Community Highlights: Meet Joel Bakken of Basic Kneads Pizza

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joel Bakken.

Hi Joel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In the summer of 2010, three brothers put their talents together in a backyard in Denver, and a food truck dream was born. A weekly gig at Great Divide Taproom started a small but fiercely loyal group of followers. Four more food trucks, each with their own custom wood-fired ovens, would join the fleet over the next nine years as we continued to find new fans at local breweries and public events. Catering private events had become a crucial part of our success, and summers filled with road trips to serve weddings in fantastic destinations all over Colorado.

Our craft had caught on, and in 2019 we served our pizzas at over 300 brewery shifts and more than 1000 private events.​ After all that time, the place that we felt the most connected to was right here in Golden, Colorado. Our Sunday brewery rotations at Mountain Toad and Cannonball Creek had developed a regular crowd of people who enjoyed what we offer. When we had the chance to bring our concept to a permanent location on South Golden Road, we jumped on it. We acquired the former Halu Sushi restaurant and fully renovated it over the summer of 2019, including the addition of a massive two-ton wood-fired oven. Our doors opened in November of 2019, and we are beyond excited to have found a home here in Golden.​

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
While it may seem obvious, 2020 was our greatest challenge and hardest year. The economic impact of the pandemic hit us as it did all our local, small business neighbors. The part that is still resolving is after spending nine years building a business, five of which we carefully searched for just the right place, with just the right vibe for our loyal and excited customers, we were shut down 100 days after opening. While we envisioned tables filled with folks sharing large pizzas and pitchers of beer and an overflowing patio with music on the weekends, we pivoted to putting pizza in boxes instead of on tables. The bright side is we have a diversified business model of food trucks, catering, and a restaurant. Each of those aspects of the business have seen fluctuations over the course of 2020, but the combination of the three suggests that we should be optimistic about the future as the pandemic resolves. Before we know it, we will be filling pitchers and bussing patio tables.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Basic Kneads Pizza?
In a time when it seems the emphasis is on cheap and fast, we have made a habit of thoughtful and quality. Nearly everything at Basic Kneads Pizza has been built from scratch. It started with a great, organic, half whole wheat, half white flour dough recipe. It continued with building our first mobile oven in the alley of our Denver home. From those first two moves, we have been dedicated to doing things our own way. All six ovens (5 mobile & 1 in the restaurant) were created with our own hands. We take pride in every customer interaction and every pizza. We have chosen to run a business this way because, ultimately it is memorable and more fun.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
The Bakken family would spend part of their summer at the family cabin in Minnesota. Some of the fondest memories came from time on the lake waterskiing. There were even a few who could waterski barefoot if they got out on the water early enough.

Pricing:

• Pizzas from the food trucks or at the restaurant begin at $9
• Catering a Private event? Pricing begins at $15/person
• Getting Married? Want something better than chicken and potatoes? Catering begins at $22/person

Contact Info:

• Email: dough@basickneadspizza.com
• Website: www.basickneadspizza.com
• Instagram: @basickneadspizzaco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/basickneads

Image Credits
The pixelated, disorganized photo is from Day 1, August 1, 2010