Beau Jo's Pizza is Tops in the Colorado Rocky Mountains

Choosing pizza has become nearly a scientific endeavor these days. In the Rocky Mountains, the choice is simple. Despite popular choices of brands like Black Jack, Papa John's, and Domino's, there is only one option Colorado natives and the lot turn to when it comes to pizza - Beau Jo's.

Dotted along the Front Range, from Fort Collins to Denver, the award winning Beau Jo's serves up Colorado-style pizza, offering a third choice of pizza little known on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

What became reality in 1973 for owner Chip Bair, is now a legendary franchise in Colorado. Beau Jo's pizza opened its doors in Idaho Springs, nearly 37 years ago. Bair had an 18 seat, tiny store in the small mountain town nestled 30-plus miles west of downtown Denver. His idea to attract outdoor enthusiasts returning from the slopes in the winter time and the trails in the summer slowly took off, and now includes six locations.

Besides providing an unique option for pizza, each restaurant features a casual dining atmosphere where the Old West and the mining past of Colorado meets. The walls of each restaurant are canvassed with a combination of a RockyMountain silhouette, wood paneling accents, historic black and white pictures and relics of the Gold Rush era of 1850s Colorado.

Conversely, customers come for the pizza pies and the legendary Mountain Pie, not necessarily for the décor and unique themes. Truly a pizza lover's dream, it becomes very tough to categorize this kind of pizza. Midwesterners who love Chicago-style deep dish might say this is the best alternative in this part of America. However, Mountain Pie pizza is not measured in inches in diameter, but in pounds.

The enormous High Altitude pizza, literally in a class of its own, features thick rolled edges, topped high with fresh toppings, and big crusts. This is where the Mountain Pie separates itself from other pizzas as most include big, wheat grain crusts, a choice of a one pound or as much as a five pound pie, and each table includes a squeeze bottle of honey for crust dipping purposes. Beau Jo's really sets itself apart from its competition with this unique, sweet ending to a wonderful meal.

Additionally, customers can choose from nearly 20 different Mountain Pie pizza combinations ranging from the Luau pizza, which features roasted garlic cream sauce, red hot chicken, pineapple and provolone and cheddar cheeses, to Skier Mike's that has Canadian Bacon, green peppers, chicken breast and mozzarella cheese as the main ingredients.

Traditional pizza lovers can also devour a pie with less ingredients and a thin crust. The Prairie Pie is very similar to New York-style pizza with a thin crust and lighter amounts of ingredients. With six specialty options, there are still plenty of reasons to keep the customers mouth watering and coming back to experience Beau Jo's.

Although the high altitude Mountain Pie is the main reason customers return, there are a variety of other food options, including a wide array of appetizers, calzones and pastas, sandwiches and desserts, as well as low-carb choices, too.

"I love Beau Jo's," said Ellis Dawson, a raving fan of Beau Jo's Mountain Pies. "There are so many options to buy pizza, but there's only one Beau Jo's."

It's true what they say about Beau Jo's, "Come for the legend. Stay for the Pie."

http://www.beaujos.com/index.cfm