Michael's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Breckenridge

My son, his wife and 3 children were visiting from Kentucky. This was their first visit to Colorado, where we have a second home in Dillon. Michael’s was our favorite restaurant in Breckenridge, and we have always brought guests and family here while we were in town. After a delicious dinner, my son insisted on picking up the check.

As we were leaving, we were standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, and our waitress (a dark haired woman probably in her 40’s) hollered over the railing at us, from the outdoor patio seating that was full of patrons. She asked my son if there was anything wrong with the service he received, and he said no. She then said that the tip he left didn’t indicate it. He said he gave her $10, and she said that was not even enough to feed her family. This was said in front of a crowd of people eating on the patio, people on the sidewalk, and his wife and children, besides my husband and myself.

We were stunned. I asked my son how much the bill was, and he said $120. Had I seen the amount, I would have probably left some additional money even though the service was just average. What she didn’t know was that he lived in one of the poorest counties in the nation, and his offer to treat us to dinner set him back much more than this waitress could ever imagine. He truly thought the tip was adequate, and was extremely embarrassed, and needless to say, it ruined the evening.

Any experienced waitress knows that some customers will overtip and some will undertip, and it all evens out. But it is never acceptable to publicly humiliate a patron over a tip.

We will not be returning to Michael’s, nor will we continue to recommend it to our friends and colleagues, which is unfortunate for us because the food was good, but it is really unfortunate for Michael’s , all because a waitress underestimated the overreaching financial ramifications of...

Anyone giving this place more than 1 star is clearly high.

This would be one of the WORST dining experiences I have ever had.

I has the distinct displeasure of dining at Michaels this evening.

Let me start by outlining very clearly why I won't be returning.

Garlic Bread - not baked thoroughly- cold in the middle.

When I asked whether the Baked Pasta Shells were fresh made I was informed that none of the pasta there is fresh or handmade. All either frozen or store bought...

I took the waiter's recommendation foolishly however, and tried the Baked Pasta Shells, after being assured they were excellent. There were decidedly not. The stuffing (ricotta and spinach, and there was NO spinach) was terrible- it was actually sweet. Disgusting. The tomato sauce was nasty, full of oil, and lacking in taste completely. When I spoke to the waiter about the poor taste of the dish, he looked at me in confusion and still charged me full price even after I gave him my entire meal back! Terrible customer service!

My kids refused to eat their meatball spaghetti- complaining of no taste- I agree after tasting it.

My husband ordered the chicken parmigiana. It arrived drenched in some sort of sauce. He happened to turn it over only to discover the entire bottom of the chicken was burnt black!! Shocking.

My house salad - limp, not fresh. Lettuce was black in places. Probably out of a bag from Safeway.

I doubt the carpet in the place has been vacuumed since 1976.

The ONLY redeeming feature was the Bruschetta- which consisted of chargrilled peppers out of a jar, olive tapenade, also out of a jar, and goats cheese - squeezed out of a pack. I could have done this at home.

What a terrible dining experience.

I will NEVER go back, and am instead hoping to survive the night without a terrible case of salmonella...

We came in last night...there were 3 of us and I ordered a few to go orders for those that stayed behind. My daughter and I got there a few minutes before my son—he was on the bus so should have arrived in 10 minutes and we were cold outside so went ahead and got the table... we ordered drinks and perused menu and about 10 minutes into our stay the host came to our table and said “there IS a third person coming right? You see what’s happening out here?” (More people had arrived) this really stressed my daughter out and she at that point wanted to leave—especially when my son took longer than expected. I went ahead and ordered his food along with ours—it came out really fast—which is great unless you are expecting something that is freshly cooked...I asked them to put his under the lamp and they declined...said it is for the bread..fortunately my son came in quickly and ate quickly...we were out in less than hour spent over a hundred dollars and felt RUSHED...I did not like how they made my daughter feel and as a customer like OUR business was not important because there were others waiting...I never write reviews but I just couldn’t let this one go as I am on vacation and spending a lot of money and expect to be treated like as a customer my business is...