Odyssey Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Denver

I’m very sad to be writing this review as we have enjoyed odyssey for the last 3 years. My fiancé and I have always come to this establishment and loved it beyond compare.

That is until last night…I’m not sure what’s happened whether it’s new ownership or they got cheaper in quality but it was honestly pathetic.

For starters we came in for Mother’s Day…I made a reservation for 3 at 7:30pm they told me it was in their system for 7pm Instead, I apologized as I may have accidentally booked it for then. (Fairly positive I didn’t) So they told us that we’d have to wait a minute for our table. We had our 4 month old with us as our 3rd , and we patiently waited…I had asked for a rose and a Mother’s Day card to be set at the table for my fiancé as the restaurant says they will honor some special requests when booking a reservation…I never heard from them to confirm nor did we get these things at the table. All small things that I didn’t care about until more had happened…so we were sat…with a sleeping baby…near a high traffic area and the kitchen doors that slammed and echoed the sound of dishes crashing into the sinks. Whatever, here to enjoy our night and not make a big deal of it all…so our waiter comes to the table, very nice gentleman and we get some drinks, I had a sour and my fiancé a moscato. Both fine. He brought us our bread, a single piece of bread…in the past it was two for each person…now I’m getting a little more irritated. Not to mention they went from glass water glasses to stainless steel cups for some reason which is very tacky. We put in an order for calamari. One of our favorites in our past visits…it was usually large thick strips of octopus cooked to perfection. This time it comes out disappointing as ever. SMALL, hacked, and poorly battered octopus tentacles like the canned squid rings you get at the store which may have been what we had. Now we’re eating it and a few times my fiancé and I bite into a hard shredded piece of what we thought was maybe an herb or some overcooked skin from the calamari. After the 4th time I take a piece out of my mouth only to find that it’s A PIECE OF PLASTIC FROM THE BAG THE OCTOPUS CAME IN. We sifted through the pieces we spit out earlier and yet again all cut up bag pieces of plastic. EVEN after this we say accidents happen during prep as we’ve worked in the industry before and moved on while still very dissatisfied with the bread and calamari which were usually exceptional.

Now onto the main course. My fiancé order the gnocchi in a pesto sauce and I was feeling the linguine with muscles and white sauce. A very nice and refreshing dish…usually. My fiancé has no issues with her gnocchi but noted that it was pretty bland and seasoned it heavily with salt and pepper at the table. I then get my dish…the muscles overcooked and flavorless. No white sauce poured over them before serving just steamed and dropped onto the plate…so I take them all out of the shells and onto the linguine. Upon tasting the sauce I’m shocked at how bland and how the sauce was not reduced nor cooked properly AT ALL. It was a warm butter, white wine and garlic dressing basically. AWFULLY bland. The sallops in the dish were grossly overcooked and also flavorless. Salt and pepper did not help this dish. The quality of this establishment has grossly diminished and I’m sad to say we won’t return again. They’ve now added strawberry tres leches to their desert menu…in an “authentic” Italian restaurant. And the waiter explained that the white sauce was a thick, rich, lemony, gravy with tons of flavors to another customer near us when mine was the exact opposite of all of those descriptors. Regardless this place has gone down hill and whatever they’re doing and have done was terrible. Just another restaurant becoming popular and changing completely for NO REASON. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it..well you...

This review is going to be a little good but a lot bad, anyone who has read my reviews knows that I am extremely fair yet critical on my food reviews. The food should have flare and zing, Something you would really want to eat!

Tonight I decided to try a different Italian place, the reviews were good so why not give it a try.

I arrived and was ready to eat a great meal, The meal began with some bread and olive oil with some olive oil and Balsamic vinaigrette with some herbs to dip it in.

Next, I ordered the risotto, rice balls in marinara., Those were exquisite! I decided to pair with a decent Montepulciano wine, which set off the meal great. I asked the waiter, which would he choose the bowtie Gorgonzola with the sun-dried tomatoes or the chicken piccata. He said the chicken piccata was excellent! So.. I decided to order the Chicken piccata, and my wife ordered the lobster ravioli and shrimp.

The chicken piccata was very bland and tasteless, The chicken had been marinated, and tasted slightly like lemon, but there was no discerning taste to it, I am not sure if the meal was supposed to include capers, but there were perhaps 3 in the dish, which is not a normal traditional way to make it. There were Artichoke hearts on it and mushrooms, which added some flavor. However, The sauce actually had no flavor at all from what I could tell somebody had pulled the pasta out of the water and put it in the bowl, threw an slice of lemon on it, bit it had absolutely no flavor and was watery! Picatta, Chicken Is easy: ..dredged Chicken, butter, lemon juice , chicken, broth, parsley, capers, White wine, parsley, light seasoning, lemons slices & Italian parsley for dressing it up.

