a classic pair, because they bring out the best of each other’s complementary flavors. The fresh crisp flavor of beer cuts through the creamy cheese, enhancing the herbs in the pizza sauce, and balancing the acidity.
Mile High Mozzarella
Shape Of Taste: Photos show square Detroit pizza, top, and a Chicago-style round deep-dish pizza. City also has rectangular Sicilian pies, New York circular shape; plus, oblong New Haven pies.
The Mile High City’s pizza popularity isn’t due to Denver’s Italian community. Less than 5% of the city’s 2024 population of 708,948 are of Italian descent. Most of today’s local pizza aficionados, moreover, are unaware that a Denver-based company is the world’s top mozzarella pizza producer.
Leprino Foods — headquartered in a three-story building on West 38th Ave. at Quivas St. — sells more than a billion pounds of cheese a year. It is the same site where, in 1950, Italian immigrant Mike Leprino Sr. started making small batches of cheese by hand from the back of his neighborhood grocery store. Mike’s 73-year-old son, chairman, and chief executive Jim Leprino ($2.3 billion 2024 net worth), runs the company.
In 1958, after chain grocery stores forced the local Leprino food market to close, the Leprino cheese empire was started with $615. Today, Leprino uses up to 7% of the nation’s total milk supply. The company controls as much as 85% of the market for pizza cheese, while selling to Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s, and Little Caesars. Able to invest in technology that dairy farmers can’t afford, the company has more than 50 patents, plus an estimated 7% net margin.