Lafayette Restaurant Project: October 2022

I was away for several months, and I had to leave before I could quite wrap up the LRP Redux, so here is the latest installment. Let me know if any new places have opened since May! I have a couple on the radar, but there’s always a chance I missed something.

Cosmo’s opened in Lafayette in 2020, and we tried it when it first opened, but I didn’t think of reporting on it at the time. I remember some friends being excited to have another place that is open late (11 a.m. to midnight every day), as many local restaurants close by 9 p.m.

Cosmo’s is a local chain that started in Boulder with the location on the Hill, which I’m sad to say closed in 2021 when the building was torn down. It had become such a Boulder institution by then that I was convinced I remembered it from my days as a grad student living on the Hill, but I was wrong because it opened in 2001 (let’s just say that was a while after my time at CU). Currently, it still has locations in Boulder (2), Denver (2), and Fort Collins (1) in addition to Lafayette.

The Lafayette location is at 520 W South Boulder Road, on the south side of the building that also holds the Simple Greek and Buffalo Wild Wings. You can walk in and get a slice (or more than one, but I warn you, a slice is very large) from the pizzas ready in the case, or you can customize a cheese slice with whatever toppings you choose. You can also order a whole pizza in various sizes (14", 16", or 24") from the specialty menu or build your own, and they have calzones, salads, and sides on the menu as well. Cosmo’s is known for their spicy ranch dressing, which I did not end up trying, but one of the options on the side menu is a 12-ounce jar of spicy ranch, so lovers of this condiment can stock up! If you want pickup or delivery, they have a good online ordering system and their own delivery drivers.

I met my friend Sarah for lunch at the Lafayette Cosmo’s last Wednesday. They were doing a pretty brisk lunch business, but it didn’t take long to get our slices. Sarah got pepperoni and mushroom from the case, and I customized a cheese slice with sausage and black olives. The slices are so big that the tip wants to fold down when you pick one up, but they were nice and crisp on the edges, and I liked the crust a lot. The sauce has a little Italian spiciness to it, and the toppings were good, so overall, we agreed that the slices were very tasty.

I wanted to try something else from the menu, so I got an order of breadsticks. Here’s where I missed my chance to try the spicy ranch as a dipping sauce (at the time, I didn’t know it was a Cosmo’s signature item); I ended up with marinara instead. They made the breadsticks fresh for us, and we each ate one and thought they were absolutely delicious—G agreed later on when he ate the two I brought home. We thought the service was good, and the guys behind the counter were nice about answering questions. We’ll definitely be back to try more of the pizza combos!

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.