AJ Shreffler, owner of the new Little Arthurs eatery, says he’s probably serving the priciest pies in Denver—and let the haters hate.
Little Arthurs launched on August 13 in the Capitol Hill neighborhood’s Out of the Barrel Taproom, offering pizzas, hoagies, sides and salads. Open 4 to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, Shreffler has thus far placed just three pizzas on the menu, including a Trenton-style pie, a Margherita and a white pizza. And in an Instagram announcement posted on opening day, the owner/chef didn’t mince words about what he planned to charge his customers.
“Our pizza will be the most expensive in town most likely!” he wrote, defiantly. “So please, if you can’t handle things that cost more than the ‘norm,’ just go to Reddit and talk s— now and save your time lol. Make a post about it. Whatever ya need to do, hun.”
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Evidently, some Reddit users accepted the challenge, as Shreffler acknowledged in a follow-up post on August 15. And he was fine with that, especially since it created buzz around his restaurant. He referred to the original post as a “classic click-bait scheme” for “Reddit trolls,” adding, “It worked!”
“They’re really talking about us and attacking me personally/our brand!” he continued. “It’s perfect. As a ‘cocky, narcissistic, condescending, piece of s—, not even from Philly chef’, I’m always trying to think steps ahead of haters since there is no real way to combat it otherwise.”
Shreffler noted that he’s a small business owner with no partners or investors, adding, “I’m happy to be the punching bag and represent other local brands creating thoughtful food and charging what they need to in order to survive and pay their employees a decent wage. The best part about it is that you never have to eat it, and then it actually becomes our problem!”
Shreffler made his name in the Denver area with giant Philly-style hoagies that he sold out of his home—also not for cheap—while working as a chef at Denver’s Bar Dough, known for its pizzas, pastas and other dishes.
“We got critiqued all the time” for relatively steep prices, Shreffler told Westword recently. “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.”
For the new Little Arthurs brick-and-mortar shop, Shreffler imports many of his ingredients from Italy, including Pecorino Sardo Maturo, an aged Italian, sheep’s-milk cheese known for its sharp, robust taste with a hint of nuttiness and a slight tanginess, as well as Salvatore Corso fior di latte.
Here’s a look at the Little Arthurs pizzas, which come in a 20” size, and prices:
The Trenton Style: Buono whole-milk mozzarella, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, San Marzano tomatoes, Sicilian olive oil and Sicilian oregano ($28)
The Margherita: Salvatore Corso fior di latte, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, San Marzano tomatoes, Altius Farms basil and Sicilian olive oil ($40)
The White: Sicilian olive oil, Buono whole-milk mozz, Pecorino Sardo Maturo, whipped cow’s milk ricotta, garlic, Sicilian oregano and black pepper ($32)
“A wise man once said, ‘Your greatest works divide the audience,'” Shreffler concluded in his August 15 Instagram post. “I’ll never stop pushing every single day to help bring my artistic expression to fruition, and, most importantly, I’ll never stop pushing to create an environment for my coworkers that provides a livable wage and a place where they can express themselves through food and take some new knowledge away from every day. Out of our staff of 6 people in the kitchen, 4 have worked with me for 2 years. That says enough to me and is the thing I am most proud of with this thing that I started.”
