Thanks to the folks behind Rosenberg’s Bagels and Delicatessen, there’s a little more New York City coming to the Mile High City. Famous Original J’s Pizza is an authentic, New York City-style slice shop in the Five Points Neighborhood. It’s a unique setup with some unique ingredients by some unique folks.
The pizza place is not a traditional sit-down restaurant. Located adjacent to the 715 bar (love their retro sign and dog mural inside!), pizza fans can purchase slices from one of two walk-up windows. One is on the street, right off of the Light Rail line (we mean RIGHT off – watch yourself) and the other is inside the spacious 715 patio. From there, you can enjoy reasonably priced beer and other drinks.
Famous Original J’s Pizza’s name is in recognition to the culture of Ray’s Pizza shops, hugely popular in NYC. Also members of the Rosenberg’s Bagels leadership team, and owner Josh Pollack’s family, all start with “J.”
New York City isn’t just part of the theme of the place, it’s part of every pizza. From the ingredients, which include San Marzano tomatoes, organic whole-milk mozzarella and East Coast staples like New Jersey’s Taylor Ham, it’s literally in the water. Well, almost. Like its big brother, Rosenberg’s Bagels, Famous Original J’s uses replicated New York City water, which is the stuff of legends. They use a proprietary filtration system that utilizes reverse osmosis to strip Denver tap water of its minerals, then reintroduces them in the same, specific proportions found in New York. That contributes to the strength of the gluten in the dough, resulting in that crispy/chewy crust that is seen as the ideal.
And now, the pizza!
Keeping it simple, Famous Original J’s Pizza menu will have two styles – Round and Grandma, available by the slice or as a whole pie. The Round pizza is a traditional East Coast style with lots of cheese. Slices are nice and foldable! The Grandma is based on the Prince Street Pizza in New York City’s Little Italy. It’s thick, square, topped directly with cheese, with sauce over that plus other toppings. The crew describes it more like a pizza casserole, not like a deep-dish, just good and thick. Edge-slices were our favorite, with more crust flavor to love. We also tried a vegan Round, which was almost light as air. Turns out almond-based cheese is way lighter than milk-based. The flavor was great with a slightly pasty texture that would take a little bit to get used to if you’re new to vegan cheeses.
The folks behind Famous Original J’s seem to really honor the rich history of the Five Points neighborhood they have moved into, while recognizing that, with all of the apartments and condos going up in the area, they are going to do very, very well with their pizza windows, open into the wee hours. Famous Original J’s Pizza is located at 715 E. 26th Avenue in Denver.
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