“We all grew up on pizza. It’s just a comfort food.”
That’s the only way Mike Kienast, the founder of Walter’s 303 Pizzeria & Publik House, can explain why there are so many pizza joints around Denver, and why more keep opening.
“It’s a competitive market,” he acknowledged. But pizza is good for everything from special occasions to daily dinners. “You can have it after a sporting event or after church… It holds up on delivery as compared to other foods, even some of my favorite foods.”
On Monday — after some permitting delays — Kienasat opened his latest location, this one in an unusual free-standing building, the former Mile High Vienna Stand at 300 Santa Fe Drive in Denver. It’s the first real estate Walter’s has owned, and although it looks small from the outside, the 2,100-square-foot building also includes a basement, parking and an indoor patio.
TVs and a bright atmosphere inside borrow their aesthetic from some of the other Walter’s 303 locations, although each of them has a slightly different vibe.
Kienast hopes to use the location – set between the residential Baker neighborhood and an industrial area – to experiment with new sandwiches and specialty pizza combinations. He’ll also focus on a lunch menu. “We don’t want to get stagnant,” he said.
In addition to pizzas, Walter’s 303 specialized in baked wings — which made The Denver Post’s guide to eating wings in 2024, along with Italian specialties like lasagna. Like the other Walter’s 303 locations, the one on Santa Fe Avenue also features top-end craft beers from local and out-of-state breweries – although this one has fewer taps.
Other pizza spots in the area include Black Sky Brewery, just up the street at 490 Santa Fe, and the PZA, which just opened at 644 Santa Fe. Outlets of Fat Sully’s, Pie Hole and Brooklyn’s Finest aren’t that far away, either, between First and Alameda avenues.
Walter’s was founded in 2010 at 1906 Pearl St. in Denver’s Uptown area before Kienast expanded the business in 2016 with other owners and added a craft beer bar. It now has another store in the Lowry neighborhood, as well as locations in Littleton’s Bow Mar and in Colorado Springs.
The building became available after Sonny Jarock, the owner of Mile High Vienna Stand, died in December 2023 at age 50. Jarock had opened the spot, which sold Chicago dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and more, in 2008 as a tribute to childhood summers in Chicago. The then-bright red building had a high profile on the busy street and a friendly reputation.
Kienast was friendly with Jarock, and had even talked to him previously about the building. In the end, Kienast said it’s nice “to keep it in the family.” He plans to introduce a Chicago-style hot beef sandwich at some point in the upcoming weeks as a tribute to Jarock.