A pizza counter tucked inside an Old Town Fort Collins brewery has landed on a national best-of list, and Colorado's governor wants everyone to know about it. Postcard Pizza, which operates out of Equinox Brewing at 133 Remington Street, was named one of USA Today's best pizza spots in America for 2026, and Governor Jared Polis gave the honor a public shoutout of his own on social media on Wednesday.
Postcard Pizza was established in 2024, meaning the operation earned national recognition within roughly two years of opening its doors, according to K99. The pizzeria specializes in Detroit-style deep-dish pan pies, known for their caramelized cheese crust edges, with a menu that ranges from a Nashville Hot chicken pie to rotating global specials like a banh mi pizza, the outlet reports. Governor Polis marked the news by writing on Facebook that “Colorado has some pretty great pizza — and apparently the rest of the country is catching on.”
How a Local Beat Reporter Helped Land the National Nod
The USA Today recognition traces back to recommendations curated by USA Today Network regional food journalists, including reporter Erin Udell of The Coloradoan, according to a report from February. That local-to-national pipeline explains how a small Fort Collins operation ended up on a nationwide radar typically dominated by big-city restaurant scenes.
Postcard Pizza's own site lays out just how limited its footprint really is: the shop operates only four days a week, Thursday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Only the first hour of each day is reserved for walk-up orders, after which online pre-orders take priority — a system that reflects, per Postcard Pan Pizza, just how tightly demand outpaces the shop's production capacity.
Brewery Kitchens as a Launchpad for Food Entrepreneurs
Postcard's arrangement inside Equinox Brewing reflects a business model that's become common in craft beer hubs like Fort Collins, where microbreweries host independent kitchen concepts rather than building out full-service kitchens themselves, the same outlet notes. That setup lets a food entrepreneur launch without taking on the real estate risk of a standalone restaurant, while breweries gain a food draw without running their own kitchen staff.
Fort Collins isn't short on pizza options to begin with. The city's competitive market is anchored by long-established local independents including Slyce Pizza Co., Krazy Karl's Pizza, and Pizza Casbah, all fixtures of the college town's dining scene. Postcard Pizza's rise shows there's still room for a newcomer to break through, even in a crowded field, if the concept is distinctive enough.
Detroit-Style Pizza's Colorado Roots Run Deep
Postcard Pizza isn't the first Colorado shop to make waves with the deep-dish pan style. Telluride's Brown Dog Pizza built a national reputation years earlier when co-founder Jeff Smokevitch won the American Pan division at the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas and placed in the World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy, according to the Telluride Daily Planet. Smokevitch later co-founded Denver's Blue Pan Pizza in 2015 with Giles Flanagin, growing the Detroit-style concept into three full-service locations along with three stadium outposts inside Empower Field at Mile High, per Blue Pan Pizza.
The style's momentum extends well beyond Colorado's borders. Market tracking data from Datassentials projects Detroit-style pizza to achieve a 99% growth rate on U.S. restaurant menus over four years, driven by rising consumer demand for artisanal regional crust varieties, according to The Cheese Professor. Postcard Pizza's national moment lands squarely within that broader trend, suggesting Colorado's appetite for thick, caramelized-edge pan pies is far from a fad.
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