A Little Cream Cheese with Your Pizza

Each month, I head out to a new old town or shopping area in search for cool shops, cafes and restaurants. Yesterday, our creative director and I took a field trip to Lyons, the little town just north of Boulder that’s the gateway to all sorts of cool summer fun.

It also is home to Ma’s Pizza, a New York-style pizzeria right on Main Street.

It seemed like your typical pizza joint, complete with paper plates and red and white checkered table cloths.

The menu has few options: pizza, calzones, salads and desserts.

There’s a twist: Two of its seven specialty pies include cream cheese. I was not impressed. Actually I was a little concerned about the combination. Owner Carlton Paterson assured us it was damn fine, even offering to eat the cost of the pizza if we didn’t agree.

So we asked for a 12-inch Dr. Gonzo, complete with pepperoni, jalapeños and dollops of cream cheese.

Guess what? It was a pretty darn good pizza. The cream cheese served as a mild extinguisher for the jalapeños and as my dining partner, Steph, the creative director, noted: “It’s like a special treat when you get to the cream cheese.”

It’s mild flavor and gooey melted texture is a nice addition to pizza.

I would have never thought it could work. We had no problem throwing down the $15 for it after we enjoyed the late afternoon snack.

—Jacob Harkins