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"Having never eaten at the Floradora, I cannot write a current review. Actually, no one can, because it is no longer there. A year ago it was replaced by Brown Dog Pizza, a sports bar and pizza joint that is a great new addition to Main Street. Excellent east coast style pizza, best beer selection in town, live music, wide scrren tvs for sports nights. Friendly crowd and staff. Well worth the trip!" - TripAdvisor member, April 26, 2005

A New Pizza Joint, An Old Haunt By Skye Thompson Telluride Daily Planet July 9, 2004

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"I’ve been Italian ever since I watched ‘Breaking Away,’” said Dan Lynch, co-owner of Brown Dog Pizza.

“Breaking Away” is a bicycling film starring Dennis Quaid, but it’s a pretty sorry reach in explaining one’s heritage. If it were a contest, co-owner Jeff Smokevitch would have Lynch beat; his mom is Italian. But it turns out to be quiet Joe Carena who can legitimately say he’s got full-blooded Italian heritage.

Although, maybe none of that matters. Who says you’ve got to be Italian to own the only two pizza joints in a small town in the middle of southwest Colorado?

Like the Phoenix from the ashes, the spirit of the old Floradora restaurant has risen, brought back to life by these three friends, whatever their heritage may be.

“I think tons of locals hadn’t been here in 10 years,” said Brown Dog co-owner Dan Lynch. “It was already so rundown that people were forgetting what it used to be.”

Jeff Smokevitch, Dan Lynch and Joe Carena, pictured (L to R) with their own brown dogs Boone and Phlounder, own and operate Brown Dog Pizza. Photo by Skye Thompson.

Jeff Smokevitch, Dan Lynch and Joe Carena, pictured (L to R) with their own brown dogs Boone and Phlounder, own and operate Brown Dog Pizza. Photo by Skye Thompson.

Lynch and his partners Smokevitch and Carena laughed at the idea they might have been killing something uniquely Telluride when they took down the Floradora sign this May.

That sign, which might one day find itself in a museum, is now safely stored in an attic.

The three owners of Brown Dog Pizza, who also own Pacific Street Pizza, said owning two pizza shops in the same town might just turn out to be great business. Asked if Pacific Street is their number one competitor to their main street location, Lynch said they don’t really have direct competition here.

“The Roma used to be [our biggest competition], but what we do here is so unique that we’ve got a niche in the market,” said Lynch.

What’s so unique about Brown Dog, said Lynch, is that it is a family-style pizza and sports bar on main street with reasonable prices and consistently high quality product.

“At both our locations,” said Carena, “we use Grande mozzarella. It’s the best you can get and we’re the only place in town to use Grande on pizza.”

Lynch added that their Pacific Street store serves locals and tourists alike with take-out and pizza delivery, while main street is designed for family dining and has a more diverse menu, not just pies.

There seems to be a bustling take-out business at the Brown Dog, too. At 2:30 p.m. on a Wednesday, well past the lunch rush, four or five pizza slices walk out the door on paper plates every half-hour.

The by-the-slice business is good, maybe because the slice’s larger-than-life size is reminiscent of Joe’s Pizza in Manhattan, and like Joe’s, its size isn’t compensating for any lack of flavor. There is a great balance of rich and spicy between the cheese and the sauce, and the thin glisten of grease on the top is an authentic touch.

A testimony to the quality, said Lynch, is the fact that after three years at Pacific Street, these guys are still eating what they sell. The three of them laugh at that fact, as though embarrassed to be eating so well.

And though they might like to take the credit for such a fine quality product, Lynch, who designed many of the recipes three years ago with Dave Pihlgren for Pacific Street Pizza, said kitchen manager Greg Phillips and his staff at Brown Dog are responsible for today’s cuisine.

“Our idea has never been to be cheap,” said Lynch, “but to provide consistent product at a reasonable price. When we first set up our menu, consistency was our first priority.”

In what seemed to be a rare moment they were all together, the trio took advantage of the opportunity to discuss how they wanted to feature the Tour de France on their many television sets. In less than half a minute it was decided, (“the big screens during the first hill stages”), and they were back to answering questions.

A large brown lab lounged under the table, begging the question of how the restaurant came to be named. Smokevitch said they nearly named the store Bald Mountain Pizza out of sympathy for the as yet untapped peak name. But the Brown Dog name came to them naturally, out of respect for their two brown dogs, Phlounder and Boone.

Each equal shareholders in the company, Lynch, Carena and Smokevitch joked that their dogs own the odd one percent.

Looking to the future, Brown Dog owners said they are optimistic that their move to main street was a good one. They said they hope to continue to appeal to locals through alliances with recreational sports teams as well as becoming a venue for local musicians.

Lynch pointed out that it was in the Floradora that The String Cheese Incident was conceived. It’s a point of pride for Lynch, and he said he is excited to recreate some of the conditions that existed when that magical connection was made.

To honor Floradora’s past, Lynch and his partners have started scheming Legends Night, an event they hope will bring back old Floradora employees to spend an evening reliving the old days.

“We need to contact Billy Nershi [from The String Cheese Incident],” said Lynch, “to see if he’ll come wash dishes for us. Maybe J. Michael Brown from Paragon will tend bar. We’ll call local cop John Wontrobski, Stuntman, lots of people.”

Though they do have a collective trace of Italian blood between them, these guys are more about making happy customers than making pizza. And they will stay up late if that’s what it takes — Brown Dog is regularly open until 2 a.m.

“If there’s a crowd,” said Smokevitch, “we’ll make pizza for ‘em.”

Reprinted with permission

Check out the September 2007 buyers guide issue of SKIIING magazing.  Brown Dog Pizza had a good review. 

Reccommed Restaurant by AAA Travel Guide and Colorado Restaurant Association