Helping to put Tennyson Street on the map when it opened to instant raves in 2010, this craft beer and pizza parlor has held its edge with a menu that goes well beyond the norm. It starts with a hefty list of custom ingredients for topping New York-, Sicilian-, or Detroit-style sourdough crusts: Think smoked tofu, ham hock, blue cheese, and chipotle honey. It continues with the Artisan Pie of the Month, which could feature mortadella, provolone, green olives, and giardiniera à la a muffuletta or Sunday supper–style meatballs, dollops of polenta, caramelized onions, and balsamic reduction. And then there’s the slice of the day, which might be a play on crab rangoon or street tacos. Throw in an ever-rotating taplist, and the options are truly near-endless.

Despite the name and the Big Apple–inspired decor, Delores Tronco’s urbane RiNo haunt doesn’t do New York–style pies. What it does do, however, is fabulous, from the chewy, well-structured sourdough crust made with single-mill grain and the housemade mozzarella to smart topping combos like Brie, speck, arugula, and balsamic or Gouda, crescenza, and mushroom conserva.

Only good things can come from a tiled oven as drop-dead gorgeous as the one at this LoHi haunt. And so they do. The pizzas here aren’t too fussy, just crafted with care to pair with drinks that exude Italian style, from spritzes and Negronis to glasses of little-seen varietals like Zibibbo and Caprettone: Seasonal specials featuring bay scallops, grana padano, chili oil, and chives might crop up in autumn, giving way to ricotta di bufala, kale, Castelvetrano olives, and garlic oil in spring. Come brunchtime, try the breakfast pie with eggs, potatoes, fennel sausage, and hollandaise on for size.

As the dynamic duo behind beloved pasta joint Dio Mio, Alex Figura and Spencer White know a thing or three about dough, and they’re proving it at this pizzeria down the block from their flagship in RiNo (complete with an alley window for service by the slice). Natural leavening and a 72-hour fermentation process yields just the right amount of crunch, give, and tang, while toppings like aged Gouda, soy-pickled mushrooms, and pink peppercorns add extra flash; imaginative weekly specials might involve both butter-poached white asparagus and roasted green asparagus, preserved lemon ricotta, and Green Goddess dressing or house-corned beef, Sichuan-spiced sauerkraut, Guinness beer cheese, and Fresno peppers.

For its Euro-cool vibe as well as its wood-fired pies, this tiny dynamo housed in a RiNo shipping container has mojo to spare. In addition to crowd favorites like the namesake Cart-Driver with mozzarella, sausage, kale, and chili flakes and the clam pie with littlenecks, pancetta, roasted garlic, and cream, it whips up market specials on the regular — take the fall special with pumpkin and yam puree, chèvre, spicy coppa, roasted green peppers, sage, and balsamic glaze. Snappy cocktails and geeky wines add to the allure.

Nothing like eating pizza by candlelight. This Italian date-night go-to in LoDo only offers three to choose from, but they’re all as well-designed as the atmosphere is romantic — be it the signature (and nicely spicy) fennel sausage pie with smoked mozz, caramelized onion, and Calabrian chili crunch or the fancy twist on a Margherita with burrata, arugula, and garlic-parmesan chips.

The seats at the bar of this Lakewood successor to Deli Italia are the best in the house, offering an unobstructed view of pie after pie being assembled from start to finish — and what a finish it is, courtesy of beautifully blistered crusts that glisten with a brush of olive oil beneath the likes of garlic sauce, speck, spinach, and pepperoncini or goat cheese, roasted eggplant, arugula, and balsamic reduction.

Lon Symensma’s Italian concept in Sloan’s Lake offers six pizzas, but there’s absolutely one to beat: the Amalfi pie. Topped with pecorino, creamy ricotta, Calabrian chili paste, and best of all, slices of confit lemon, it’s a sunny, tangy ticket to its namesake coast.

Everything about this East Colfax haunt, housed in an old muffler shop, is stylish, including its pies. Chewy at the edges, so thin yet well-structured as to defy physics at the center, the crusts are artfully layered with all the good stuff: local ham, caciocavallo, artichokes, and olives, say, or taleggio, maitake and shiitake mushrooms, and black-garlic fonduta.

Bursting onto the Denver dining scene with a hugely successful pop-up hoagie shop, AJ Shreffler is now running the kitchen at Cap Hill beer bar Out of the Barrel, where he’s slinging not only sandwiches but pies as gargantuan as they are gorgeous. As the famous quote goes, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication; in this case, every last ingredient exudes integrity — crunchy-tender crust, topflight cheeses, fresh herbs, Sicilian olive oil, and all.

Though it wouldn’t be out of place anywhere along the Northeastern Seaboard, Angelo’s has for decades served as a second home to the Alamo Placita neighborhood, where it serves up red-sauce staples and seafood treats like chargrilled oysters with equal aplomb. Signature pizza combos include the extra-meaty Sir Psycho Sexy with meatballs, sausage, pepperoni, salami, and pancetta, while the list of custom ingredients gives vegetarians plenty to play with — fried eggplant, sundried tomatoes, broccoli, artichoke hearts, and three different types of olives, for example. (A second location in Littleton adjoins sibling Carboy Winery.)

Despite the unfortunate timing of its grand opening just before the pandemic, the arrival of this homage to the fern bars of the 1970s on South Broadway’s Antique Row proved auspicious thanks to the kitchen’s earnest craft. The organic dough undergoes a natural two-day fermentation to yield a crust that’s paper-thin yet somehow sturdy on bottom, chewy at the edges, and tangy all over, while the topping combos are as flavorful as they are thoughtful (not to mention veggie-centric). Must-tries include the Hunter with bison chorizo, cheddar, green-chile ranch dressing, pickled jalapeños, and cilantro as well as the That 70’s Pie with three cheeses (including feta), arugula pesto, baby kale, roasted golden beets, and red onion.

Denver doesn’t have anything quite like New England–style bar pizza, but this beloved Virginia Village fixture and its Park Hill sibling have carved out a similar niche as vital purveyors of the neighborhood pub pie. Despite their relatively thin, crispy crusts, they’re solidly built for soaking up any of the 20 or so craft beers on tap (with plenty more in bottles or cans), be it the Ya Mar with sausage, salami, ham, and two types of mozzarella or fancier fare like the Prince Caspian with gorgonzola, prosciutto, figs, caramelized onions, and arugula.

At this suave suburban sanctuary from the famed Frasca Hospitality Group, the selection of pies is smaller than that of its Boulder sibling Pizzeria Alberico but every bit as artful: Time-tested recipes and impeccably sourced ingredients will whisk any diner who’s ever been to Naples straight back in their minds. (Pro tip: When possible, add shaved truffles to the Funghi pizza.)

Here’s a pie that’s more than the sum of its slices. This brewery employs people with developmental disabilities to make not only its beer but its pizza on spent-grain crusts; the results — including the Jalapeño Popper with cream cheese, crumbled bacon, and both fresh chile peppers and raspberry-pepper jam — are as delightful as the mission is meaningful.

There are only four pies to choose from at this new Italian restaurant in the Kimpton Claret Hotel, but that’s enough: Based on crusts made with flour from Colorado-grown grains, each one is thoughtfully conceived to sophisticated effect, be it the Funghi with black trumpet and hen of the woods mushrooms as well as black truffle puree or the Duppa with sausage, onions, Castelvetrano olives, and pasilla chiles.