PARISI pizzeria, trattoria e vino — Restaurant in Denver

I happened to stop off at Parisi's last year and ordered a delicious platter of chicken parmigiana and a side of spaghetti. It was marvelous. So you can imagine my dismay when I recently went back about 2 weeks ago to find that the restaurant had been completely gutted and the retail market turned into a few shelves lining the wall. Big mistake!

I rolled my eyes but said to myself, "I'm sure the food is still excellent!" Indeed, I was very wrong. You still walk up to the counter to order, a la Noodles & Company, then you are pointed to a table where they have placed a number so the waitstaff can find you.

Once seated, we were served some dried bread and nothing else. There was no oil and vinegar, no butter. Just a plate of dried bread. My partner and I gnawed on that for several minutes as we waited and waited for our drink order. If they are going to continue this ridiculous stand-in-line order bit, allow people to get their own drinks.

Finally, we flagged down a male manager who I believe is Simone's husband. We asked why put down this dried bread without any accompaniment when we still haven't received our drinks? We were told in a very sarcastic tone, "Well, I can remove the bread for you and then bring your drinks first if you prefer!"

Really? This is how you respond to a customer. Well the night only got better. My partner and I both ordered Pollo Alla Parmigiana (Chicken Parm). I was so hoping to receive a platter of delicious sauteed chicken with mozzarella and sauce. Oh, no no no no, that's not what I received. What came to the table was a breaded Cornish hen breast with the tiny little leg still attached. Mine was burned on one side with very little sauce, some potatoes and spinach. The presentation (minus the charred parts) was fabulous.

We both dug in. My partners chicken tasted rancid. Mine was just okay. There was nothing great about it, nothing close to memorable and nothing comparing to the chicken I had just a year before. I was pretty disappointed.

We returned my partner's meal and we were not even offered a credit for a foul tasting piece of chicken. They simply adjusted the ticket to replace out the pollo alla parmigiana with lasagna. By this time, my partner was clearly disgusted and ate his lasagna which was a tiny piece of two layered pasta swimming in sauce. He likened the taste to Chef Boyardee. My partner and I are both Italian descent...when you liken a meal to Chef Boyardee, you are basically saying it's garbage.

We will never return to Parisi's regardless of how many times they change their decor or mix up their menu. It's nothing more than a higher priced version of Noodles & Company but with more attitude and less quality! In a city filled with Italian restaurants, do NOT waste your time here--just go buy yourself a few cans of Chef Boyardee and you'll be set!

Oh and in addition, I ordered a slice of Italian cheesecake to go expecting it to be like my Momma's. Wow was I wrong! The cheese was dry and the crust tasted like crackers. A nice Italian cheesecake crust should be firm but not crunchy like I'm eating a mouthful of saltines. It was disgusting! And whoever says this place is like restaurants in NY is out...

Food is great, and you can tell the ingredients are top notch. You definitely should grab lunch or dinner here if in area. I only leave it as 3 stars because during our last experience, we got bad table service and ended up talking to the owner, who was extremely aloof and rude considering he was talking to paying customers. Other than that, the food and drinks are spot on and excellent.

I change my review to 5 stars. My wife and I quit our ban of this place, as the food is just TOO good. Hope to have many happy experiences moving forward, and every ingredient on anything tastes like there is a garden on the roof (maybe there is, I don't know). Anyway, fantastic food.

Just adding a pic and commentary from my last visit.

This gets a five even though I am not a fan of the counter ordering before sitting down. I like to peruse a little more, but that is just me. If having some cocktails, although the bar is small, it is comfy and we like to sit there if possible. But that is neither here nor there, as let's get to the greatness. Once you sit down, you get fantastic sit down service. The bread is amazing. My wife and I are both big fans of their carbonara. You can't go wrong with that. The New Yorkese is a SOLID sandwich, and you probably can get a second meal out of it. I haven't officially even gotten to the pizza yet, but hear it is awesome. Now, for the latest thing I had. I had the Penne Gorgonzola and it was SO good. I am pretty sure it is fat free. Picture below. Now, I might not get to the pizza for a longer time since I probably will just order that penne again. Also, the salads are tasty and very fresh tasting. Oh, and they have a dangerous counter near the exit with all sorts of sweets and gelato. Anyway, I definitely recommend, and see you there. MOST RECENT VISIT: First of all, I hope you get Federica as your bartender. She is amazingly efficient and full of personality. Natasha was phasing out, but she was great also. Second of all, while you are going through all of the pasta options, order the cantaloupe and proscuitto to chill out for a bit. Perfect combination of sweet and salty. Third of all, enjoy the badass bread that comes along with any meal. Should I talk about the entrees now? Yes? Cool. If this is your first time there, don't ask questions. Just get the carbonara. Best in town. Next, probably just get the carbonara again. Trust me. Wife and I split it all the time. Ok. On your third time? Here is what you do. Flip coins between the gnocchi pesto, gnocchi gorgonzola, the lasagna, and the...shoot. I haven't had everything, but everything is good. The New Yorkese sandwich is amazing. I love pizza, and I haven't even had their pizza because I haven't gotten past the pasta. I assume it is amazing. Plus, I love cleverness. They are the first place who put this together on their sign. NOPEN. If closed, it is NOPE. If open, it is OPEN. Brilliant. Definitely recommend and see you there...if there...

Very disappointed with the food. It's not bad, but with everyone suggesting this and on the top 10 lists for the best Italian food in Denver it's very disappointing. The sauces taste like they're from a can with added meat. Honestly I think Olive garden may be better and most of there stuff is frozen and reheated.

Edit: I've changed my rating to a 1 star due to the fact that the owner thinks it's okay to insult her paying customers. Make it known that I didn't say her food was bad, but not to my liking or expectation. I came to this restaurant expecting more but now especially I'm now going into more detail about this mediocre food and not great service. The audacity of an owner to insult a paying customer is baffling and shows that they can't take any criticism that doesn't align with their own. First all the food appetizers and entrees all came out at the same time within 3 minutes of ordering and sitting down. Red flag number one, quality food is expected to take longer than this to be prepared and served. Which means it's most likely not fresh and pre-made. For appetizers we got carciofo all griglia and the panzerotti. The artichoke yes looked and tasted grilled. It was very dry and wasn't seasoned with anything. The aioli wasn't spicy in the slightest. It was served in a half carved out lemon and tasted like mayo with unknown flavor. The toast was toast. The panzerotti was nothing to write home about either. The breading was like a gourmet pizza roll or hot pocket bread and thicker than expected. Filled with minimum amounts of cheese and what looked and tasted like rolled up deli ham. Served with I guess what they call marinara. The entrees were spaghetti creamy pesto and gnocchi saliciccia (sausage gnocchi). The spaghetti noodles were decent but the pesto was more olive oil with very little basil and other normal pesto flavoring. Just very oily. The gnocchi itself was very good but it's not hard to make gnocchi. The sauce was flavorless tomato sauce with sausage in it. It tasted like someone poured Ragu sauce in a pan and let the sausage sit in it for a while. I don't remember seeing a single spec of seasoning in it. Saying your restaurant is great because it's been around for 27 years means nothing. Also looking at other reviews you share the same disrespect of all your customers you disagree with. I'm sure you're going to reply with some snarky comment about much better you think you are and how wrong you think I am but the people will let you know. All you have to do to negatives reviews is apologize for an unsatisfactory experience and either offer something in return or hope I would give you a second chance. You're definitely the one entitled to think insulting customers is acceptable. Good...