Angelo’s Taverna — Restaurant in Denver

I have no excuse or explanation for why I have never been to Angelo's before, despite having lived five minutes away for 30 years--but I am kicking myself about my poor decision making.

My friend and I finally gave Angelo's a try for their amazing happy hour and were thoroughly satisfied. We sat in a comfortable booth near the bar and enjoyed the heavenly atmosphere. The stained glass windows made me feel like we were at the church of pasta.

The staff was great; very helpful and quite efficient. All of the food came out very quickly and was piping hot. The first available staffer appeared to bring out each item, so nothing sat waiting for our server to have time to find it.

Angelo's has gone through a number of changes over the years, but these days it's Angelo's Taverna and it's owned by the Carboy Winery group. They run a tight ship. Angelo's does not take reservations, but you can call several days in advance to put your name on the waiting list. You go to the top of the list as soon as you check in.

I had a very generous glass of syrah from the Carboy section of the wine list. My friend had a Manhattan (served with a trendy, single, large ice cube) and said it was first-rate.

We started with oysters, a combination of the raw house oyster of the day and the "original" chargrilled oysters. The raw oysters were fresh and delicious, but the chargrilled oysters were amazing. They were the largest oysters we had even seen. The garlic butter sauce with herbs, spices, and pecorino cheese was perfect and the oysters were exceptionally tender and flavorful. Wow, what a great start!

We then tried the crab cake sliders which were much larger than I anticipated, full of crab, on a nice bun, and with arugula and a tasty remoulade. The toasted ravioli were next, perfectly prepared, and with a really excellent marinara. We finished with Caesar salads--perfectly chilled and with a delightful, fresh dressing.

Angelo's is the perfect neighborhood bar: welcoming, comfortable, a great selection of well-prepared drinks, and a good selection of delicious food. I won't make the mistake of being a...

Disappointing...not worth the price. Stopped by for a to-go order to take dinner to a friend's house. We ordered the lasagna, the steak with Gorgonzola fettuccine, the gnocchi with lobster, the lamb pops, the meatballs, and a family sized deluxe salad. Firstly, I asked the server how many pieces of bread came with the entrees and she said two with each entree we had three entrees so that should be six pieces of bread. I figured that would be plenty, when we got the order there were only three pieces of bread and I'm talking about tiny slivers of bread. When I asked they said they had a change in policy and there would only be one piece of bread per entree. The gal that packed the food was nice enough to add a couple of more pieces since I told her there were four of us. It wouldn't have really mattered because we had to throw them out. The bread was hard as a bullet, it must have been sitting wrapped up on the heater for hours. The lobster gnocchi was actually very good, probably the best thing we had. The meatballs were great, I would order those again. The lamb chops were extremely disappointing as they were overcooked and had no balsamic glaze at all. The steak with Gorgonzola fettuccine was okay, the steak was slightly overcooked and the fettuccine was really fat. The lasagna was all right, not good. Not bad. Nothing to write home about. The family size salad was massive, it would have fed 10 people as a side. Maybe if you were serving it as a meal it would have been appropriate for four people. However, they screwed the whole salad up by having nothing on but rocket lettuce. Rocket lettuce is bitter and has a soft texture and does not stand up to all of the toppings... Meat, cheese, olives, pepperoncinis, big heavy toppings on this salad should have had a heavier lettuce like romaine mixed with the rocket. All in all with the price of what they charge, I wouldn't recommend this place. Should I ever find myself here again for some strange reason, I would just order...

The short version: Great food and service that made me look forward to returning.

The long version: I have been looking for a good Italian restaurant for some time, but have been generally disappointed in the places I have tried. So when my wife suggested this place I tried not to get my hopes up.

From the outside it doesn't stand out, the parking is cramped, and it's easy to miss, but those kind of things are low on my rating criteria.

The interior decor has an old world feel, nothing fancy. Like some place the locals might go. I have never been to Italy, so I can't speak to authenticity, but I got the vibe they were going for. We decided to eat out back to save on the wait. The staff was friendly and helpful. We didn't feel rushed and they came by multiple times to check on us.

Now for the food: Overall, everything was great. Good size portions. Brought out in a good order with good timing. We enjoyed dipping our bread sticks in every dish.

Burrata - Amazing. Couldn't get enough. I could eat it every day. Best balsamic vinegar I have ever tried.

Oysters - Great. We tried the chipotle and original. Both were full of flavor. We like the original most.

Mussels: Really good. We tried it with the white wine sauce. Nice depth of flavor without being overwhelmed by the wine.

Lobster gnocchi - Great. We really enjoyed this. The sauce was really good with the included bread sticks, the gnocchi were very enjoyable, although not quite as fluffy as they could be.

Tiramisu - Great. We really enjoyed the dessert. Not overly sweet like most desserts in America.

Final wrap up: I was very happy with the experience. The food was all excellent and I look forward to returning soon. I am glad to add this great Italian American restaurant to my list...