Video by Kaitlyn Connolly
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Beau Jo’s restaurant, home of Colorado style pizza, has returned to Old Town and is back up and running at its new location on College and Laporte.
After relocating from College and Mountain in August, the restaurant received numerous pleas from the community to re-open soon. The Beau Jo’s staff put in countless hours to give them what they wanted, according to Operations Manager Michelle Priola.
“Everyone has worked so hard and pulled it together and it’s gone great,” Priola said. “The staff has done a magnificent job and I’m so proud of everybody for the work that they’ve done.”
The restaurant officially re-opened its doors yesterday at 11 a.m to a packed lunch crowd.
Priola has worked for Beau Jo’s for 14 years and said that the re-opening was heartwarming.
“The hospitality has been out of this world,” Priola said. “It has been great from everybody in Fort Collins.”
Beau Jo’s has been a part of the historic downtown of Fort Collins since 1993 when it signed a lease at the corner location, which was formerly a bank.
The new Beau Jo’s is located in an old Ford dealership built in 1913, and is almost double the size of the old location. While almost everything in the building has been re-structured and renovated Beau Jo’s decided to keep just one part of the buildings history- one of only two original car lifts left in the country.
Accompanying the lift is a fully restored 1917 Ford Model TT truck. The truck, one of only three made that year, was brought from the first Beau Jo’s location in Idaho Springs.
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According to Wellington resident and freshman engineering student ,Alex Cecil, she was sad to see the old Beau Jo’s go, but is excited for the re-opening.
“The old was was really chill and just relaxed,” Cecil said. “It’s just a great family place.”
Cecil said that she likes to take her cousins to Beau Jo’s when they visit from out of town. Her favorite part of Beau Jo’s is their honey crust.
At more than 6,500 square feet, the restaurant features indoor and patio seating for more than 300 guests and is located across the street from a parking garage.
According to Beau Jo’s the restaurant will still feature its traditional menu of over 40 specialty pizzas, calzones, appetizers, 20 beers on tap and a new walk around salad bar.
Beau Jo’s hostess and sophomore journalism major Samie Sposato said that she is excited to go back to work after more than six months away from her job and she likes the look of the new restaurant.
“It’s fantastic and I really think everyone’s going to like it a lot more than our old location,” Sposato said. “It’s bigger, it’s prettier and it’s more inviting.”
In the restaurant’s old location will be a new restaurant, “The Kitchen” which will include a farm-to-table atmosphere and a menu that changes daily.
Collegian City Beat Reporter Natasha Leadem can be reached at news@collegian.com
