Denver, CO

Italian in Denver ?

2 posts · Feb 1, 1996 to Feb 5, 1996

Thomas H.LA ZinfanaticsFeb 1, 1996

Spieke wrote:
|> My spouse and I will be spending a week-end in Denver with relatives. The
|> only food we can agree on is ITALIAN, so we'll probably wind up going out
|> twice to similar style restaurants. Any recs  ?
|>
|> We'll be staying near "Lo-Do" (wherever that is) but will visiting some
|> friends one night in Cherry Creek. Please post or e-mail. THX!
|>
|> --Spieke
_____________________________________________________________________________
   The trendy, in Italian places in Denver are Ciao Baby! out on Hampden and
Sfuzzi (a national chain, but upscale type, not Olive Garden type) in the Cherry Creek Mall. I've eaten at both of them, thought they were good, but just that. Sorta flashy, glitzy, upscale, trendy places but the food semed to lack that spark or touch that makes Italian so good.
   Better, IMHO, is Cafe Alfresco there in Lo-Do (lower downtown, near the
Larimer Street area). A wwod-fired oven w/ great pizzas but everything else is also good.
   But the best Italian I've had, the most authentic, the Italian food with
some soul to it is Cucina Leone, out on University near Denver University, in the Bonnie Brae area. It's carryout but room there to eat in also. Much simpler & less of a choice in food, more Trattoria in character.
   I've heard some good reports on Barolo Grill (??, something with Barolo in
the name) between Cherry Creek and the Capitol Hill area, but haven't made it there yet.
   If you make it up to Boulder, don't miss a stop at the Liquor Mart for wine!

TomHill

Bill R.University of California, BerkeleyFeb 5, 1996

In article , [email removed] (Thomas R.
Hill) wrote:

__________________
>    The trendy, in Italian places in Denver are Ciao Baby! out on Hampden and
> Sfuzzi (a national chain, but upscale type, not Olive Garden type) in the
> Cherry Creek Mall. I've eaten at both of them, thought they were good, but
> just that. Sorta flashy, glitzy, upscale, trendy places but the food semed to
> lack that spark or touch that makes Italian so good.
>
snip
>    I've heard some good reports on Barolo Grill (??, something with Barolo in
> the name) between Cherry Creek and the Capitol Hill area, but haven't made
> it there yet.
>    If you make it up to Boulder, don't miss a stop at the Liquor Mart
for wine!
>

Over the past couple of years, I've eaten two or theree times each at Ciao Baby and at Barolo Grill.  For decor, ambience, and especially food, I much prefer Barolo Grill.  The food is closer to authentic Italian in style, meaning that it's not as Americanized as at Ciao Baby, and most other Italian restaurants I've tried in the US.  Good wine list and attentive knowledgeable servers.

Bill Rohwer