The moment you’ve been waiting for is here: the everything-food-and-drink list to end all lists. We’re undertaking a rather ambitious project—a year-long endeavor that lays out our flat-out best picks of the most exceptional culinary experiences in Denver and Boulder.
We’ll cover the usual suspects: tacos and ramen, for example. Pizza and burgers, too. But think of this as the Herculean version of Denver and Boulder’s gastronomic universe. Over the next 52 weeks (give or take), we’ll post 104 different lists, wherein we’ll give you the lowdown on the very best neighborhood restaurants, bottle shops and butchers, food festivals, pop-up dinners, industry nights, cooking classes and kitchen stores, chef counters, spice shops and cake shops, Cuban sandwiches, Chinese hot pots, and even the best food from truck stops. Who knows? We might be compelled to feature a fantasy-filled list of strip club grub that goes beyond thighs and breasts.
Speaking of fantasies, have you had Michael Bortz’s sensational apple pie? A meat pie from The Great Australian Bite? A cast-iron pie from The Long I Pie Shop? Pies are one of America’s most beloved culinary traditions — a holiday table staple — and at these six Denver pie shops, which represent a repertoire of sweet and savory standards, plus a few modern marvels, there’s a slice for every persuasion. The majority of these shops are offering seasonal pies for the holidays, but time is ticking, so make sure to put in your request now.
1. City Bakery Cafe {726 Lincoln Street, 303.861.0809}
Photo: Annette Slade
Michael Bortz, Denver’s baron of bread, is also lord of the pies. His tantalizing storefront bakery, painted the color of lemon meringue, buzzes from dawn until mid-afternoon with obsessed fans — many of them long-time loyalists — who make a beeline straight for the wired shelves propped the day’s gold-crusted, dangerously tempting masterpieces: rustic apple; a season-inspired Palisade peach stunner; holiday pumpkin; pecan pie; a mixed berry number crowned with butter streusel; and crack pie. We’re kidding about the last one, but truth be told, all of Bortz’s perfect pastry constructions are beyond addictive, and when he has it available, the crème anglaise, luscious, smooth and fragrant with vanilla bean, is a glorious addition.
2. The Long I Pie Shop {2400 Curtis Street, 317.345.1496}
This sliver of sugar, spice and everything nice originally began as a Kickstarter campaign for owner Shauna Lott, who used the funds to launch “Stella,” an Airstream trailer that doubled as a mobile bakery. That was four years ago. She’s since opened a tiny brick-and-mortar in a shared space in Curtis Park (by day, it’s Long I Pie; at night, her partner, Eden Myles, slings pizza), where she unleashes delightful cast-iron-baked pies, including her hallmark salted-honey lavender and bourbon-chocolate pecan confections. Her pies, available whole, by the slice, or in mini and pot-pie sizes, incorporate seasonal vegetables and fruits, and this month, she’s featuring a latticed spiced apple-cranberry pie and a festive eggnog custard pie. Bonus: Lott offers hands-on pie crust classes once a month at The Craftsman and Apprentice.
3. BluNozer Cafe {1475 Ivy Street, 720.269.4539}
It’s impossible to overstate the charm factor of this lovely coffee house and bakery in Mayfair owned by Dorothy Timmons Hotchkiss, a Nova Scotia native who moved to Denver nearly 50 years ago and tinkered in the antiques business before opening her java joint and pastry shop on Valentine’s Day of last year. Her cafe, bedecked with vintage showpieces (just about everything is for sale), snug wooden booths and small tables, is a convivial gathering place that hums with lyrics of praise from her regulars — Hotchkiss seems to know them all by name — who are enamored of her confections, including the decadent, texture-rich pies that zigzag from buttermilk and apple to peach-cranberry and a gluten-free coconut-custard pie that flies off the shelf. Her pies, flaky and tinged with a lightly bronzed crust, are even better with a generous cloud of whipped cream and a shot of espresso.
4. Sugar Bakeshop & Coffee House {277 Broadway, 720.458.5432}
The vegan, pastel-frosted pop-tarts at this laid-back sugar shack and coffee house are beyond reproach, but when you want to mix up your routine, keep your eye on the pie. The alluring varieties, most of which can be ordered gluten-free or with a vegan crust, are objects of beauty, topped with everything from caramel and oat crumbles to whipped cream and toasted coconut, the interiors oozing with fruit, chocolate, pumpkin, coconut cream, pillowy meringue or seasonal fillings. There’s pie for all, not to mention an antiquated (but still functional) typewriter that you can use to keystroke notes of pie wisdom or sweet nothings…about love, pie or anything else that floats through your head and tape them next to the hundreds of other philosophical musings on the windowed glass.
5. The Great Australian Bite {6710 South Cornerstar Way, Aurora; 303.699.2700}
Aussie pies are the culinary wizards of Oz. They’re Australia’s comeback to the American burger, and you can’t travel more than a block or so in the Land Down Under without coming face to face with a shop that peddles the meat pies. Australia, though, isn’t exactly within quick striking distance when you have a yearning for meat, gravy and vegetables burrowing under a halo of caramel-hued pastry. Aurora, however, is. And it’s there that you’ll encounter this self-described “real Aussie tucker,” a fast-casual spot that specializes in meat pies of every ilk. The kangaroo pie, not surprisingly, is its signature dish, but if that doesn’t make you hop with enthusiasm, there are seven additional pies, including curried chicken, beef and cheese and the original beef pie, swelled with gravy and onions.
6. The Humble Pie Store {3550 East Colfax Avenue, 720.588.9468}
Indulgent sweet and savory confections are the siren song of this Congress Park shrine to pie sorcery. The pies are the handiwork of of Jessica Dolgan, whose eclectic shop — it squats in a former auto body garage that also houses Cerebral Brewing — embodies an industrial, mechanic-leaning vibe that honors its predecessor with an abundance of hand-crafted, custom-made metal-work. And the pies, much like the offbeat aesthetics, are anything but ordinary. For proof, consider the peanut butter and cream cheese pie crowned with pretzel twigs, or the southern eggnog buttermilk number. There are more traditional pies, too, including a latticed apple-blackberry pie, chocolate chess and banana cream. Still, where Humble Pie really shines is in its savory pies: a comforting chicken pot pie and flaky whispers of pastry matched with smoked beef stroganoff, for example. If you’re on a bender, take note that the shop stocks ice cream from Liks, best enjoyed in a shake that’s blended with — what else? — a slice of pie.
Below is a master roster of our flat-out best lists published to date.
Best Beer Caves in Denver
Best Barbecue in Denver
Best Ethiopian Food in Denver
Best Reuben Sandwiches in Denver
Best Butcher Shops in Denver and Boulder
Best Food Carts on the 16th Street Mall
Best Rooftop Patios in Denver
Best Dishes at Avanti Food & Beverage
Best French Dips in Denver
Best Clam Pizzas in Denver
Best Cocktail Bars in RiNo
Best Thai Restaurants in Denver
Best Vietnamese Restaurants in Denver
Best Sushi Restaurants in Denver and Boulder
Best Bars with Live Music in Denver
Best Candy Stores in (and around Denver)
Best Bowls of Pozole in Denver and Boulder
Best Delis in Denver
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