Luciano's Pizza & Wings - Denver, CO

1043 Broadway
Denver, CO 80202
303 446 2424 (phone 1)
303 446 2525 (phone 2)
303 446 2425 (fax)
http://www.lucianospizzaandwings.com/
Hours: Mon - Thu 11:00am -10:30pm, Fri - Sat 11:00am - 2:30am or later, Sun 11:00am -10:30pm

Styles of Pizza: traditional
Service: counter service, carry-out, delivery

Standout Tidbit: 18" & 26" sheet pizzas in addition to 16" & 12" round pies.

Review: Luciano’s is located on Broadway just 2 blocks south of the Denver Public Library and the Denver Art Museum. The restaurant is clean, and the exposed brick walls are decorated with framed Italian Art Deco posters. Even though there is enough seating for at least 20-30 patrons, our groups have been the only dine-in customers both times I have visited. Judging by the cavernous kitchen and its’ 4 big pizza ovens, I assume Luciano’s gets a large amount of delivery sales from the Capitol Hill and Golden Triangle neighborhoods, as well as a decent amount of foot traffic from the Broadway club-goers needing late night pie by the slice.

There are several specialty crusts on the menu, and we ordered a basic cheese pie with the garlic crust. The dough seems to be their standard offering with a special topping added to the outer rim/lip, as opposed to being incorporated inside the crust. It was, in fact, very garlic-y.

This thin-crust pie has a lot of thickness to it. Although the outer layer has a nice, slight crispness, the inner crust is very soft, doughy, and breadlike. The cheese was layered thick on top and looked to be just a smooth layer of glistening white-ness with only a hint of browning. It was so think, in fact, that when it came out of the oven, you may have been hard-pressed to see any sauce peeking through, until the pie is cut into slices. We found it to be quite gooey and stringy when separating a slice from the tray or taking a bite. As far as the flavor of the cheese, it was pleasant and mild without being overly salty or greasy.

Once the za cooled down enough to taste everything properly, we agreed that the sauce was our favorite part. (My brother and I RARELY agree on anything.) It was very flavorful and tomato-y without being too sweet or salty. The texture was quite smooth without being creamy.

The downside of this pie in my opinion (others have corroborated my impressions), is the sheer quantity of the cheese and sauce and thickness of the crust. Everything is present in equal amounts, but I personally feel there is too much of everything. One quick peek into my vast archives of past pizza pics reminded me that Luciano’s is just as generous with the addition of fresh toppings as they are with the core ingredients.

I thought this to be a slightly dangerous pie as once you a bite through the thick strata of cheese and toppings, you then have to worry about the deep reservoirs of scalding red sauce squirting out the sides of your slice or down your chin. I, for one, quickly opted for a knife and fork, as things were getting messy. Tasty, but messy.

In all fairness, it has taken me a LONG time to post this review and I should go back to check to sample another pizza and my facts. A Zealot's work is never done.

Gavin