Located 20 miles outside of Salida and about two hours from the Springs, Monarch Mountain ski resort is a magnet for winter sports enthusiasts in Southern Colorado. Salida itself is often treated as only a way point, someplace to fill up the tank when you’re wind-blown and tired after a day on the slopes.

It’s an understandable opinion if you experience Salida only from Highway 50, with all its gas stations and fast food. Drive north on one of Salida’s diagonal side streets, though, and you’ll discover an adorable late-19th century downtown with brick buildings, a riverside park … and Amica’s Pizza and Microbrewery.

After several visits to the charming town and to Amica’s — pronounced ah-MEE-cas – I know that rather than stopping by for pizza during a weekend devoted to skiing, my future weekends in the area are going to be planned around this restaurant’s food and beer, fitting in a little skiing, you know, if there’s time between meals.

Dinner highlights

Amica’s isn’t exactly a secret within the town of Salida; it’s rated No. 1 in the city on Urban Spoon and Trip Advisor, and its tight, clear and cohesive menu is one reason why. It serves pizza, panini, calzone and salad, all centered on a set of infallible core flavors and quality ingredients.

Starting with zero (menu item No. 0, the Bianco Pizza ($10.45) includes chicken, spinach, red onion and fresh basil, but its strong points are roasted garlic and homemade Alfredo sauce, which is cheesy without being heavy or weighing down the flatbread-like fired pizza crust. The Campobossa ($10.45), with sausage, mushrooms, marinara and goat cheese, was Internet-reviewer recommended, and I shout out my thanks to the Web. The goat cheese was mild, and the sausage had an almost Pancetta-like crispness.

Both had me grinning, but once the Salsiccia ($10.45) crossed my plate, it eclipsed everything else. It’s a simple combination of pepperoni, sausage, diced tomatoes and fresh oregano, but the razor-thin slices of pepperoni were out of this world: peppery and spicy and salty, oh my. All the restaurant’s excellent meats are supplied by the Scanga Meat Co. in Salida.

Served under a thick blanket of cheese, the Lasagna Salsiccia ($13.70) of the same flavor palate adds creamy ricotta and lacks the pepperoni, but the result is a tighter focus on the fennel and red pepper of the sausage.

Lunch highlights

Menu reading is a hobby of mine, and I always make a point to try the one dish that seems out of place on the menu, the one dish that looks like it’s someone in the kitchen’s special baby. In this case, that was the Pan E Porco Tirato ($7.65 lunch portion), a panini with house beer-braised pulled pork, house barbecue sauce, caramelized onions, pineapple, jalapeño and cheeses.

The football-size calzones, such as the Vegetariana ($10.95) with spinach, artichoke, peppers, Kalamata and cheeses, are intimidating on the plate, literally the size of my head. Break into the golden brown crust, though, and you find the interior is actually airy and light, and the bread has risen around and gently encompasses the filling.

Handcrafted highlights

Pizza may take up most of the menu, but it’s obvious that Amica’s passion is equally invested in its beers. Some brews are standard menu items, such as the sharp Headwaters IPA and the smooth Big S Brown Ale. Others rotate in and out, though I hope they keep the current,creamy milk stout on offer permanently.

Desserts are also taken seriously, and all are made in-house. The cannoli ($5.45) was perhaps overly crisp, but the towering slice of cheesecake ($6.65) is moist and luscious, excellent with the aforementioned milk stout. 

Ambience

The interior is bright, fresh and artsy, with colorful sculptures and hanging bike paraphernalia. (Amica’s is a founding sponsor of the South Central Bike Racing team and sponsors Salida’s Pole, Paddle and Pedal event.) The front room includes a small bar area and an open pizza kitchen where you can watch them fire your pie, and the back room’s glass doors allow you to peek in on the ir in-house brewing operations.

Service

Two wooden benches sit outside the brick exterior of Amica’s Pizza, and they’re necessary, because, especially during ski season, people overflow from the colorful lobby onto the sidewalk. They’re waiting for their turn to order, which is done before taking a table.

It’s an odd system. A cashier takes orders before you’re seated, but once a server brings your food to where you sit with your designated number, it’s traditional table service in terms of refills, desserts and anything else you might need — and very friendly, genuinely helpful service.

When the restaurant is running smoothly, the hybrid service works better than I would have imagined and creates a wonderful overall experience. When it’s crowded, though, ordering up front creates a roadblock in the dining experience, and it’s easy to get frustrated sitting on a bench in the cold, all those wonderful smells drifting out the door.

Bonus points

Amica’s understands that not everybody can wait in line on busy nights, and since they can’t help being popular, they do offer an alternative. Customers can call ahead to take pizzas to go, cooked fresh and hot, or done “take and bake.” Both are offered at regular menu prices.

For the gluten-intolerant, gluten-free pizza crust and panini bread are available for a $3 upcharge.

As for the beer, that too is available to go. Refills of 64-ounce growlers are $10.50 ($13.50 with the $3 growler deposit) and are available with all the house beers, excepting some of the seasonal and high-alcohol brews.

Drawbacks

My own wishful thinking provides my only complaints: Couldn’t they be larger? Couldn’t they be closer? Couldn’t they set up shop in my backyard? I’ll be in the area several times this winter season, and I only wish that like Monarch, Amica’s offered season passes.

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