PRUF proved there was an appetite for its New York-style slices when customers lined up around the corner during its opening weekend in January.
Now, seven months later, the owners are ready to find out what the business can do without being constrained by a small kitchen and dining room.
PRUF opened Wednesday in its new location at 512 E. Main St., occupying the former San Juan Brews space and a building longtime Montrose residents may also remember as Intrinzik.
The move gives owners Nate Gueck, Troy Ryder and Beau Miller considerably more room for making dough, baking pizzas, displaying slices and accommodating customers who want to stay and eat.
(Claire Larisa Photography for the Montrose Business Times)
“The business wasn’t really meeting its full potential,” Gueck said. “Food- and menu-wise, there’s so much more we want to do that we just couldn’t do over there.”
PRUF opened its first permanent location in January inside the former Double Barrel Taco space at 345 E. Main St., next to Ray’s Corner Café. The arrangement was always intended to be temporary while the owners established the business and searched for a longer-term home.
Building owner Ray Blanchard allowed PRUF to remain longer than originally planned while the owners searched for the right space, Gueck said. PRUF served its final pizzas there Saturday before moving its equipment into the new shop.
The team remains grateful to Blanchard for giving the concept its start. He also provided booths and chairs for the new location after purchasing replacement furniture for his own business.
“It was always meant to be a temporary deal for us over at Ray’s,” Gueck said. “Even when it was first discussed, it was only supposed to be until about June. He was kind enough to let us stay longer because it was very hard to find a suitable location.”
Building a true slice shop
At the original location, PRUF’s small kitchen, limited oven capacity and shared workspace restricted both production and the menu. The dining room could also become crowded quickly, particularly during busy periods.
The new shop allows PRUF to more closely resemble the traditional New York slice-shop model its owners envisioned, while also giving the kitchen enough room to offer the Detroit-style pizzas the business previously served through its pop-up operation and in smaller quanitities at its former downtown location.
Whole pizzas are displayed behind a sneeze guard at the front counter, allowing customers to see the available selections and order individual slices as they move through the line. Whole pies will remain available and will cost less than they did at the previous location, Gueck said.
“The food being displayed is going to help sell itself a lot better,” he said. “If you walk into a slice shop in New York City, you can just get a slice. You can definitely order whole pies, too.”
PRUF previously kept its daily slice selection relatively limited, generally offering cheese, pepperoni, sausage and a vegan red-pie vegetable option, in addition to rotating specials.
The larger display will allow the business to add combinations such as pepperoni and jalapeño or pepperoni and mushroom, along with slices of its meat-lover and supreme pizzas. The owners still plan to offer a more unusual specialty pizza each week.
Customers will also be able to add finishing touches after a slice is reheated, including piped ricotta, chili honey and freshly shaved Parmesan.
“This location is going to allow us to do what has been the goal the whole time, which is have finishing steps,” Gueck said.
The restaurant also has salads and desserts. Ryder has acquired a specialized ice cream machine, although the team is still determining how ice cream will fit into the menu.
The restaurant’s new oven can at least double PRUF’s pizza output. A much larger mixer will allow the staff to produce roughly four times as much dough in a single batch, Gueck said.
At the former location, limited workspace sometimes forced an employee to make dough in the middle of the night. PRUF now has a dedicated preparation and dough-making room, allowing that work to be completed during the day without interfering with other kitchen operations.
Although the larger space is a significant increase, the owners are still refining the restaurant’s workflow. Gueck expects reheating slices to initially be the biggest potential bottleneck, and PRUF will gradually introduce more offerings as employees become accustomed to the new kitchen.
“There’s going to be more available for people than there was last week,” Gueck said. “But in a month, when we settle down, it’s going to be a lot different than what you’re going to see today.”
Room to stay awhile
The new dining room also addresses another limitation of PRUF’s first home.
During busy periods, customers sometimes felt pressure to leave their tables to make room for people coming through the door. Gueck said the new location should offer a more relaxed experience with substantially more seating and enough space to keep a line moving.
“I think it’s going to be a lot more comfortable for people to come and sit and eat,” he said. “The last place was really crowded, and a lot of people felt rushed out of there to make room for other people.”
