Before we had even moved to Denver, a coworker of mine said that we needed to go try this place, Hops & Pie, that they had great pizzas and beers and a cool atmosphere. But then COVID happened, I had a health issue that drastically changed my diet to a plant-based diet, then I stopped drinking alcohol. So, what really could I eat at a place like this?
We have never made it to this place until this weekend. We met up for lunch with some good friends that we hadn’t seen for a couple weeks. I am not sure how long Hops & Pie have had vegan options, but to my surprise they do. They have vegan cheese, pepperoni and sausage options if you are into that. They do also have a few non-alcoholic beer options as well.
We ended up ordering a house salad with a vinaigrette dressing and a veggie pizza with one half the vegan cheese and pepperoni. The pizza was delicious and the crush was awesome. That in itself tasted great. I liked the vegan pepperoni but I could have done without the vegan cheese. It wasn’t too bad, but I just have not found a vegan cheese that I feel comes anywhere close to replacing regular cheese.
They don’t offer any pre-created pizzas, they are all build your own. You start with the dough, Detroit style or New York style. If you are not familiar with this, the Detroit style is a deep-dish square pizza and the New York is a typical round thinner dough. However, the outside edge is puffy and crisp. Next you pick your toppings, you can pick from a big list of different types of sauces, cheeses, veggies, meats and vegan options. It was very good, but in the end, it seemed a little expensive for the size of the pizza that we ordered. Heather also ordered a Prickly Pear Margarita which looked delicious.
Would we go back, sure! The place is nicely decorated with local art and murals, they have a nice inside bar area and a very nice outside seating with fire pits and a heated covered area for the colder weather. It’s a nice place to go have some great pizza and beers and hang out with some good friends. Highly recommended!