Crush Pizza Challenge!
As an American, I proudly consider pizza – in all of its cheesy, bready, greasy glory – one of the necessary food groups, and I think Jason McGovern would agree. He's the owner of Crush Pizza & Tap (formerly named Denver Deep Dish), and we're convinced nobody in the city of Denver loves pizza more than this guy. Wanna know why? Because he's made it his mission to eat pizza at a different local pizza joint for six months straight. He calls it the Crush Pizza Challenge, we call good old fashion heroism.
Luckily for us, Jason was kind enough to sit down and talk pie with our own food pundit, Larry Herz, and this is what he had to say ...
OCN Interviews Jason McGovern of Crush Pizza & Tap
So how far into the challenge are you?
Right now, 41 days.
Of all of the pizza places you've visited, what are some of your favorites?
Cart Driver, Big Bills, and Cosmos all knocked my socks off.
Now, I have to ask, what was your least favorite?
Giordano's – all cheese and no flavor.
How long are you planning on doing this?
I started on December 1, now my goal is to go for six months.
Why are you doing this?
When I thought, if you're a brewery owner, you probably drink beer every day if I had to guess. So, if I'm a pizza proprietor, I should be eating and thinking about pizza every day. After all, if pizza is your passion, it should be easy to eat it every day. I also want to educate Denver on pizza and make the pizza scene more in the forefront.
What's your go-to drink with pizza?
Beer, usually a pilsner or a Kolsch. My favorite is from Ratio called Domestica.
Lastly, what is your favorite and least favorite topping?
Favorite is pepperoni. Least favorites are anchovies and mushrooms.
A little bit about Jason:
He grew up in Tennessee where he would order a pizza and a VHS tape – yes, the place had both – on Friday nights. From there, he worked throughout his teenage years at Papa Johns, and eventually made it to Chicago where he'd fall in love with deep dish pizza. He left the pizza business and came to Denver, where he worked a normal day job, but still sold pizzas out of his home on certain nights. Not surprisingly, his pizza garnered its own following, so in 2012, he began selling pizza at a bar off 8th and Colorado called Bar Car. In 2015, he founded Denver Deep Dish which just changed to Crush Pizza & Tap so as not imply that deep dish is all they sell – which is true. They offer deep dish, Sicilian, and hand-tossed NewYork-style pies.
All we can say, Jason, is save us some!
What are your thoughts? What's your favorite pizza in Denver? Let us know in the comments below!
