Gondolier Italian Eatery — Restaurant in Boulder

We came all the way from Denver to get some take out. We have family and friends who live in Boulder and had told us about this place. The hostess was rude. Since we had our baby in our arms and it was going to be a very long wait, we asked if we could seat at a table to wait the 25 minutes she said it was going to take for our food to be ready (we asked because the restaurant was noticeably empty and there were only 2 people about to be seated). She said no and told us we could wait at the bench (a 2 people bench, very tiny, which was half occupied). We literally didn't know where to put ourselves. There were 2 people with her that kept their heads down (they were fixing some silverware/napkins) and even though they heard her they decided not to get involved- it was pretty obvious that they had heard the whole conversation. This happened so fast that instead of leaving we decided to get some apps so that way they would have to seat us at a table and we could wait there. I would like to make sure to clarify that all of this happened on a Saturday at 6pm and the restaurant was half empty. There were no other guests in line waiting to be seated, let's say it seemed to be very calm. We told her we wanted to get apps so we could seat at a table and she didn't hesitate to say "Right now your best bet would be to seat at the bar". She clearly had made her mind about not seating us, she didn't give it a thought. We had a baby in our arms. We were shocked. I told her we had an infant and that we couldn't seat at the bar with a baby but she said it was ok to seat at the bar (that was the first time for us to hear such thing). So she sent us off. After we sat at the bar a waitress came to get us and offered us to seat at her section (I guess they had realized of the mistake the hostess had made having us seat at the bar with a baby). We ordered garlic knots (awesome) and a Spinach dip that was no good. It was cold, we could tell it had been taken out of the refrigerator and hadn't been warmed up enough. After the interactions we had had with the staff, we decided not to send it back. What for? we thought. We just wanted to get out of there. We felt pretty disturbed by the whole situation. We sent an email through their website and never heard back from them. I have read lots of reviews, and some people had bad experiences too. They felt similar to us. I don't really know what to think about this place, only that the experience was very disappointing. We chose to support a local business instead of going to a chain restaurant overlooking Pearl st. We regretted our choice and our trip to Boulder just to give this restaurant a try. UPDATE: They apologized and gave us...

My family and I have been eating at the Gondolier since the early 80s, mainly at their Valmont location, then the Pearl Street location, and now the Baseline location.

The food has not changed in those nearly 40 years. Why is that good? Because there are several key things that you don't ever want to change:

1. The pizza. The wonderfully consistent, flavorful and satisfying pizza. The perfectly al-dente neopolitan crust was perfected decades ago. Combined with their one of a kind Italian sausage, and fresh and flavorful vegetables and meats, sauce and cheese, it is absolute heaven. My favorite is the "Carnival," substituting green olives for the green peppers. Taken as whole, I have never found it's equal, in this country or abroad. Anywhere. Ever.

2. Thick homemade noodle spaghetti and marinara sauce. It's been the"spaghetti special" staple for all those years to so many hungry Boulderites, young and old. I don't know what's in that marinara sauce but it's a very unique flavorful and very satisfying.

The house salads with their ever present garbanzo beans are always fresh and delicious.

I miss the piano and ambiance from the old location. But it's the consistently desirable and reliable food that has endured all these years.

And in a world of change, thank goodness at the Gondolier there has been...

Worst "family" restaurant I've ever been to. Unlike the response from the restaurant, our kids WERE NOT "running around". They were right next to our table and I was playing with them. I did this because our service was slow and we were waiting too long before getting a check to be able to leave. We had the worst experience ever with one member of the staff, which later I learned was the manager. Our kids (1&3) were done eating so we let them play next to us, they were laughing and giggling "too loud" and the manager came over and told us to keep them quiet. When I responded that it's hard to keep a 1 and 3 year old quiet she made a snide comment back. They were not running around the restaurant like the manager has said in reply to other reviews, so not only were they awful to us but then they lied to make it look like our kids were misbehaving. I was so stunned we have never been told to keep our happy children quiet at a restaurant, and this one wasn't even nice! All of the tables around us couldn't believe what the manager did, especially since my kids were not the only ones having a fun time making noise. The food was also soggy and the service was slow. We will never go back and strongly encourage you to find a different place to go if you...