There are many restaurants making outstanding pizzas all over the Denver area. I love most pizza and I have sampled the wares of many while searching for the very best. I have tasted thin crust, thick crust, gourmet pizza, New York style, Chicago style, individual pizzas, family-size pizza and just about every variation imaginable that is available for purchase in the Denver area. I have even asked readers to email their nominations and suggestions. I enjoyed most of the pizzas I tried and appreciated all their subtle variations, yet, to this date, none can top the one I consider the best, and it is not even available in the city. You have to drive to Idaho Springs.
I cannot count how many times I drove by Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs before I finally stopped in. Idaho Springs is not far from the city and they really do have some nice hot springs there, but it took a while to find their real treasure, their Beau Jo's pizza. Friends and I would often visit the Indian Springs Resort just to get away from the city and unwind at the hot springs pool for an easy, quick, weekend getaway. We never spent much time in town and never expected to find anything worthy of note there except for a cute, little, Victorian mining town, some ice cream and a few antiques. Then, we walked into Beau Jo's while looking for a pitcher of beer.
After a hot springs soak one afternoon, we went the rest of the way into town and found a historic-looking, mountain restaurant with an ample bar and plenty of suds on tap. We went inside. We liked the rustic, 19 th century building decorated in antiques and memories from the boom mining days of another century, and it looked like a good place to relax over a beer. It even slightly reminded us of the Morrison Inn down the road. While sharing conversation and working on a pitcher, we made a monumental decision and decided to taste a "Mountain Pie". It was a nice choice. It would be our first "five-pounder", but it would not be the last.
Beau Jo's calls their premiere pizzas "Mountain Pies" and they sell them by the pound. The five-pounder is their largest size. What is really nice is that Beau Jo's is still one of the few places that offers the whole wheat crust, and their whole wheat crust tops everyone else's crust, whole wheat or not! It is perfect. I have tried, but there is no other way to describe it than simply "perfect". It is the standard all others strive for and is so good it even tastes outstanding by itself without any toppings. Many people do enjoy the crust alone with just a little honey. It really is that special.
Now, as do other area purveyors of pies, Beau Jo's offers a variety of crust options, (they sell flat, "Prairie Pies" too), as well as a choice of sauces and ingredients. They even have options for dieters and low-carbers. I cannot, however, vouch for any of those. For my friends and I, we feel we hit the nail on the head when we ordered the "Five Pound, Vegetarian Combination on Whole Wheat Crust", and never needed to venture further. No pizza is better than this and nothing can make this pizza better. There are no meats, no cheeses and no variations to the toppings that could improve this pizza. It is like that one day in the kitchen where you concoct something heavenly and wish you remembered the exact recipe, except that this place has the exact recipe and replicates it each and every time you return. Of course, it is OK to sprinkle on a few crushed red peppers and some parmesan if you want, but those are not really necessary.
Now, I know there are a few "franchise" Beau Jo's in town, and I have tried a couple, but they are just not the same. They offer a similar product, but something is missing. Maybe it is just the view of the mountains, the rustic setting or the friendly folk who run the restaurant, but no pizza, not even any Beau Jo's franchise, quite compares to the original in Idaho Springs.
For the record, although they look like pizzas and taste like pizzas, Beau Jo's officially serves "Mountain Pies" and they are "Colorado Style". So, in a sense, that puts them in a class all by themselves and makes them undoubtedly the best "Colorado Style Mountain Pies" available anywhere. If you want to think of them as "only" pizzas, then try my favorite "Five Pound Vegetarian Combo on Whole Wheat" and see if you and your taste buds do not agree that these are the most precious items to come out of those "hills" since the mining days.
Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs rates an "A+" because I love consistency. It is nice to know exactly what to expect at a restaurant and to get exactly what you expect every time. I have never been let down. After many visits, I confidently say that I have always found the same high quality, the same great service, and the same great product with each and every visit. Even though it is in Idaho Springs, Beau Jo's is still the best pizza in Denver, Idaho Springs and possibly all of Colorado. If you know and like pizza, take the pilgrimage to Idaho Springs and try a Beau Jo's Mountain Pie. You may just see a new light, and chances are good your taste buds will never be completely happy with any other pie ever again.