Pizzeria founder leaves mark on community and pizza industry
This month, the pizza industry lost a legend in the Colorado pizza scene. Bart Bortles opened Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza over 30 years ago. At Pizza Today, we’ve watched what was once a bar turn into one of the top performing independent pizzerias in America.
While Bart excelled as an entrepreneur in restaurants, bars and hotels, it is Woody’s in Golden that has created a living legacy for his community and family. Woody’s was one of the early adopters of wood-fired ovens in Colorado. The restaurant to this day is a high-volume operation with a buffet. Bart Bortles’ philosophy “more than just great pizza” has reverberated throughout the business and on to its second-generation leader, Bart’s son Jon. As a mentor of many, including Jon, Bart shared his vision, expertise and commitment to good will.
Bart exemplified the extraordinary true nature of the pizzeria industry with a giving spirit and commitment to those around him, from friends, family, employees and customers to strangers. As we scan the loving tributes to Bart posted across social media, the common thread was just how much of an impact he has made on people and his community.
He has left an indelible mark on the restaurant industry in Colorado and nationally. Woody’s has amassed a number of accolades, including being named Pizza Today’s 2024 Pizza Company of the Year Mountain West Region in the PIE Awards. In 2021, Bart received a Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Colorado Foodservice Hall of Fame from the Colorado Restaurant Association. Jon gave a tribute to his father then.
“My dad’s passion for this industry, I think, is rooted in his never-ending desire to improve things, to make things better than he found them… One of the things that my dad would say to the potential restaurateurs or restaurant owners in the audience is ‘You win customers one at a time, but you lose them 10 at a time so do things right once.’ He would also say, ‘you can’t be all things to all people.’” Watch his CRA tribute.
Woody’s Instagram tribute captured Bart’s life so eloquently. It reads:
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