North Italia — Restaurant in Denver

I had high expectations because I love Flower Child and True Foods, same owner. We arrived on a weekend for their brunch- lunch menu. They have a covered outdoor front patio area in front, but we opted to be inside. North Italia is a beautiful restaurant,inviting one in.

We were seated in the far corner, which I liked because it gave us a good view of the entire restaurant. However, it took a long time for a server to come to our table. I think the front hostess folks need to have better communication with the wait staff.

Khalid, our server was attentive, informative and gracious. I ordered an ice tea and later my friend and I decided on a glass of prosecco or two!

Food: we shared the Arancini,: crispy mushroom risotto stuffed with scamorza cheese, which look like meatballs, but these are made with risotto, deep fried and presented in a hot iron skillet with a very tasty red sauce. Then we shared the deep fried calamari, crispy fried over arugula in a lemon vinaigrette. This was perfectly cooked and paired. The greens and calamari were so delicious! It could be a nice simple salad, but we ate this as one of our starters. However, my friend thought the calamari was over fried. I thought the calamari was perfect!

Next, the main courses. I ordered the Short Rib Hash. The meat was so tender and flavorful. The Hash was crispy and a bit spicy with the red pepper flakes. If you do not like hot spices, then beware. I loved it. The two fried eggs were perfectly fried over easy with grilled toast with sprinkled parmasan cheese. My friend ordered the fungi pizza. It looked delicious and she told me it was really yummy. She took the rest home and her daughter ate it later and said it was yummy too.

We finished our meal with another glass of prosecco and shared the strawberry tart! This was such a beautiful presentation, we had to photograph it!

Overall, Khalid was an excellent server!

I told my friends to come here and they also had a great time, but they also encountered a lag time between when they were seated and when someone came over to serve them. Their server was Nikki and once Nikki apologized, and the manager came over to their table, the service was great. My friends loved Nikki and...

Super let down this time around at North Italia. Made reservations for my birthday dinner and put in a special request to please put a candle or a happy birthday on my dessert. I’m a pastry chef and desserts are my favorite part!

Once arrived, we were seated but when the rest of my party arrived, the hosts up front told them to “just look around” for our table. How discourteous for a nicer restaurant.

My server never acknowledged that it was my birthday but was very kind nonetheless. I was under the impression that she actually was completely unaware of the occasion and I never blamed her for any of it.

At the end, I was told they were out of two of the desserts that I wanted but I had no problem picking something else out. The cake however was cold and of course, my special request was never acknowledged. I chalked it up to maybe they just don’t do things like that for birthdays and to just go on with the night.

Unfortunately as we stood up to leave, I saw a server carrying out a dessert with a candle to the table next to mine, who was also celebrating a birthday.

In the end, it seems silly to be upset over a dessert but I think the real issue here is the fact that the hosts were lazy and why have a special request section listed when you’re not even willing to accommodate the most simple of requests.

UPDATE**

Good to see that you guys didn’t even read this review and just wrote some sad response. Cheesecake? That’s not even on your menu. It was the butter cake I ordered but that’s beside the point. Please tell you if I have a problem with my table arrangements? I said your hosts told my party to just wander around and look for the table because they didn’t want to take 3 seconds to look at where they...

We had the most delicious meal here recently, and we honestly left no crumb behind! It was so good we had Uber Eats deliver the next night when we had to stay in...First and foremost, the reason we had the best time there was our waiter Tyler! He was so friendly and warm, and checked on us outside to make sure we were all set whenever we needed anything. His suggestions were perfect- I got some summer drink (forgot the name! I want to say it had passionfruit?) special that was AMAZING- and his food suggestions were spot on! We also got the heirloom tomato app which was so summer refreshing....Tyler guided my friend and me towards the Strozzapretti when I was waffling between that and a classic chicken parm, and all I can say is, I got it two nights in a row :) It was fantastic! I didn't miss out on the parm, as my friend got it and shared, and it was classic Italian perfection...I forgot what our other friend got because I was in a food coma, but I know she loved it! We also shared the classic caesar which was crisp, light and perfect summer compliment! The dessert was also insane- it was a summer special cake with coconut, and I did not want to share. We also got the classic tiramisu, which was exactly how it should be!! We had a wonderful time, and again, Tyler was an absolute pro! The only hesitation I am leaving towards the end is an outdoor patio issue ONLY- the inside was beautiful and well decorated- I know outside can come with it's ups and downs- and it was a mixed bag -not the fault of the restaurant- but understand that just in case...everything...