Viale Pizza & Kitchen — Restaurant in Denver

Found this place in the Denver Passbook. After checking out the menu online, I was skeptical but my girlfriend was really in the mood for Italian and something relatively close to her DTC apartment, so I conceded and we decided to give it a shot. Suffice to say, we agreed that I'll be choosing our next restaurant.

Service was slow right out of the gate, with a longer than expected wait for a table for two. I gave them a pass on this since it was Friday night and there seemed to be some kind of office gathering slowing things down. After the wait, which would have been longer had my girlfriend not politely asked how much longer it would take, we were shunted off to a cramped, one seat, one booth/bench table near the noise and commotion of the kitchen. I hate tables near the kitchen, but again will try to ignore it for this review given that it was a busy Friday night service. Our waiter was excellent and extremely polite, though I can't remember his name to give him proper credit, and was really the only thing stopping me from attempting to give this a 0 star review. While deciding on our entrees, my girlfriend came up with a question. She wanted the Bolognese but wanted to swap out the peperdelle pasta that typically comes with it for a different pasta and asked which other pasta the waiter might recommend. Being extremely candid and kind with his answer, our waiter suggested she stick with the peperdelle pasta, as it's the only one they make in house. This SHOCKED me. How can you possibly try to be an Italian kitchen and only make one of many pasta choices in house? Despite my concern, I went ahead with the Bison ravioli. Our food came up and was served in about 5 minutes. This also concerned me. Good Italian takes longer to make than that.

When the food arrived, we immediately dug in. My girlfriend tried her Bolognese and said it was good. However, the Bison ravioli was a huge disappointment. The bison inside didn't appear to be seasoned at all, and you could absolutely tell the ravioli wasn't made in house. The sauce also lacked flavor. I don't say this to be overly nasty or rude, but I think I've had better pasta from the frozen foods section at King Soopers. Our ever pleasant server checked to see how things were, and I declined to comment in attempt to be polite while my girlfriend said everything was good.

Had we not been dining with the Denver Passbook, I would have been angry rather than just extremely disappointed. I'm sorry, but that food quality is quite simply not worth the $40 price tag the meal would have carried at full price. Needless to say, I will not be returning. My girlfriend, meanwhile, says she's willing to give it another try with her friends for happy hour or something. While I certainly seem to be in the minority (given the plethora of great reviews here and elsewhere), I just frankly don't feel this place measures up. Best of luck to the business, but...

A local Italian bistro hiding in a shopping center off Colorado Blvd. From the outside the look is that of a really nice bistro.. An outside/inside feel with floor to ceiling windows and outdoor seating right out the front door. Once inside youre greeted right away with a view of an open kitchen and full bar. Modern concrete floors, wood and metal tables. Candlelight glowing a top each table, white napkin wrapped silverware and wine glasses decorate the room around. 50 seats max, at 530pm on a Monday night this place is already getting busier by the minute and halfway full. This little Italian bistro makes everything from scratch and their serving size is plentiful!

We started with cocktails. I had a Peach&Pineapple Sangria ($8) and Matt had a drink called Devil's Advocate ($10) made with Mezcal and Fruit juices dressed with tajin it was very smokey tasting and paired well with the tajin rim.

Entreès I ordered the Lobster Ravioli ($22)- Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli, san marzano vodka sauce, blistered cherry tomatoes, grana padano and fresh basil. I will say my Ravioli was delicious and had a soft center but the edges were a little harder than al dente, and could've been more. But the vodka sauce was delightful!

Matt got the Braised Beef Short Ribs ($32)- covered in pesto atop a bed of Gnocchi and asparagus. The short ribs were fall apart tender and just melted in your mouth. The Gnocchi was a little to firm again and was a more dumpling consistency than a pillow-y soft pocket. The dish itself would be better with a demi glaze on the ribs rather than a Ju as it didn't give a great blanket of flavor on the Gnocchi it covered. Would've liked the beef to have a bit more flavor. My husband still raved about it though saying it was delicious!

Side of Garlic Bread with Marinara ($6 ), the bread was more an after thought and reminded me of the freezer kind you buy, great to soak up your juices but not needed.

All in all we were pleased with the Restaurant and Food and will return to try several more items on their menu! Definitely $$-$$$ money signs in price but I would...

9/9/19 Viale Pizza Kitchen

These are my first impressions upon walking into this quaint ristorante I could smell the pungent aroma of the cuisine. The bar and view of the line cooking away led me to believe it would be more of a relaxed restaurant. The dining area, on the other and, was well decorated with lit candles on every table giving it a wonderful ambiance. I asked our waitress, Jordan, for a wine suggestion and she did not disappoint when she served me the Valle d’Oro, sweet and savory and paired well with my meal. My guest and I ordered the Mussels Classico as our appetizer. I’m regularly wary of mussels however the waitress spoke highly of them. The mussels were served in a large oblong shaped bowl in a savory lobster broth and perfectly portioned. The appetizer was just the beginning of our wonderful meal. For his entrée he ordered the Bison ravioli. We were both intrigued that such a gamey meat was on the menu and were curious as to how the preparation and flavor would be. The raviolis were gamey in flavor however it was complimented well by the seasoning the sauce had to offer. I ordered the Chicken Piccata. The linguine noodles were cooked to perfection with a white wine garlic sauce topped with capers, parsley and grilled lemon. The capers added a salty flavor to the savory sauce. The chicken was cooked to perfection. The portions were well plated, in fact we had to take our leftovers home. I was both surprised and impressed when the waitress, Jordan, asked if she could box our food for us. She delivered the boxes to us in a lovely to go bag. I would definitely recommend this restaurant. I rate this establishment...