Fat Sully's (Denver, CO)

It's not often that I experience a pizza joint that resonates so deeply with not only my taste buds, but with my emotional and sociological views on the culture and phenomenon of pizza. Fat Sully's, I tip a heartfelt hat to you, because you made me realize that there are some real pizza enthusiasts out there who are striving for much more than a delicious slice. You embody so many virtues of what a great pizza joint should be.





Before we delve to deeply into the wondrous restaurant that is Fat Sully's, we need to talk about the actual pizza. In one word, superb. In another word, excellent. In a third word, scrumtrulescent. Fat Sully's may have written a dissertation on New York Style Pizza for all we know, because they freekin' nailed it. The perfect amount of sweat; enough to get drippy, but not enough to leave you feeling nauseous. Toppings? Fresh, delicious, and original. A big highlight for me was they they chose to use fresh onions, seasoned in house I believe. Onion flavor can be somewhat overpowering on a pizza, but Sully's knows when enough is enough and doesn't let that flavor drown out the other delicious bits. Oh, and don't even get me started on that crust game! New York style loses me at times when the crust gets just too dang sloppy, spilling my pizza innards all over the tray. Not Sully's, they manage to get the bottom of the pizza just crispy enough to hold true to form. My only advice? Provide some sort of dipping sauce options for the crust. It's fantastic, don't get me wrong, but when your slices are that big it becomes pretty overwhelming to eat that much of straight up bread. Let's not waste prime flavor real estate like that, yeah?

As you can tell, their flavors create fanatics pretty frequently. But, what really captured my heart about Sully's is more than just the pizza, or the atmosphere. You see, at Fat Sully's, you have two options when ordering your pizza. Option one, get a few slices by yourself, continue to live in your bubble of social media and loneliness, you post pubescent hipster you. Option two, however, is so spiritual I almost cried when I realized what it was. Fat Sully's only let's you order full pizza's in giant form, I'm talking TWENTY SIX INCHES of death defying deliciousness. If you're going to Fat Sully's and you're going to take down twenty six inches alone you've got bigger fish to fry in life than your loneliness, my suggestion would be to see a doctor immediately because you're probably dangerously close to having a heart attack. The vast majority of people have to share a pizza that big, they have to embark on the adventure together as a community, and accomplish something great working as a unit, not as individuals. This, ladies and gentleman, is the heart of all things pizza - getting absolutely pizza faced with people you love.

Yo they have Jenga too. Above are Thom and Kathryn Nash, OG's of all things delicious

Amber waves of cheese.

Pizza wasn't designed to be eaten alone in the dark, dreaming of brighter days or pouring hours into your online video games. Pizza is designed as a food to be consumes in pairs, trio's, or more. It's designed to be something you accomplish as a group. You must decide on toppings together, reach an agreement, create the painting together. Then, once the pizza arrives, you have to share, communicate, and make sure everyone's needs are being met. You're being forced to interact, being brought together by the holy powers of the slice. Fat Sully's, whether it's intentional or not, is forcing us to reach out of our bubble and interact with our loved ones once again. They're creating a product that must be consumed with others, no cell phones, no twitter or facebook or instagram or anything like that. No Angry Birds, Hoppy Road, or Trivia Crack. Just pure, unadulterated, friends sharing stories and pizza and creating memories and rebelling against our lonely independent world.

Hat's off to you, Fat Sully's and the Denver Biscuit Company, for knowing (or unknowingly) creating a restaurant that forces people to interact and share in the joy of a good old fashioned pizza get-down. If you're in Denver visiting, live there, or even have an hour of free time and a grumble in your tummy, don't be a dummy and get your ever lovin' behind down to Fat Sully's. Grab a few of your friends or family and leave the cell phones at home. Also, don't forget to slop into their unbelievable selection of local beer - ask your server to suggest a great beer pairing for your pizza flavors.


(Shout out to Tom and Kathryn Nash for convincing me to finally give this place a try, and to Tim Coons, Dan and Sarah Ritchie, and Mike for sharing in this pizza adventure with me)