Motown Meets Denver with Colorado Square Pizza

Front Range pizzerias corner the market with sigh-worthy, cheese-crunchy Detroit-style pies

By John Lehndorff

This is not the kind of pizza you would gulp mindlessly while walking down a sidewalk to a disco beat.

The square slice towers over the plate at Longmont’s Urban Field Pizza and Market. Its dark crust sports a collar of crispy mozzarella, provolone and cheddar. The sourdough crust is topped with creme fraiche, fontina and gorgonzola cheeses, extra virgin olive oil and black pepper.

Every cacio e pepe-infused forkful is an eye-opener, but the corner pieces are blushingly good. Lovingly referred to as “butts,” the four corner pieces on the rectangular pie are a crust crush that makes you fall in love with pizza all over again. It’s enough to make a veteran dining critic sigh at the table.

Waiting was the hardest part. These are no 3–minute pizzas like some chains bake these days. It takes time to caramelize.  

A new generation of bread-loving Colorado chefs have turned their talents to elevating the humble tomato pie to greatness. They geek out about slow fermentation and superior ingredients from flour to cheeses and sauces. They are even serious about the grated cheese and chile flakes sprinkled on their creations.

Less than a decade ago, these squares were rarely seen on Colorado menus. Denver’s Blue Pan Pizza introduced the state to the joy of Detroit-style pizzas. Now, Motown-influenced pizzerias are popping up along with shops featuring other square pizza variations.

Chef Nick Swanson is the perfect square pizza explainer since the pies he serves at Urban Field and Market in Longmont are influenced by the Big Three: Detroit, Sicilian, and Roman pizzas.

“Between growing up in the Boston area, living in New York and New Jersey and studying in Italy, I feel like I’ve eaten my fair share of good pizza,” Swanson says. Detroit became his new inspiration.

Motown’s pizza hit originated at Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit in 1946. Baked in a square pan, the pillowy dough was covered corner to corner with cheese, usually higher-fat Brick.

“It’s a really thick crust and that cheese melts into the edges and becomes this nice crispy lattice,” Swanson says.

Detroit pizzas are typically not baked ahead of time. At Urban Field and Blue Pan Pizza and Broomfield’s Rock City Ice & Pie, the slow-fermented dough rises in the metal pans and is pre-baked.

These pies are a variation of Sicilian square pizzas. “They’re always pre-baked and when you’re ready, you sauce it, cheese it, and toss it back in the oven,” he says.

“Otherwise, it would be a big soggy mess and deflate.”

The simple tomato sauce is usually ladled on just before serving. Untraditionally, Swanson puts the sauce under the cheese.

Roman-style rectangular pizzas usually have a very airy crust made with olive oil. “The sauce goes over the cheeses and toppings when it’s served,” Swanson says.

“With Sicilian and Roman pizzas, you don’t get any of those crispy cheese edges.”

Nick Swanson is certain about what he and his fellow square pizza chefs are NOT producing.

“People call our pizzas ‘deep dish’ and I’m quick to correct them. These are nothing like those Chicago-style pies with that heavy crust. I don’t want a gut-bomb pizza where you eat one slice and you’re full. I designed our crust off a focaccia recipe so it’s light and moist in the middle and crunchy on the edges,” he says.

Despite the recent boom, horizontal pies are far from new in Denver. Squares of “tomato pie” were served long before the first local pizzerias put round pizzas in square boxes. Colorado’s first tiny Italian eateries opened in the early 1900s when Italian immigrants started to arrive. They baked bread and offered grab-and-go, cheese- and sauce-covered squares. A common lunch item in Italy, simple tomato pie is still on the menu by the slice at Dolce Sicilia Bakery in Wheat Ridge.

North Denver’s Carl’s Pizza opened in 1953 and may have been the state’s first true pizzeria. Colorado has no home-grown pizza style since “mountain pies” are just a variation of deep-dish Chicago pizzas.

Those raised in Chicago and Detroit regularly howl about the authenticity of the pizzas served in Colorado. New Yorkers dismiss anything called “pizza” that isn’t a foldable triangle sold in one of the boroughs.

“Pizza has always evolved and different styles have developed all over the world. It has never stayed the same,” Swanson says.

