Coperta — Restaurant in Denver

Good service, mixed food, and a serious problem! I usually don't write "bad" reviews. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. After 24 hrs, I’m still irritated so I guess that means I should share my experience. First the good: The service was good. Help with wine samples was appreciated. Then, my wife’s Carbonara was some of the best food she ever had. She is still talking about it. But the not-so-good more than balances this out. The prices are typical for downtown dining, but the $15 farm salad was more like a $7 side salad with a little better cheese added. Bread was an extra charge - $2 for three tiny pieces. Not the worst thing, but in an Italian restaurant bread should just come with the table. Anything else feels greedy. Now we get to my food: I am gluten sensitive so I ordered the Linguini with Clams, but with gluten free pasta. I was informed this is an up-charge, which is typical. Every restaurant in the word has settled on a $3 add for gluten free pasta. Fine, I expect it and don’t mind. Coperta added $10 to my order for gluten free penne which is lame because GF linguini is readily available. In a low dollar restaurant, a single GF option is acceptable, but not when you are billing yourself as fine dining. But wait, there’s more. The pasta was VERY undercooked. To the point where if you stabbed it with a fork it had a 50% of breaking half. Here’s where I would normally give the benefit of the doubt, but if you charge that much extra for GF, you certainly should at least know how to cook it. Lastly, even though all this could have been forgiven if the dish was amazing, it was the most blah dish I’ve had in years. Just nothing to redeem it other than that the clams were good despite the disappointing sauce (the clams did the work, not the cook). $44 for a small bowl of undercooked pasta in bland, boring sauce. But wait, there’s STILL more: this restaurant has adopted a policy I really like – that of setting a standard gratuity and paying the waitstaff a fair wage. I didn’t ask what our server was paid so I can’t comment on if they are holding up that end of the bargain, but the standard gratuity charged was 23%. Seems a bit steep, but then they suggested in the notice on the menu that an additional gratuity would be appreciated. I support the staff getting a decent living wage, but this felt a bit much after already nickel and diming to the point where I was feeling taken advantage of. Despite the fabulous Carbonara, I won’t be dining at Coperta’s again. I recommend Fire and Vine in Wheat Ridge as a MUCH better experience with...

Although the restaurant received a positive review, a few concerns arose during our dining experience. The table we were seated at was noticeably angled, attributed to the age of the building. While I appreciate historical charm, it is unsatisfactory to have customers sit at an uncomfortable angle, especially when paying over $150 for a meal for two. When we requested another table, the hostess informed us that none were available. It is expected that a customer's request for a table adjustment should be accommodated, particularly if a reservation has been made. Alternatively, the staff could have attempted to address the issue by rectifying the table's positioning.

Our waiter was polite, but not as attentive as one would expect from an "upscale Italian restaurant." The ambiance was pleasant in its small and intimate setting; however, for it to truly be considered upscale, the use of white tablecloths would be appropriate.

The highlight of the experience was the delicious food, which I had been eagerly anticipating. Unfortunately, the portion sizes were disappointingly small given the exorbitant prices. Paying $18 for a half portion of pasta only amounted to 2 to 3 ounces, hardly sufficient for a satisfying meal. While I understand the concept of a tasting menu, such minimal portions at such high prices are unreasonable.

The bread, priced at $7, was a good value and quite tasty. It's worth noting that many other high-end Italian restaurants include bread with the meal, but I understand the impact of inflation on pricing decisions. The wine selection was enjoyable, with a reasonable retail price of $27, though marked up to $59 at the restaurant. This pricing discrepancy was not unreasonable considering the usual markup in such establishments. The water served was clean, and the waiter attending to it was consistently kind and attentive.

Given the unsatisfactory portion sizes and pricing, we decided to forgo dessert as it did not seem justifiable. Furthermore, a 23% gratuity was already included in the bill. While I appreciate this approach, it became apparent why our waiter seemed less motivated to provide exceptional service.

Overall, the dining experience fell short of expectations for a high-end Italian restaurant. I would be willing to give it another chance, but significant improvements...

We were disappointed with our dinner and won't be returning. There are too many restaurants in Denver with excellent food at this price point.

On the plus side: the service was excellent and our server was great. The atmosphere and decor of the restaurant were lovely. We wanted to love it, but food makes a big difference to us, and while it wasn't terrible, it wasn't impressive in any way.

We've lived in Rome and traveled extensively in the Italian South and know and love the cuisine.

The negative: We tried the restaurant because of an article in the Denver Post on farmers markets. In that article it was clear that the chef was deeply committed to them, which we respect a great deal (and feel the same way). We expected that this would mean a strong seasonal farm to table feel to the menu. But that wasn't the case. There was a seasonal "farm snack" (that's what it was called) on the menu. That's great. But there was nothing else (beyond a delicious Japanese eggplant starter-it was the best thing we had-truly excellent) on the menu. In add'n to the eggplant starter we shared the panzanella salad--it was poorly prepared. Though tomatoes are in season, they were scant in the salad and tasted like supermarket tomatoes. The cucumbers were scant-strange bec they were also in season. The salad was principally not esp crispy romaine--it was kind of a sad looking bland and wilted. We each had a pasta primi and they were fine-nothing at all special esp for the price (lukewarm, and a very small portion). We were not asked if we wanted freshly grated cheese or pepperoncini as a garnish, as would normally be the case. We didn't order secondi-glad we didn't because of the cost/quality ratio of the food. We finished with canoli--shell tasted stale and the ricotta was quite heavy and overly sweet (not nicely whipped) and without any sort of garnish such as chopped pistachios.

We were fully apprised of the service charge and had no problem with it. I would have expected some small wow factor for the service charge, such as a tiny amuse or a piece of foccacia. We wish the food was far better, esp for the price, esp bec we liked the ambiance and want to support the chef based on what we...