Pizzeria Republica [Photo: Adam Larkey]

Today at 11 a.m., Pizzeria Republica opened the doors to its second location, downtown at 890 14th Avenue, right beside the Colorado Convention Center.

The 5,000-square-foot, 160-seat space will look nearly identical to the Greenwood Village location with a slightly expanded bar and a sizable 4,000-square-foot patio. The large patio, facing 14th Street, features a fireplace and seating for 100 guests.

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The menu, designed by George Eder, owner and executive chef, will remain aligned with the Pizza Republica roots, offering the same menu items as the Greenwood Village location. The bar programs will similarly mirror the original location with the wine program and modern takes on classic cocktails directed byRona VanSlyck.

“I’m want to expose the city of Denver to the things that made the Greenwood Village location such a success,” says Eder. “I opened Pizza Republica to expose Colorado to the flavors and hospitality I enjoyed growing up in my family.” Eder also notes that favorites such as his Grandmother’s stuffed shells and the popular Pizza Republica meatballs will be highlights of the downtown menu.

The downtown Pizza Republica will be open seven days a week with lunch service beginning at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Dinner is from 3:30 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. On Sundays, Pizza Republica will be open from 3:30 to 9 p.m.

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THE FOOD, HOSPITALITY + RESTAURANT CULTURE OF BOULDER + DENVER

Something really right is going on at Pizza Republica’s new location at the Convention Center. Actually, there are so many things going right, I’ll do my best to fit them all in one blog post. Sitting on an angle [smart!] at 14th and Champa – as it’s said, location is everything – they have themselves some exceptional restaurant real estate.

The thoughtful and masterful design of the space put me immediately at ease. With 5000 square feet and 160 seats [plus another 4000 sf and 100 patio seats], it could easily feel cavernous and sterile, but it feels just the opposite. Cozy. Warm. Welcoming. Considerate details, like a ledge added to the back of the large, high-backed entry bench, allow for those standing in the bar to have somewhere to put their drink when the rest of the tables are full. It’s design decisions like this – ones that truly consider the comfort of guests and not showiness – that get my attention.

The food. The food! I had the privilege of hearing directly from George Eder, Executive Chef and Owner, about choices made in dishes that set them apart in presentation and flavor, while staying true to tastes we’ve come to expect and crave in Italian food. This is a man who sincerely cares about the quality of ingredients he puts on the plate, with a commitment to local, seasonal and organic. Mozarella and buratta are made in house and the pure, clean taste of both trumpets this. Chioggia beets – with their beautiful concentric stripes – are sliced in ½ foot rounds, making a pretty presentation on the plate for the Braised Beet Salad. Along with red and golden beets, goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and kale sliced in wide, tagliatelle-like ribbons, this is one stunning salad. Known for their wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, San Marzano tomato is the base for the red pizzas. This is a prized ingredient, but like anything, can overwhelm if too much is used. Thankfully, a deft hand is applied for the margherita pizza – appreciated, so the wonderful flavors of mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and basil can shine. The porchetta sandwich on housemade bread is a pork lover’s dream and was a highlight. Sided with au jus for dipping, this is a not-to-be-missed dish.

The meatballs get their own paragraph. The size of baseballs – and we all know there’s nothing more disappointing than a too-small meatball – the flavor was outstanding, but it was the marinara that stood out. As an Italian, I have three criteria I go by to determine the legit status of an Italian place: house red wine [you should be proud of the red wine you put the house’s name on and a watery red just won’t do], bread [I could write a book on the importance of good bread] and the marinara sauce. Pizza Republica’s marinara is not the typical red, but rather a deep burnt sienna. Just by looking at it, I knew something special was going on, and then I tasted it. Amazing. It took me a while to try and guess the secret ingredient, when George finally shared it. Cinnamon! Such a warmth and depth of flavor this adds and also explains the color. I’m already craving more.

Desserts came to the table in a triumvirate of delight. Tiramisu, chocolate ravioli [!] and lemon cheesecake with pistachio crust [there is a God]. Too many tiramisus are laden with alcohol, which interrupts the balanced flavors and makes them unpleasantly soggy. The cream can also easily go wrong and I’ve tasted many a bland cream or too-sweet cream, which are equal food crimes. Pizza Republica’s is perfectly balanced in all its flavors and the heavy sprinkling of cinnamon on top made me smile – having now gotten it in both a savory and sweet application. I think the two words – chocolate ravioli – speak for themselves. Just get some. And the lemon cheesecake was light and airy – with a subtle lemon flavor and creative crust that makes is seriously special.

I also appreciate their generous hours, since I’m often looking for a great meal mid-afternoon, only to find most places closed between 2-5p. An extended lunch from 11a – 3:30p, and early dinner service beginning at 3:30p, make this the perfect choice anytime.

I’m a raving fan and my admitted Italian bias has nothing to do with it. Pizza Republica stands soundly on its own.

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Pizza palaces, as we reported earlier today, are peppered throughout the downtown Denver restaurant landscape, and while some of those same pizzerias that opened within the past year have since shuttered, Pizza Republica, the original of which resides in the Landmark development in Greenwood Village, has proven that it has staying power (not an easy feat in the ‘burbs). And tomorrow, at 11 a.m. owner and executive chef George Eder will open a second outpost of Pizza Republica at 890 14th Street, directly next door to the Colorado Convention Center, and given its prime location (and what may the city’s best patio to date), we’re willing to bet that downtown denizens will greedily chew it up (and not spit it out).

The 5,000-square-foot space, which trumpets a 4,000-square-foot fenced patio, complete with a 28-foot-high chimney with a bricked, two-sided fireplace, flaunts an open kitchen flanked by a wood-burning pizza oven completely impervious to heat and bordered by a Ferrari-red solid steel panel with hand-pinstriped grout lines. The bustling kitchen presides over the dining room and bar, the latter of which is walled with garage doors that open to the outside patio. Oak tables, constructed from recycled century-old barnwood, share space with moss green banquettes, a twelve-seat stone community table in the bar and a chef’s counter that overlooks the cooks tossing — and rolling — doughs.

Designer lighting fixtures, most of them made in Italy, illuminate the space, including the bar area, which lays claim to an impressive, 160-bottle, all-Italian wine list and more than twenty grappas. “Rona Vanslyck, our general manager and sommelier went to Vin, Italy for the sole purpose of finding new wines and grappas for us, and we have an amazing selection of both,” says Eder, who notes that the beer program is formidable, too, with four brews on tap (Moretti and local drafts) and an additional fourteen in bottles, including local microbrews and Belgians.

Those of you who have been to the Landmark location will find this space familiar, and Eder stresses that the likenesses are intentional. “We have the same exact menu here as we do at Landmark, and the space is essentially the same, too, because we want to focus on consistency,” he says, adding that once he gets the downtown location up and running — a space, he says, that’s “in the heart of a great cultural and food environment” — he’ll open more. “We’re looking at Fort Collins, DIA and the Foothills,” he reveals.

In the meantime, I stopped by Pizza Republica earlier this afternoon to tour the space and sample a few dishes from the menu, shooting photos along the way. Here’s the gallery.

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