If you’re looking for New York Style pizza without the New York City price, Benny Blanco’s is the place to go. Serving the freshest New York Style pizzas by the slice, Benny Blanco’s will steal your heart without stealing your wallet.
Officially named “Benny Blanco’s: The Slice of the Bronx,” little is known about the actual history of the place, or who Benny Blanco was. But without a doubt, the figurative hole in the wall will draw your attention and have you coming back for more. The restaurant, if you could call it that, simply consists of a counter to order food, and one or two workers, who will take your order from a variety of different toppings posted on the front counter of the establishment.
If the favorite and classic cheese pizza is most to your liking, you can order it plain, and a giant slice of pizza will be thrown into the heating oven for a few minutes before being thrown on a paper plate. One slice is literally the size of your head, and eating just one of these might feel like you have eaten an entire pizza in one sitting. The best part? It’s a whopping two dollars for the whole thing.
If you prefer more decadent toppings, Benny Blanco’s has tens of varieties to choose from for a few quarters more: from the regular pepperoni, mushrooms, and sausage to a more unique type of flavoring, which might include artichoke hearts, ricotta, anchovies, and pesto. You will see the pizza created before your eyes, as you gaze over the glass counter.
Your server will inundate your slice with the desired toppings and throw it into the heating oven for a few minutes, completing the New York pizza experience. While you wait for the slice to melt, you might choose a drink from a variety of canned beverages, which include your regular array of sodas or lemonades.
When all is paid and done, customers may eat their pizza by the slice in a variety of places—at home, on benches near the local museum, a neighboring coffee shop, or the favorite hangout: right outside on the sidewalk ledge on busy East 13th Avenue. Many customers have been seen sitting precariously on this ledge, which borders the avenue.
As cars rush by, blowing wind and the enticing scents of Benny Blanco’s over the sidewalk, patrons can enjoy their slice in relative peace, if they keep all hands and pizzas inside the borders of the ledge.
Despite its popularity as a pizza joint, Benny Blanco’s offers an immense array of other home-style Italian foods. Ordered in advance, an Italian foodie can enjoy the regular spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, manicotti, or ravioli.
If not convinced Italian is the food for you, the joint will serve you a variety of sub sandwiches, calzones, and Caesar salads. The signature side dish item that Benny Blanco’s serves is also a must-try: garlic knots, which are knot-shaped garlic bread. Have a sudden food craving late at night? Not a problem. Benny Blanco’s is open until midnight on 3 nights, and the rest, until 3AM. Rain or shine, they are also available to deliver for free, as long as it’s in the neighborhood.
One of the places you’ll want to eat at when visiting or living in Denver, Benny Blanco’s truly lives up to their name as the Slice of the Bronx.
Benny Blanco’s you are tickle city!