DiFranco's — Restaurant in Denver

We had a very mixed experience here. The facility is very small and quite run down. It is in need of a fresh coat of paint and some maintenance. My fiance called it industrial. There's a small counter where you order, and the kitchen is directly behind. The place was busy at 6pm on Saturday night. The tables are very close together. If you're looking or a quiet place for a date night, this isn't it. A reservation is recommended at busy times.

I had a glass of the house red which was pretty good. Eggplant parm with spaghetti was some of the best I have ever had. The eggplant was delicious, full of fresh flavor, and perfectly seasoned. The trick with eggplant is to get the cook just right so it's neither tough nor mushy. There were 3 pieces, 2 covered with moz which were a perfect texture. The 3rd did not have moz and was a little over done. I prefer my spaghetti not quite so al dente. My guest thought my sauce was amazing. I thought it was good.

She had the Vodka Penne, which got a solid thumb's up. This is something she makes all the time at home, and she liked this better. The pasta again, was a bit underdone for her liking. I liked the ham added to the sauce, which had a nice little kick to it.

At about $55 with tax and tip, value was reasonable. Except - I had a terrible tummy ache within a couple of hours which ruined my evening. Something did not agree with me at all, hence the 3 stars. Based on food alone, it would be a 5, but the atmosphere and unpleasantness...

Genuinely blown away by all the great reviews, this was one of the worst meals I’ve had in a long time. With tip we paid about $55 for the pizza logs, a chicken parm sandwich, and spaghetti with chicken parm. Overlooking the fact that they weren’t packed and the service was insanely delayed (short staffed? too many online orders? who knows?), the food itself was so disappointing. The pizza logs were chewy in the worst way. It seems like they double wrap in wonton wrappers so while the outside one gets crispy, the inside wonton remains raw and chewy. Womp. Not a fan of the red sauce whatsoever. Personal preference sure but I’ve had jarred sauce much better, it was quite watery and tasted like gussied up cheap ketchup. The chicken parm brought out to accompany my spaghetti was 1) bland/unseasoned and 2) greasy vs crispy. Partner’s chicken parm sandwich was also a dud coming with very little sauce making it almost dry and, again, under seasoned chicken. He did enjoy the side salad, though. Considering the price we tried to just shovel down the food but we couldn’t even finish our meals and left with half the food still on the plates. Had anyone been around we would have requested a refund but it was tough enough to get a refill on water. After a long day of looking forward to this reservation, so...

This place was a gem under the previous owners. It had been about a year since I last visited and as soon as I walked in, it felt different. Despite only one table with patrons , almost all the other tables were dirty. There was a very loud vent fan (~70dB) running that made it uncomfortable to be around. We had asked for gluten-free pasta and we’re told that it takes 18 minutes to cook and they’re only open for another 30 minutes. We ordered vodka penne pasta with sausage, shells & sauce, a had a Pelegrino to drink - it was $55. The pasta was a little overcooked thoguh the sauces had good flavor. Sausage was small and clearly had been previously cooked and reheated. It was very tough to cut through and chew. The bread was terrible, slightly stale and looked like Wonder bread shaped in a baguette loaf. The staff was very friendly, though never checked on us after our food was delivered to the table. I get that it’s tough to run a restaurant these days, rent is probably expensive there, but the old restaurant seemed to work really well. They had family recipe lasagna that was delicious and some of the best meatballs I’ve tasted. I wouldn’t even have written a review and would’ve just chalked it up to another now mediocre restaurant if it wasn’t so expensive and...