Mac and cheese pizza is the greatest, and most delicious, mockery of Italian culture imaginable. Combine this offbeat meal with a wide variety of adult and minor-friendly beverages and you get Pablo’s Pizza, one of the hidden gems in downtown Grand Junction, located at 319 Main Street.

Pizza should be so much more than a $5, premade greaseball, and if you can round up a couple friends and $10, Pablo’s can show you what real pizza is. Their open kitchen allows you to see where the magic happens. Dough is hand tossed and made fresh daily, topped with any number of combinations, and cooked into something that can only be described as epic.

After enjoying a delicious pizza, there are a number of equally delicious (and expensive) desert options to further trash your diets. There are salads, Panini sandwiches and veggie-loaded calzones for the health conscious.

The shop itself is as hip as you’d expect downtown. The walls are plastered with local abstract artists, and it’s a great environment for hanging with friends or taking a date. Pablo’s is also part of the “dinner and a movie” promotion, where presenting a receipt from certain downtown restaurants will get you two free tickets to whatever is playing at the Avalon Theatre Tuesday night.

It’s also worth mentioning that Pablo’s is one of only three places in town that offer gluten-free dough, which is a plus for those suffering from Celiac disease.

The only real downside to Pablo’s is the price. A large pizza will run you near $20, and non-alcoholic drinks are at least $2. 18 inches of cultural blending is well worth the hefty price tag if you can round up some friends to share it with, and the free movie will extend your date night without breaking the bank.

Replace your cardboard chain pizza with a tastier option.

jameyer@mavs.coloradomesa.edu