Pizza. It’s such a beloved food, some insist it should be named its own food group. Upon delivery, it arrives in a pristine box like the gifts found under a Christmas tree. A blank canvas of dough allows chefs to run wild with its toppings.
The traditional pie will boast colors of the Italian flag with a glistening red sauce that peaks through the pristine white mozzarella scattered above. Finally, the addition of freshly torn basil brings the margarita pizza to life. That type of pizza can be found at numerous restaurants; so Crush Pizza and Tap in Denver takes these conventional flavors, adds to them and presents them in new ways.
Usually, a restaurant stands behind their namesake crust. In Chicago, the finest pizzerias don’t stray far from the deep dish that looks more like a pie than any other style of pizza. In New York, the thinner the better. In Naples, it is the paper-thin bottom with a bubbly, charred rim around the sides of the pizza.
Crush Pizza caters to all types of pizza lovers by showcasing hand-tossed, deep dish, Sicilian and gluten-free crusts all on one menu. Each style has its own personality and makes enjoying the same toppings interesting when on top of a different crust.
Even though Crush is a bit of a hike to reach in Denver’s LoHi neighborhood, it’s a trek to be made happily. It’s a lot easier than traveling to Sicily for pan pizza, Chicago for deep dish or New York for hand-tossed. The entire front wall is composed of windows that allow the sun to radiate inside the restaurant and make pizza cheese glow. Wooden tables and sunshine make it feel like a backyard picnic. Pizzas fly out of the kitchen as every table orders a variety of menu favorites.
The crusts are what really set Crush Pizza and Tap apart. While most people’s first encounter with pizza is the thin crust, hand-tossed variety, Crush also tosses other options onto the menu. Even though it looks pretty dense, the deep dish has a light and buttery texture. The crust is sturdy enough to hold all the accouterments that bring out the pizza’s personality. It has a more pronounced flavor and texture than the typical thin crust.
The red sauces spooned over the top conceal the toppings to melt with the dough. The drippings from the pepperoni or sausage get soaked up by the dough, allowing the flavor to be retained. The cheese is hidden under the red sea of sauce but is instantly recognized when trying to pull the stringy slices apart. With all that room in a deep dish crust, cheese gladly fills that space no matter what type of pie is ordered.
Sicilian style requires more than just a pizza stone. This thick crust pizza has tons of air pockets that make for an immensely pillowy dough. Let’s call it deep dish’s cooler older brother.
The crust’s salty bottom layer feels and tastes like an Italian focaccia loaf that’s been dipped in olive oil. Another addictive aspect that can only be found on Sicilian pizza is the layer of cheese that wraps around the outer crust and makes for a crunchy fried layer of cheese. Its toasted color looks as golden as a marshmallow ready to be smashed into the perfect s’more. While deep dish can boast that it holds any and all toppings, the Sicilian style keeps the toppings to a minimum in order to highlight the carb as the star of the show.
Since it is so hard to choose which crust to dive into, Crush understands the struggle by allowing half orders of the Sicilian and deep-dish minis. There’s no excuse not to try all their styles.
Jason McGovern, pizza chef and owner of Crush, has fun experimenting with innovative pies instead of sticking to the tried-and-true combinations that can be found elsewhere. At other pizza bars, usually the chicken wings are a side item; at Crush, however, they also make their way into inspiring one of their pizzas.
Building your own wing pizza allows customers to dress their crust up just like the wings that could have been your sole order. No wing sauce is off-limits—any of their ten sauces can transform an Italian treasure to an iconic American bar food in seconds. Their mildest is a sweet barbecue sauce, and there is a range of buffalo sauces to keep a tradition alive.
Only the most ambitious will go for the Crush Bomb. It is the hottest sauce for wings, and even the doughy crust can’t tame the heat on that sauce. The chicken still makes an appearance, and it’s either drizzled with ranch or blue cheese. Both add a creamy richness that completes any order of wings.
If a burger could get any better, it would be put into pizza form. “The Royale” makes for the real Burger King at Crush. They crumble local Colorado beef all around the pizza to make each bite taste just like the American classic.
Crush makes another tribute with swirls of zesty ranch. The instant indication that this is a burger pizza is the sweet pickles that give a beautiful green color to each slice. While Italy has their fresh leaves of basil, Crush has this vinegary, acidic greenery instead. The only thing missing is the beloved french fry.
Their signature pizzas are truly where McGovern’s creativity runs wild. One pizza began as a special, but the people’s high praise elected that it stayed as a permanent menu item. That is his PBF: prosciutto, burrata and fig. The PBF is composed of three unlikely BFFs that melt together atop a nice slice of pizza.
The Sicilian crust caters as the vehicle for these luxurious toppings. The airiness of the focaccia style bread can hold up the density of the mellow and rich burrata that is breaking apart on top. The shaved prosciutto looks like lace on top with the pink, fatty pork giving a salty flavor from its long aging process. The finishing touch is a bit of sweetness from the dried figs that give the dish fruitiness. Those sweet notes play with the port reduction to round off the dish’s flavor profile with a sour flavor.
While most of the pizzas at Crush are decorated with the simple ruby red sauce, the Lemon Ricotta rendition is even simpler than that. The lack of sauce on this pie might seem blasphemous, but the acidity from the tomatoes would overpower the subtlety of the lemon. This cheese bread is taken up a notch with dollops of fresh ricotta to counter the crispy mozzarella bubbles toasting the pie.
The lemon offers a tremendous flavor with only the zest being present. The shreds of yellow brighten up the crust and give it a surprising zing that makes taking another bite compulsive. This is the freshest pizza because of the light flavors of the extra-virgin olive oil, lemon and basil.
At first, it might be confused with a dessert pizza. However, the salty and sweet combination is what really makes this pizza special. Make sure to try it on top of the Sicilian style to have the contrast of the creamy ricotta with the charred cheese that finds its way onto the outer crust.
Pizzas are easy to come by because every city has its own namesake rendition. While they are usually enjoyed separately, Crush Pizza acts as a hub to connect every aspect of pizza culture into one lively eatery. Even though they are doing things unconventionally, their pizza can, no doubt, crush any competition it would go up against.
