Mazzola's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Colorado

Is it fair to say that “Italian” food is right up there with “Latino” food as one of the most abused and maligned categories out there?

Mazzola’s is Definitely Not an abuser of its heritage! What a great spot!

Perfect old-school, downstairs location in the heart of Steamboat Springs, this restaurant has been in existence since 1970 (oldest joint in town) and feels like it’s been around longer than that in ALL the right ways! Like stepping back in time and waiting for either the Rat Pack or the Family Bosses to stroll through on the way to some secret, private back room.

The staff found room for our group of 7 on a busy night. Tom, our server, did a really fabulous job of giving us menu overview and explanation as needed. Both he and the other staff kept up with us, the rest of the room, and the group of 20 that showed up midway through our meal.

Now, let’s talk about the food. We ordered and the things that started showing up were delicious enough that we just kept ordering more… The squid/calamari is stellar (pretty unusual to have a good version of this), the mussels are delicious and the sauce is perfect for mopping up with the endless focaccia (which is served with an incredible hummus). Everything from the salad (with burrata and balsamic) to the Bolognaise to the Alfredo is great. Very traditional but excellent variations. The star of the entire experience is the Ravioli. Stuffed with a squash/pumpkin filling and floating in a very light and almost airy sauce, I added shrimp at Tom’s recommendation and was blown away by the whole thing.

The bottom line is that the Chef running this operation has taken a very traditional setting and menu and added some magical voodoo that creates a truly special experience!

I love to eat and to cook and I’ve eaten a lot of Italian, this is the best I’ve had. The location and the our server only added to that.

Not...

Desperately needs improvement. We were seated and waited 10 minutes before our waitress greeted us and took our drink order, another 10 minutes before our drinks arrived, for a 90 minute reservation that was actually only 70 minutes to have dinner and drinks.

We ordered a nice bottle of wine $100 roughly, but when the waitress placed water glasses to drink wine out of, we asked for wine glasses and were told these were Tuscan wine glasses (I’ve been to Tuscany and they use real stemware). So, I asked to see the wine menu again so I could quickly pick a less expensive wine (Cavalierr D'oro) to drink out of a water glass. She came over, tossed the wine menu at me and vanished. Another 10 minutes later, she returned to let us order wine, dinner was already delivered.

Since our drinks were empty, and she disappeared again before we could order a bottle, our friend ordered another round while she got the wine for us. Food came out quickly and was fantastic. We paid, still had a half of bottle of wine and full beverages in front of us and the manager came over and told us we had to leave because the next reservation was there.

After spending $80 per person, we were rudely kicked out without any acknowledgement that 2 of us were celebrating our birthdays. The birthday dinner had been confirmed twice over the phone, both times they could have informed us of their 90 minute policy, but didn’t. Also, the waitress should have informed us when we ordering all of the beverages that we would be kicked out before we could consume them.

Happy birthday to my...

Great visit - worth the visit! Excellent accommodations for food allergies and sensitivities.

We had a lovely family dinner for a group of 9. We made a reservation - they aren't required, but are recommended. We also called ahead to ask about managing an egg allergy and they made us feel very confident about their ability to manage it with the kitchen! I also saw they had gluten free pasta and pizzas on the menu.

Pros: Erin, our server, was fantastic. She took great care of us and communicated well re: food allergies, kept our drinks filled and made sure we were well taken care of. Food was delicious. The calamari, hummus and cheese bread appetizers were delicious. Our entrees were equally great (see pictures). *Atmosphere was casual and fun. Loved that we were seated in a half booth/half chair large table. One large family size salad was the perfect amount for 7 people. For the egg allergy, nearly all their pastas are egg-free and they were willing to cook it separately from the rest of the pastas to ensure no cross contamination. *My son LOVED the Meat Lovers Penne (minus the meatballs bc of egg in those). Note: he is also allergic to shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts and they ensured his meal was made safely.

Cons: They serve Pepsi instead of Coke products, but it was well carbonated and I forgot about it quickly because everything else was great! (ha!)

Thanks to the entire team, including manager, chef + kitchen staff and Erin for making our dinner a fun one...