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Hops & Pie
Hops & Pie opened in September 2010 in Denver's Berkeley/Highland neighborhood, founded by Drew and Leah Watson after they'd developed the concept while living in San Diego and spending time around its craft beer scene. Their core idea was simple and, at the time, still fairly novel in Denver: a genuinely good pizza built specifically to pair with serious craft beer, rather than beer treated as an afterthought to the food. That pairing philosophy shows up in the numbers as much as the menu — 22 rotating taps of craft beer sit alongside a pizza program that draws on both Detroit and New York traditions, built on a sourdough crust that gives the pies a tang and chew distinct from a standard pizzeria dough. Both Watsons had worked in well-regarded restaurants around the country before opening Hops & Pie, and that broader food background shows in a menu that treats pizza with more creativity than a typical taproom kitchen usually attempts. The restaurant picked up national attention when it was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, with Guy Fieri specifically calling out the kitchen's inventive approach to pizza and beer pairings — recognition that validated a concept the Watsons had built somewhat against the grain of Denver's pizza scene at the time. For a Denver pizza list, Hops & Pie is the essential "pizza built around the beer list" entry — a sourdough-crust, Detroit-and-New-York-influenced pizza program paired with 22 rotating taps, a taproom-first approach to pizza that's earned it a loyal following and a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives feature since opening in 2010.
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Pizzeria Locale
Pizzeria Locale started in Boulder in 2011, founded by Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey and executive chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson — the same duo behind the acclaimed Frasca Food and Wine — as a more casual, fast-moving companion to their fine-dining work. The Denver location followed in 2013, opening at 550 Broadway with a concept the founders call "Neighborhood Neapolitan," built from years of culinary travel through Italy layered onto real fine-dining technique. The pizza itself follows traditional Neapolitan proportions and cooking method — a thin, blistered crust cooked quickly at high heat — but the "Neighborhood" half of the name is doing real work: this isn't a formal, white-tablecloth Neapolitan experience, it's built to be fast, approachable, and genuinely suited to a weeknight dinner, even though the ingredient sourcing and technique behind it come from the same team that runs one of Boulder's most respected fine-dining restaurants. That combination of fine-dining pedigree and fast-casual accessibility proved successful enough that Stuckey and Mackinnon-Patterson later partnered with Chipotle to expand a quick-serve version of the concept nationally, even as the original, full-service Denver and Boulder locations have stayed a distinct, separate operation from that larger partnership. For a Denver pizza list, Pizzeria Locale is the essential "fine-dining technique, neighborhood pace" entry — a Neapolitan pizza built by a Master Sommelier and a Frasca-trained chef, serving genuinely serious pizza at a speed and price point built for regular weeknight visits rather than special occasions.
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