The owners have retained the punk-rock and skateboarding aesthetic that distinguished the original shop. Skateboards have been mounted near the ceiling, while concert fliers, toys, artwork and other memorabilia decorate the space.
Many of the concert fliers came from employee Mike Jacoby, a longtime punk fan who has attended shows for years. The restaurant has also incorporated decorations belonging to Miller and the other owners.
Gueck described the intended experience simply: “A relaxed environment, good food, good music.”
“It’s not your typical Top 40 you hear everywhere else,” he added. “A little more edge to it.”
The building holds particular meaning for Miller, whose connection to it dates to its years as Intrinzik, a restaurant and live-music venue. Miller designed and operated Intrinzik’s lighting system and said he had admired the space long before it became financially feasible for PRUF.
Miller and Gueck are also members of the Montrose psychedelic garage-punk band Drug School, making the owners’ plans to bring alternative live music into the restaurant a natural extension of their own creative interests.
When PRUF began searching for its first location, the building was available but outside the young company’s price range.
“I’ve always loved this space,” Miller said. “My association with this space goes back to the Intrinzik days. We had looked at it, and it was like, ‘That’s super cool,’ and then kind of gone on. Then it came back around, and it was like, ‘Actually, I think we might be able to do it this time.’”
Miller said he is particularly excited for PRUF to have a space the owners can shape around their own ideas.
“Ray was nice enough to let us start out over there, and we’re forever grateful,” Miller said. “But the size limitations and sharing a kitchen and things like that held us back a little bit. I’m excited to be able to operate at our true full capacity.”
Investment follows early response
PRUF began as a pop-up operation before opening its first shop in January. The restaurant sold out within hours during its first several days, with customers waiting in the snow to get inside.
The response during the following months gave the owners confidence to invest further in the concept, Gueck said.
“It really gives you the confidence to open up for some more investment into the business and expand,” he said. “Doubling down on it.”
Securing and preparing the new location still required extensive negotiations, construction and problem-solving.
The work included removing the former coffee counter, building a new service counter and sneeze guard, completing electrical work and relocating a huge walk-in cooler from the front portion of the building to the back.
Moving the cooler proved particularly memorable. Seven or eight people were needed to remove its former ceiling, which was filled with insulation, and relocate the structure.
The owners received help from friends and family members, including Miller’s brother. Gueck also credited city staff, the Montrose Fire Protection District and the health department with helping the project move through permitting and inspections.
As if the move did not already involve enough complications, Gueck’s truck broke down with restaurant equipment in its bed.
“Construction always costs more and takes longer,” Gueck said. “All the typical clichés come into play.”
PRUF currently has about 12 employees, including several who have remained with the restaurant since its early days. The business recently hired new workers after others left for college or moved for personal reasons.
Gueck expects the restaurant may need to add more employees, but the owners want to first measure demand and determine how many hours they can consistently provide.
More still to come
The owners are pursuing a liquor license, with a hearing scheduled for Aug. 18.
If approved, PRUF plans to sell canned beer and other packaged alcoholic beverages rather than operate a full bar. The team is also exploring canned Italian sodas and other drink options beyond standard fountain products.
Alcohol service would also support another longtime goal: hosting small, late-night alternative music performances.
Miller said the former Intrinzik stage was removed by a previous occupant, but the larger dining room still gives PRUF room to experiment with live events.
“I’m excited to have some live music, some alternative music shows around town,” Miller said. “As a slice shop in Montrose, we’ve needed that for a while, and this is going to be that next level for us.”
The new shop will continue offering its vegan vegetable red pie, and the owners have experimented with vegan cheese. A gluten-free crust is less likely because PRUF’s dough relies on extra-high-gluten flour and a multiday fermentation process.
For now, the first week will serve as an introduction to the space rather than a finished presentation of everything the owners have planned.
Gueck said the restaurant is ready to serve customers, but the menu, staffing and operation will continue evolving as the team learns how to use its new home.
Unlike the temporary arrangement where PRUF began, the owners can envision remaining at 512 E. Main St. for years.
“I could see us here for a long time,” Gueck said. “I think we’re all really happy with how it’s coming together.”
For Miller, the move means the chance to finally determine what PRUF can become when it has room to grow.
“The biggest thing I’m excited for is just us having our own space to do what we want to and make it ours,” he said.
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