 

Colorado’s Square Pizza Trail

After in-depth and delicious high-carb research we present Colorado AvidGolfer’s guide to some of the top square pizza purveyors on the Front Range. We include recommended squares to sample and savor at each stop on the square pizza route.

DENVER

Blue Pan Pizza

Details: Blue Pan introduced the metro area to Detroit-style pizza and now has two locations in Denver and one in Golden. bluepandenver.com

Pie to Try: The Brooklyn Bridge: mozzarella, brick, Pecorino Romano and fresh ricotta cheeses with tomato sauce, pepperoni, Italian sausage, garlic and oregano. (Featured on The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive In’s and Dives”)

Eat Ya Pizza

Details: Roman style square pizza. eatyapizza.com

Pie to Try: The Kevin: Mozzarella, Provolone, Italian herbs and Pecorino Romano.

Sofia’s

Details: Roman-style square pizza. sofiasroman.com

Pie to Try: Tomato sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, gorgonzola and spicy honey.

Dough Counter

Details: The Dough Counter offers round as well as square Sicilian pies. doughcounter.com

Pie to Try: Vodka Chicken Parm: Chicken strips, vodka sauce, brick cheese, marinara, oregano and Parmesan.

BROOMFIELD

Rock City Ice & Pie

Details: Mainly takeout spot dishes Detroit-inspired square pizza (and Italian water ice). rockcitypieandice.com

Pie to Try: Wild Shroom: Marinated roasted Colorado mushrooms, goat cheese, Brick cheese, aged Provolone, sharp white Cheddar, ricotta, Buffalo mozzarella and fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, fresh basil and tomato sauce

BOULDER

Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage

Details: Round and Sicilian rectangular pan pizzas are available for takeout only. The special Patty-style pies are coated on the bottom with sesame seeds. thepizzagarage.com

Pie to Try: Spicy Pig: Tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, Italian sausage, roasted jalapeños, garlic and oregano. (Featured on The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive In’s and Dives”)

LONGMONT

Urban Field and Market

Details: Round and Detroit-inspired pizzas are available at Urban Field locations in Longmont and Loveland and on concert nights in The Lounge at the Boulder Theater. urbanfieldpizza.com

Pie to Try: Arrabiata: Tomato sauce, cheese blend, cup pepperoni, shaved red onion, pepperoncini, garlic, Calabrian chiles, hot honey and basil.

Rosalee’s Pizzeria

Details: Round and Sicilian squares are on the menu with premium like roasted chilies, fresh mozzarella, whole anchovies and smoked Provolone. Cheese Sicilian squares are served nightly during live music. Breakfast squares available at Saturday brunch. rosaleespizzeria.com

Pie to Try: Margherita: Plum tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, whole milk mozzarella and Pecorino Romano.

LAFAYETTE

Westbound and Down Mill

Details: At its Lafayette location, this award-winning craft brewery dishes round and square pizzas.       westboundanddown.com

Pie to Try: The Westbound: Green chile sausage, mozzarella, red onion, jalapeños, carrots, smoked cheddar, cilantro and white sauce.

Ghost Box Pizza

Details: A sister to Acreage at Stem Ciders (nearby in Lafayette), Ghost Box Pizza offers Detroit-style pies and wood-fired round pizzas and calzones. ghostboxpizza.com

Pie to Try: Hawaiian: Canadian bacon, pineapple, red onion, red sauce and mozzarella. (Really!)

COLORADO SPRINGS

Decent Pizza Co.

Details: Detroit-style pies on a sourdough crust are available. decentpizza.com

Pie to Try: Animal Lovers: Daiya cheese, vegan pepperoni, vegan Italian sausage crumbles and red sauce.

FORT COLLINS

Postcard Pizza

Details: Detroit-style pizzas are served. postcard.pizza

Pie to Try: Classic Pepperoni: Cheese blend, cupping pepperoni, red sauce, oregano, Parmesan and Pecorino Romano.

ELSEWHERE

Jet’s Pizza

Details: Jet’s is a national Detroit-style pizza chain with local shops in Aurora, Centennial, Boulder, Littleton, Denver, Broomfield, Colorado Springs, Lakewood, Parker and Wheat Ridge. Diners can “flavorize” the crusts with coatings like Romano cheese, sesame seeds, garlic or Cajun seasoning.jetspizza.com

Pie to Try: Jet 10: Sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, ham, hamburger, Italian sausage, bacon, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and black olives.