Cue the Reddit thread where people have, indeed, been sharing a lot of thoughts about Little Arthur's, Shreffler and the price of his food.
Shreffler started slinging giant Philly-style hoagies out of his home five years ago while working as a chef at Bar Dough before going full-time with his business — and complaints about his prices are nothing new. When we spoke to him in May about his plans to move into Out of the Barrel, he'd just launched a new, smaller version of his hoagies with a smaller price tag to match.
"We got critiqued all the time" about pricing, Shreffler said. "I've had trolls in my DMs saying the nastiest things over the price of a sandwich for years and years, and none of that fazed me. I was keeping food costs where they had to be to operate and not fail" — while also staying true to his commitment to using only the highest-quality ingredients and running the business with a small, scrappy team that works long hours to pull off each service.
Shreffler describes the new iteration of Little Arthur's as "a Philly trattoria. A Philly-style Italian diner" with family-style eats. The current menu includes items such as loaded hoagies on freshly made bread, meat and cheese boards, salads, fries loaded with Cheez Whiz and chopped ribeye, and, of course, pizza.
Available only in 20-inch pies made for sharing, there are currently three on offer: Trenton Style (Buono whole milk mozzarella, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, San Marzano tomatoes, Sicilian olive oil, Sicilian oregano) for $28; margherita (Salvatore Corso fior di latte, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, San Marzano tomatoes, Altius Farms basil, Sicilian olive oil) for $40; and a white pie (Sicilian olive oil, Buono whole milk mozzarella, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, whipped cow's milk ricotta, garlic, Sicilian oregano, black pepper) for $32.
The ingredients — particularly the fior di latte on the margherita — are "really special," Shreffler notes. And a lot of labor goes into making the pies, which are available in a limited amount every night Little Arthur's is open.
And while $30-$40 for a pizza does seem high at first glance, is it really that much more than other popular pizzerias in town charge? We decided to break it down to find out.
Here's how Little Arthur's pizza pricing compares to other local favorites:
Trenton Style (plain cheese)
Rosealee's in Longmont (our 2022 Best Destination Pizza)
Toppings: Plum tomato sauce, whole milk mozzarella and Pecorino Romano
Size: 18-inch
Price: $21.95
Price per square inch: $0.09
Pizzeria Lui in Lakewood
Toppings: Red sauce, mozzarella, fresh mozzarella
Size: 14-inch
Price: $13
Price per square inch: $0.08
Blue Pan (New York-style, Congress Park location)
Toppings: Signature red sauce, Grande mozzarella cheese, Sicilian oregano and Pecorino Romano
Size: 16-inch
Price: $19
Price per square inch: $0.10
Redeemer Pizza
Toppings: San Marzano tomato sauce, house cheese blend, olive oil, basil
Size: 16-inch
Price: $22
Price per square inch: $0.11
Little Arthur's
Toppings: Buono whole milk mozzarella, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, San Marzano tomatoes, Sicilian olive oil, Sicilian oregano
Size: 20-inch
Price: $28
Price per square inch: $0.09
Margherita
Rosealee's in Longmont
Toppings: Plum tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, whole milk mozzarella and Pecorino Romano
Size: 18-inch
Price: $25.25
Price per square inch: $0.10
Pizzeria Lui in Lakewood
Toppings: Red sauce, fresh mozzarella, Pecorino, basil
Size: 14-inch
Price: $15
Price per square inch: $0.10
Marco's Coal-Fired (recently named one of the fifty best pizzerias in the U.S.)
Toppings (standard Margherita): Fresh mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, San Marzano tomato sauce, basil, olive oil
Price: $16
Size: 12-inch
Price per square inch: $0.14
Toppings (Margherita bufala mozzarella): Bufala mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, San Marzano tomato sauce, basil, olive oil
Price: $18.50
Size: 12-inch
Price per square inch: $0.16
Blue Pan (New York style, Congress Park location)
Toppings: Signature red sauce, mozzarella, basil, fior di latte, sea salt, olive oil
Size: 16-inch
Price: $25
Price per square inch: $0.12
Rosso Pomodoro (an Italian-based chain that recently debuted its first standalone U.S. location in Denver's Central Park neighborhood)
Toppings: San Marzano tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, olive oil
Size: 12-inch
Price: $13
Price per square inch: $0.12
Little Arthur's
Toppings: Salvatore Corso fior di latte, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, San Marzano tomatoes, Altius Farms basil, Sicilian olive oil
Size: 20-inch
Price: $40
Price per square inch: $0.13
The white pie from Little Arthur's.
Little Arthur's
Add to that the fact that a straight price comparison based on pie size only doesn't capture another important part of the whole pizza picture: the quantity of toppings and size of the dough ball itself.
For his pies, Shreffler says the dough ball is 1000 grams and each is topped with three-quarters to a full pound of cheese — really, really good cheese. You're not going to find any Costco ingredients at Little Arthur's.
The conclusion: Follow your heart. If the price points at Little Arthur's are too high for your budget, there are plenty of pizza options in town, many of which offer a cheaper pie or affordable by-the-slice options.
But the math doesn't lie. Even without factoring in the quality of the ingredients or the heft of the final result, the pizza prices at Little Arthur's are in line with the current standard — even for that $40 Margherita.
Little Arthur's is located inside Out of the Barrel Taproom at 205 East Seventh Avenue and is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, follow it on Instagram @littlearthurshoagies or visit littlearthurs.com.
