Stella's Cucina — Restaurant in Boulder

I chose this restaurant when we were visiting Boulder because it looked like it had a really cool room and bar, And good reviews…. The room is really beautiful and upscale. I appreciate that because there are a lot of highly rated restaurants in Boulder that look like you’re eating in a barn. So I was very excited to go to this restaurant. The bar and room are super upscale and very cool. They also had an awesome lounge type vibe DJ which I really liked. His info is on the special menu. See the photo.

We sat at the bar as usual, and there were two bartenders. The bartender that addressed us initially was standoffish and curt at best. The other bartender was delightful but did not end up serving us so we were relegated to the curt Bartender. We asked for Shaker ice on the side of our martinis, which didn’t come. We had to ask multiple times for that. We told the bartender that we wanted to course our meal as we like to slowly enjoy our courses and have cocktails.

We ordered the meat and cheese Appetizer, which was amazing but immediately our Cesar came at the same time. We sent it back because we had told the bartender that we wanted to have time in between. The meat and cheese appetizer was delicious. ….Really high-quality meat and absolutely delicious cheese. We got our Cesar re-delivered after we finished the meat and cheese appetizer and it was good but not perfect. There was something a little bit missing in the flavor. The presentation was beautiful though.

We ordered the short rib special and the pappardelle peach and pork ragu. The bartender made a point of telling us that we were lucky because our order was put in so that we were certain to be able to get the entrees because they ran out of the pasta right after we ordered. When we got our entrées, we got the short rib and some other meat entrée that we did not order. The bartender said oh I must’ve put in the wrong entrée. And then came back and said they were out of pappardelle entrée…. After making a point to tell us that we were lucky to get it. The short rib special was only OK because they put a load of cheese on top and short rib is already so rich…. It does not need that much cheese so I only had one bite of that. They substituted the pasta entrée that they ran out of with some sort of made on the fly pappardelle with red sauce, and it was awful. It had a canned tomato soup flavor with mint, …not good. I had one bite and said nope. We ordered the special peach goat cheese gelato dessert which was tiny and only OK. The saving grace was that I guess the bar manager comped our entrées which I didn’t eat any of except for one taste of each. They also gave us a gift card for future meal. I have no idea how much it is for… but since we don’t live in Boulder, we will give it away. I can usually forgive mistakes like this, especially when they try to make it up to you. But I have to say that it almost seems like the bartender with the terrible attitude and un attentive service almost did that on purpose. It was as if from the get-go, the bartender didn’t like us. Maybe it was because we appeared to be from out of town and we’re not the traditional college crowd… Who knows. We are fine dining aficionados, and we appreciate and reward excellent service, excellent food, and a beautiful room. I was personally sorely disappointed. I...

Nicely designed interior. Decent food. nice to hear a competent jazz band playing inside.

HOWEVER - The service was ridiculously arrogant and intentionally and pretentiously rude. Three of us sat at the bar for snacks and cocktails. After having the maître d' insist on walking me in to make sure the group I was meeting at the bar actually existed, I was told of the poor attitude of the bartender (she knows who she is) by the other members of my group. I thought, ok, relax, it can't really be that bad. But, it was! Not only were we the only three people at the bar that got poor attention and had all empty plates and glasses left sitting in front of us, but this woman (who has no place being a server in a "high-end" restaurant) was grim, mean, and the opposite of welcoming.

At one point, when I ordered my bourbon and chose to have "cocktail ice" instead of a single rock (because that is the way I like it) she frowned and grimaced at me, and proceeded to slap the drink down in front of me with a disgruntled (and yes, I guess snobby) look on her face.

This is Boulder. If I walk into an expensive and fancy restaurant, it is because I can afford it. Equally, In Boulder, we all dress differently (I was not dressed in rags btw, just not dressed "up" either (early evening while the sun was still bright - meeting friends for a drink).

Don't judge the party you are serving and act as if your restaurant is "too good" for them. Don't make faces at your customers when they tell you how they would like their drink ( I didn't ask for anything that special, and then later at a bar next door when I asked for the same thing, I got nothing but a smile and a "coming right up." - I WILL return to THAT establishment)

I support new and small businesses and I only write bad reviews when the service is openly hostile or derelict. This was both. I couldn't wait to pay that bill and get out of there (pricey but not unreasonable for Boulder). I also apologized to my friends for not having trusted them when I first joined them and heard their initial reactions.

I'll never go back. Good luck with your new restaurant. Try to teach your employees how to make customers feel welcome and comfortable. This bartender consistently did the opposite for well over an hour. (To clarify, no, we were not noisy, boisterous, demanding, or arrogant, and no, they were not overly busy or in the weeds.) We are people who treat our servers with respect and kindness and expect a modicum of the same back. Total fail. Filled with regret for staying as long as we did while hoping for improvement.

Save your money and time. Boulder has plenty of places that will serve you good food and drinks and still do their best to be friendly...

Abstract WORST DINING EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE. EXTREMELY CONDESCENDING, CHEF WALKED AWAY WHILE TALKING TO HIM, MANAGER FLIPPED US OFF AND CALLED ME NICKNAMES.

1. Ordered Carbonara, came out of refrigerator cold on the sides like it had been microwaved. our party agreed it was terrible, im from spain and have spent a lot of time in Italy as a chef (This is important later), the audacity of this place to serve refrigerated microwaved carbonara and call themselves Italian is out of this planet (late night).

2. I NEVER EVER send back food but I felt if there was ever a case to do so now, was the time. so we wait... 20 minutes it comes back out cold AGAIN... I dont even taste it this time I just used my pointer and thumb finger to touch the pasta , guess what ? ITS COLD again.. I mean the center is Luke warm like when you make microwave pasta. before the waiter left I let him know it was cold again, he takes it back a SECOND time..

3. The THIRD time it comes out they clearly NUKED the pasta in the microwave, the ceramic plate was so hot I BURNED my hand on it. I will submit a picture of my burnt fingers later . the CHEF comes out and is extremely CONDESCENDING.. "Do you even KNOW how carbonara is mad,e" I respond that I do and I am well educated in the making of carbonara. He says its not supposed to be a hot dish and the egg and whatever, I mean he was making me feel like an idiot.. so I respond, yes I know how its made, it should not be colder than room temperature (clearly refrigerated), then while im talking to him he walks away ???

4. at this point im done I pull over a waiter, and told him the staff was rude and horrible and that I dont want their pasta at all.

5. Manager comes out calls me the "the carbonara cowboy" and she keeps repeating it "you will forever be known as the carbonara cowboy" almost making fun that I was rightfully complaining and that I was wearing a cowboy hat to cover my medical condition. I just ask for the check so we can leave, and it takes 10 minutes despite the fact that I pay in cash and still tip. on the way out my friend defends me and makes a comment about the nickname and she flips us off.

CONCLUSION: PASTA COMES OUT COLD TWICE, THIRD TIME PIPING HOT PLATE. MICROWAVED (pasta Luke warm). CHEF WALKS OUT ON CONVERSATION, MANAGER INSISTS ITS NOT MICROWAVED AND THEY HAVE A PLATE WARMER (tell me how does a ceramic plate get hot enough to scorch my skin ? microwave...) so lying like straight up it was so obvious. THEN CALLS ME NICKNAMES BASED ON MY APPEARANCE, THEN WE LEAVE AND...