YOUR AD HERE »

Alpine Pizza Company opens in Lionshead

The grab-and-go style restaurant specializes in pizza-by-the-slice and wings

Dennis Foley (left) of Bart and Yeti’s has teamed up with Colby Lefevre to open up Alpine Pizza Co. in Lionshead.
Tricia Swenson/Vail Daily

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown was good for something. Just ask Colby Lefevre. The time at home gave him a chance to perfect his pizza recipe and spawn a restaurant.

Lefevre started making Detroit-style pizza a few years ago, and once he thought it was good enough, he invited friends over to try it.

“After a couple of drinks, someone said I should start a pizza place and call it Alpine Pizza Company. I lived on Alpine Drive in Vail at the time and the name stuck,” Lefevre said.



Lefevre’s friends would simply order up pizzas and pick them up from his house. Then he created an Instagram account.

“I put together an Instagram account as a joke, and it started getting a lot of followers,” Lefevre said.

Support Local Journalism




“During the pandemic, I started making a ton of pizzas to practice and was giving them away to people and things got serious, and I started looking for restaurant spaces.”

The pieces began to fall together when the perfect restaurant spot became available next to Bart and Yeti’s in Lionshead.

Dennis Foley of Bart and Yeti’s said his landlord wanted to put a doughnut shop in the space.

“I told him, ‘No, people want grab-and-go pizza and wings’ and I called up Colby and this started about six months ago,” Foley said.

“I can’t believe we got this done in six months. A big huge thanks to Joel Barndt at FirstBank and Shaeffer Hyde Construction for pulling this all together,” Lefevre said.

The menu will offer cheese, pepperoni and the pie of the day, some salads and sandwiches, garlic cheese sticks, hot honey Brussels sprouts and pizza tots. Don’t forget the habanero honey sauce with the pizza.

“You’ve got to drizzle some of that on the pepperoni,” Lefevre said.

Alpine Pizza Co. is currently serving cheese, pepperoni and the pie of the day. Lefevre suggests drizzling the habanero honey on the pepperoni.
Tricia Swenson/Vail Daily

In addition to the Detroit-style pizza, they are serving up the Normy wings, named after a long-time friend and patron of Bart and Yeti’s, Norm Raffelson.

“The wings are deep-fried first, then tossed in the special sauce that Normy would make and then he would finish them off on the grill, so the sauce is grilled into it,” Foley said.

“They became a popular menu item at Bart and Yeti’s, so I thought they’d be a great complement to Colby’s pizza. It’s a sure winner for grab-and-go options here in Lionshead.”

Alpine Pizza Co. is just up the mall from the Eagle Bahn Gondola in Lionshead.
Tricia Swenson/Vail Daily

The business partnership has been cultivating for years. Foley has known Lefevre since he was born. Foley and Colby’s dad, Brian “Bolder” Lefevre, worked at the Watch Hill Oyster Club (now El Segundo) in Vail in the 1980s.

“I’ve watched Colby grow up, so this is fitting, and honoring his father’s memory because his dad would just be blown away that we are working together,” Foley said.

“That was the goal, for my dad and I to open our own restaurant together, but he passed away nine years ago,” Lefevre said.

“And I’m his new dad,” Foley joked.

“Yes, Dennis stepped in, and it’s awesome!” Lefevre laughed.

When asked if Bolder would have a special pizza slice named after him on the menu, Lefevre said, “I know exactly what it would be: hamburger and onions. That’s what he always wanted on his pizza.”

Hours for the Alpine Pizza Co. aren’t set in stone right now. They are basically opening up at noon and serving the eats until they run out. Lefevre recommends following the Instagram page for daily details.

Lefevre started perfecting his recipe for the Detroit-style pizza at home and would serve it to friends during COVID-19.
Tricia Swenson/Vail Daily

Support Local Journalism