Uncle’s Pizzeria Celebrates Ten Years!

by Rebecca LaPole

Where is the best Italian restaurant in Fort Collins? If you answered the Olive Garden, think again. Serving high quality, local, delicious, traditional and unique Italian food at a great value is Uncle Pizzeria’s specialty and why they have outlasted many other Fort Collins restaurants, even in the downtown area they call home.

Uncle’s Pizzeria, established by New York native Dennis Marlin and his son, Garrett, in November 2005, moved to Old Town in 2011. Now they are excited to celebrate their 10 year anniversary on Tuesday, January 19th from 3-7 PM. There will be a keg, select appetizers, pizza, cake, and prizes to help celebrate the event. If you can’t make it for the party, stop in anytime to enjoy their scrumptious new menu, or check out their happy hour from 3-6 PM everyday featuring great food and drink specials.

Dennis said, “We went from being truly just a slice, salad, sandwich venue to where we became one of the better dining establishments with high quality food, a really good price point. (Where else can you get a rack of lamb for $20?) Uncle’s has two to three dinner specials that change a couple times a week, they make their own mozzarella in house, all their pizzas from scratch, they grind tomatoes to make sauce, all the bread and dough are made in house, and they get their veggies in from Happy Heart Farm. Manager Cate Chase adds that they serve, “craft pizza, with toppings you wouldn’t normally think would go on pizza, like butternut squash and nuts.” All of their desserts; cannoli, cheesecake, chocolate torte, are individually handmade as well.

You may have seen Uncle’s at practically every Taste of Fort Collins and Orderup now delivers their tasty food for them. Located at 120 W. Olive Street, in the old Olive Street Bakery building, they serve CopperMuse vodka, have three taps that are constantly rotating, and serve Odell, New Belgium, and beer from other small breweries that are local to Colorado. Dennis also said, “95% of our ordering is from Shamrock Foods, which is a locally owned, family run business from Denver. We use local farms as much as possible, and take a great deal of care in trying to serve the needs of the community.”

Surprisingly, according to Dennis, “98% of our products are gluten free: all salads, dressings, (polenta) croutons and pizza crust. We even have gluten free pasta available.” Another awesome deal they offer is a complimentary bottle of wine with dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays. Cate said, “We started that on our seven-year anniversary and kept it going.” Uncle’s is a great place for families and kids of all ages, featuring an open kitchen with pizza makers spinning and hand-tossing the pie dough made to order. The long-standing staff members include Cate and Matt Bauer, lead kitchen chef, who have been at Uncle’s for almost four years.

“We’d like to invite everyone in to our little niche of the world. We do have a community table that seats 18,” Dennis mentioned, “perfect for a large birthday/anniversary party, and we are planning more beer and wine dinners and collaborations with Choice City Butcher & Deli.” But this month, make sure to come celebrate this milestone of 10 years with a fabulous family owned restaurant in Old Town!

Hours: 11:30a-9p on Sun-Tues, 11:30a-10p Weds-Sat, 360 days/year, Reservations available Sun-Thurs, Lunch & Slices served until 4p daily. 970.224.7100 • info@unclespizzeria.com.