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A Casual Pizza Spot With a Mural of a Beer-Drinking Bear Comes to Capitol Hill This Week

Plus, a new Latin American brewery is now open in Sun Valley

An extreme close up of pepperoni on a pizza Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images

A new pizza spot opens this week on Capitol Hill

A new restaurant with a focus on pan pizza is coming to Capitol Hill, Westword reported on Friday. According to the alt-weekly, Ritual Social House will soft open this week inside the former home of Nicolo’s Pizza at 1209 East 13th Avenue.

The broader menu will include pastas and grains, shared plates, sandwiches, salads, and desserts along with the pizzas, which are served in square pans. Chef Ken Thivierge told Westword the restaurant's distinctive pizza is a mashup of Chicago, Detroit, and Sicilian styles that will be crunchy, while neither too thick or too heavy.

According to Westword, the restaurant will have a ski lodge feel with plenty of natural wood and a mural of a bear drinking a beer in front of the Rocky Mountains (yes, seriously).

Ritual Social House will initially be open from 3 to 11 p.m. daily. Brunch will start in November and dinner in December. [Westword]

More Torchy’s in Denver, Boulder

Torchy’s Tacos, the popular Austin-based taco shop chain known for serving huge tacos along with boozy margaritas, will open its fourth Denver location in southeast Denver next month.

The new Torchy’s will be located at 6325 East Hampden Avenue in The Shoppes at Highpointe shopping development located just off of Interstate 25. That space was formerly the home of a location of barbecue chain Jim N’ Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q.

Hardcore Torchy’s fans will get their first chance to enjoy samples of free tacos and drinks at a grand opening party on Monday, November 11, from 5 to 8 p.m. The restaurant will then start serving up its tacos (the Trailer Park fried chicken taco is a perennial favorite) during regular hours on Wednesday, November 13, at 10 a.m.

Torchy’s is also planning to open its first location in Boulder early next year, alhough the location and opening date have not been announced.

Sun Valley’s new brewery is a celebration of Latin American culture

A new brewery with a focus on diversity and representing Central and South American cultures is now serving beer and showing live soccer games on TV in Sun Valley, Denverite reports.

Raices Brewing Co. opened earlier this month at 2060 West Colfax Avenue in a space just to the south of the Broncos stadium. Jose Beteta, who owns the brewery with his wife Tamil Maldonado, said that one audience the brewery is targeting is soccer fans looking for a place to watch games from around the world after the closure of the beloved soccer-focused Three Lions Pub on East Colfax in January.

Another goal for the brewery, however, is to give Denver residents from South American cultures a gathering place in the city that will celebrate their culture. The brewery’s name comes from the Spanish word for “roots” and it will also host a variety of cultural events. A mural celebrating indigenous culture by artist Güillo Cruz adorns the outside of the space.

The brewery currently serves four beers, including a Blonde Ale and a Bohemian Pilsner. Rotating Latin American and Caribbean food trucks are serving food. The brewery's website indicates it is looking for more food trucks to add to that rotation. [EDEN]

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