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After Arch Pizza brought its St. Louis-style pizza to Denver, we tracked down some of the other regional variations of pie in town. But we couldn’t find anyone serving Detroit-style pie here in Denver.
Turns out, we nearly had it.
See Also: Denver now has St. Louis-style pizza, but what about New Haven, Detroit and Old Forge-style?
In 2011, the Telluride-based Brown Dog Pizza signed a lease on a space at 1001 South Gaylord Street, but had to back out after neighbors complained, and its liquor license application, which would have allowed Brown Dog to pour beer, wine and spirits, was denied.
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The restaurant describes its Detroit-style pizza as “square, deep-dish pizza with cheese baked into the crust.” It uses Sicilian-style dough, and then layers cheese that spreads to the edge of the pan to create its “famous caramelized crust”. After that, a thick layer of sauce is smeared on top.
According to our 2011 story, the license was denied because there were already six businesses with liquor licenses on the street, and Brown Dog — and its Detroit-style pie — didn’t meet the needs or desires of the neighborhood.
The irony? Today that location holds a pizzeria, Il Vicino, which has a wine-and-beer liquor license. But no Detroit-style pie.