Unfortunately, my waiter did not come by until almost my whole meal was over. By that time, I was just wanting to celebrate my night that we were there for. It was our 1 year anniversary and I decided not to blow it because of bad food and slow Service. I let my wife try my dish, she said there was absolutely no flavor to it, so apparently it wasn’t just me.

When one of the other waiters came by to help clear my table, I mentioned that there was absolutely no flavor to the sauce, look on his face was strange. I said maybe it’s just me. I’m just a freak chef. And I tried to laugh it off…

My wife’s lobster and ravioli was fairly exceptional. The flavors were over the top, although having said that there were only 2 shrimp on the whole plate for $28… interesting.

My waiter had really low energy, he could basically talk the way through the menu, but was basically not a very good waiter. I actually watched several times as he stood there with another waiter and they stood there and talked instead of waiting on tables. You’re probably thinking I’m being a jerk at this point. My Experience - I have waited tables in 4 star restaurants and I have also managed 2 restaurants, so I do know a fair amount about how Service and food should go, ah yes & Chef…

I was thinking probably I might give this place another chance until the desert came. I ordered a lemon cello cake and also the tiramisu. The lemon cello cake was decent, but nothing to write home about fairly bland somewhat dry. The tiramisu, whoever made it clearly was very incapable, the lady fingers were soaked, and actually kind of soggy, Very little coffee, flavor, and absolutely no liqueur or liquor flavor, bland soft and tasteless…. Still wondering about the mascarpone cheese…something was so off. This was probably the worst I have had in years.

I am an avid chef, this food was subpar and by the time the night was over, I think I was $150 out of pocket. If it had not been my anniversary, I would’ve stayed home and cooked my own, it would’ve been so much better!

Do better, reviews are what a restaurant live by…

I would Not recommend...

3.5 Stars

Not impressed describes our two dinners here.

I’ve wanted to imbibe and nosh here for two years. After finally doing so, I’d say that The Odyssey has its place somewhere: cocktails on the patio, dinner for two, carb loading. Great atmosphere, stellar aesthetic, and a little bit of old fashioned east coast urban charm… but not as a dinner out for top Italian food. The cuisine is pretty standard Italian American fare, with no surprises or specialties, menu is very Underwhelming as are the flavors and craveability.

This place is “ask” and you shall receive so don’t expect up front service or set expectations too high about service - you want more bread, ask. These are not the days of back waiters, however food runners and supporting wait staff were on point more often than not, so remember to stay attentive as a guest or just expect a two hour meal.

Or first visit the staff is attentive and friendly at the door, if not a little confused - it’s early on a Friday and servers are waiting to start the night. We sat down fast and the ambiance was excellent. Our server Mario was okay. He is the definition of old school and his charm is just that and not much more. Cuts a lot of corners but somehow it’s fine.

The calamari was horrible, please never order this dish. Some of the worst I’ve ever had and makes me wonder about the freshness of dishes at this establishment - especially seafood. The salads across the board were excellent and the dressing on the ceaser and house were both excellent. Bread service is weird and off putting - if you give 3 pieces for four people and a plate of herbs and oil splayed out with zero integrity. Second visit I’m wondering if our early arrivals and their minority status effected the initial service by ancient Mario - who served us on both occasions. It certainly affected the table they were given before we arrived (clearly our Mexican guests were treated poorly upon arrival).

Entrees suffered from nothing really. The portions are American exceptional in size and the dishes are prepared flawlessly minus a one: the Braciale was old and dull and stiff and I think the ends had spoiled, tasted that way. The middle was more tender but still dry. The rolled insides were stale and unattached to the protein. I grew up with a Sicilian gramma that made this dish often - Odyssey wasn’t even close. The pasta across the board on every dish was plump and tasty and I’d say that was a winning agreement around the table.

The bolognese, the shank and the Parmesan all scored high marks along with all the pastas. At the end of a long meal the dessert (not presented properly on either occasion) was beyond delicious: limoncello cake and tiramisu.

All in all I guess the place isn’t that special if you've experienced it so many times before at several likable but forgettable establishments. I don’t think any of my guests were impressed and I certainly was not either, and most definitely not the second time. I’m surprised the ratings are so high for this restaurant when there are a dozen better or equal Italian places within 15 minutes. Carmine’s crushes this place.

Days later I revisit this review and have to say upon reflection it is truly a good time and a good bite but it’s not reflected in the price, $50 a head. For that I should be mildly wowed. $200 is a week of groceries for 3 people, a dinner for four better make up a special experience for those prices and staff should leave their...