This is a post (and a review) that’s been a long time coming. A few months ago I was prepping to do a write up about BeauJo’s Pizza, a local restaurant with nine locations throughout Colorado. Kelli warned me that I’d been blogging about pizza a lot lately, and that “people are going to think you only review pizza places.” Wary of making NGNP too pizza-centric, I put BeauJo’s on the back burner…until now. (In my defense, I went back and looked at the NGNP archives – I reviewed pizza places exactly twice…once in February with the Flatbread Company, and once in March with Uno Chicago Grill. But I digress…)
BeauJo’s is known for what it calls Colorado-style pizza. The signature pizza is a Mountain Pie, with a thick, chewy crust. (They serve bottles of honey on the table for you to enjoy your massive quantities of crust with!) They also serve Prairie Pies, which is BeauJo’s-speak for thin-crust pizzas. And, I happily report, they serve gluten-free pizzas, made with a base crust from Deby’s Gluten-Free in Denver. (BeauJo’s also does a promotion called Wheat Free Wednesdays, where you can get their GF pizza and some RedBridge at a good price.)
Because the GF pizza is a thin crust, it falls under the Prairie Pie category at BeauJo’s. You can finish off the crust with a wide array of toppings, including your choice of cheese, sauce, and toppings. I almost always opt for the signature tomato sauce, whole milk mozzarella, turkey pepperoni, and fresh basil. Here’s the bottom line: of the many GF pizzas I’ve tried, BeauJo’s is my clear favorite, standing head and shoulders above the competition. It tastes more like “real” pizza than any other I’ve come across.
I know there are a lot of GF pizza places out there across the country, but if you’re ever traveling through Colorado, you owe it to yourself to give BeauJo’s a try. Plus, you’ll be experiencing a long-time Colorado tradition, particularly if you stop in at the original location in Idaho Springs, which spills over with hungry skiers traveling I-70 to and from Denver and the ski resorts. Eating at the Idaho Springs BeauJo’s is a right of passage for all of our out of town guests…so come on by and visit – we’d love to take you out for pizza! =)
At the Idaho Springs BeauJo’s recently – Kelli with her leg elevated out of frame, Marin hiding behind a bottle, and me with a mouth full of GF pizza.
What a terrific post, Pete! BeauJo’s sounds like a winner for sure. (Heck, I just like the name!) I never even knew what Colorado style pizza was. And, serving with honey … well, coming from a family of beekeepers, that’s great news! 🙂
Of course, my favorite part is the photo of you all. You look so happy with your gluten-free pizza (and milk for Marin)!!
Thanks for sharing!
Shirley
A family of beekeepers? I had no idea, Shirley! So do you have an apiary these days? Or is that a thing of the past…
Cheers, Pete
We are also fans of Beau Jo’s -especially when our out of town celiac family members are in for a visit =) They are always very impressed, which makes me wonder -where are you fine Boulder friends traveling that makes you think GF pizza is fairly common? lol I should like a list please -haha!
PS All of us local GFers (sorry Shirley!) should go out for pizza or Pei Wei sometime!
Cheers, Kelly
Hi Kelly… I’ll have to compile a list of GF pizza joints across the country! =) I think getting the CO GF folks together sounds like a great idea… want to be the ringleader?
Cheers, pete
LOL It’s okay, Kelly. 😉 You guys go ahead without me, but if I’m ever in your neighborhood, we’ll all go out for gf pizza!
An apiary is basically a bee area where the hives are kept, so yes, we have one. We only have one hive at our home (we’re in a subdivision, so that’s enough), but the family helps my MIL take care of her hives on a daily basis. She has about 15 right now. When my FIL was alive, they had 33 hives at one point. One year they literally got a ton of honey.
Anyway, we love our bees for all they do, including providing us with honey. 🙂
Shirley
I was talking to Jean at Pei Wei about it last night! She said Mon and Tues nights are really slow -You know about their GF menu, right? Anyway, I thought I’d get a list of people together -do you think you could email me the ones you know? Also I’d be happy to bring dessert, since they don’t have any there. Jean said people bring cake all the time. I’m sure we’ll be the first to bring GF cake though =)
PS Shirley -I would LOVE you to visit! It wouldn’t be the same without you!!
Yea for Beau Jo’s!!! I have been to the Boulder location and Idaho Springs. Love it!!! If you ever come down to Albuquerque, there is a great GF Italian/pizza place here too – Paisano’s. But I think I do like Beau Jo’s pizza better… maybe I need to go back to Paisano’s soon to compare…
Hi Rseuler… Thanks for the tip about Paisano’s. Next time I’m in Alb I’ll definitely stop by! My last visit to your wonderful town I gorged on some of the best Southwest / TexMex I’ve had in a long time… Paisano’s would be a good changeup!
Cheers, Pete