Rico's was founded by Rico Merola in 1979. For decades, it was known in Englewood as a neighborhood go-to for no-frills pizza, pasta and its famously affordable meatball and sausage subs. But by 2019, Merola, who ran the place with the help of his family, was looking to sell.
Loukopoulous "grew up in the industry," he says. His father owned a pizzeria in the Bronx, then ran one in Connecticut for decades after the family relocated there. Loukopoulous moved to Denver, where his wife is from, in 1996; for seventeen years, he owned and operated Papou's Pizzeria on Leetsdale.
The lease for that business was set to end in December 2019, and Loukopoulos was planning to get out of the industry. "In my mind, I was going to move on," he admits. But when the opportunity to take over Rico's came up, he couldn't pass it up. "Rico's on Broadway is like you win the lottery of pizza places," he says. "We were blessed to take it over."
Merola ended up closing the original Rico's before Loukopoulos officially took over, but by November 2019, he'd reopened the place with the goal of keeping things pretty much the same. "People think it's easy to take over an existing spot. It's actually not," he explains. "It's much more difficult, because you're trying to emulate and keep whatever they were doing, their recipes, to move forward. And we were able to do that."
But five months later, restaurants were forced to close for dine-in service because of the pandemic. "I'll never forget that day," Loukopoulos says. "Looking back, we were able to make necessary adjustments and tweaks and changes to the business model to make it work for us." Those included setting up DoorDash for delivery orders and starting to take credit cards for the first time in the business's history.
The opportunity to add a second location "came up very passively," Loukopoulos says. But when he heard about the available Pizza Express location, "I thought, 'Why not?' I'm a firm believer in taking a leap of faith."
By June, Rico's had officially moved in. "There were a lot of adjustments to be made. We're still doing a little remodeling inside. We painted; we're getting new tables and chairs," Loukopoulos says. "Our biggest challenge is letting people know we're here."
Rico's aims to be a classic New York-style pizzeria.
Rico's
Larger subs with more toppings, including the popular Famous Italian Combo with ham, salami, green peppers, mozzarella and creamy Italian dressing, are $9.69. There's also a variety of entrees and pastas ($11.99-$15.39), calzones ($10.99) and, of course, pizza (starting at $11.99 for a 12-inch, $14.99 for a 14-inch and $18.99 for a 16-inch). He's kept all of the recipes "basically the same," Loukopoulos says, with just a few tweaks here and there, like using a new "special, secret" cheese blend. "We've really tried to keep those authentic, New York-style recipes."
The menu has expanded a bit, however. Garlic knots have been added to the lineup, and there are more veggie toppings to choose from, including spinach, roasted red peppers and broccoli. One of the most popular pies, dubbed the Original SoBo Special, is topped with fresh mozzarella and smoked cupping pepperoni. "It's just taken off," Loukopoulos notes.
"The important thing is the freshness of the food," he says, adding that everything from the sauce to the pizza dough and the bread for the sandwiches is made in-house daily. "But I also try to keep it affordable."
What you won't find at either Rico's is too many frills. "I view us as a true, real-deal New York pizza shop," Loukopoulos says. He's open to the idea of adding a third location in the future if the right opportunity comes up. But for now, he's focused on the basics. "Just keep it real, keep it fresh, not getting too fancy," he concludes.
The second outpost of Rico's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen is located at 2700 East Colfax Avenue and is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit ricos-pizzeria.com.
