Papa's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Florence

We stopped in on a whim while trying to decide between a few other spots for dinner while visiting desert reef hot springs for the night and wow are we glad we did.

We were warmly greeted by the warm overtures of Doc and Kit, a pair of veteran troubadours sweetly serenading the dinner crowd, and immediately we felt as if we had entered an enchanted atmosphere which maintained throughout our stay.

Then came the food.

Antipasto salad: 10/10 stars for freshness, balance of ingredients, and deliciousness of the meats, cheeses, and vegetables added.

Wings: 11/10 stars. These were the largest, juiciest, best Buffalo flavored wings I’ve had in a long time and I eat them all over Denver with regularity. I’m going to make the 2 hour drive again one day soon just for these wings.

10” Margherita Pizza: 10/10 stars. This pizza’s crust was sublime, the sauce perfection, the chunks of juicy Roma tomatoes mouth-watering. But the highlights for us were the cheese, a spine-tingly copious amount of perfect 4-cheese blend and the basil, which was the freshest and tastiest I’ve ever had on any slice of pizza (Which of all things mentioned is saying something coming from an East Coast Italian American)

Then came the shock. When we received the bill, we could not believe how fairly priced everything was including our glasses of wine and considering the portion sizes and quality of our meal.

The service throughout was attentive, caring, and prompt from our server. She made us feel so welcome and warm and got us everything we needed and more.

Our already perfect stop was made even better in closing by a friendly check in from Tom, the owner and Papa himself, who gave us his sincere welcome and thanks, told us a bit of his story, and shared his genuine passion for how much this and his sister restaurant in Springs means to he and his family, and now to us as well.

As we left, true words spoken between my partner and I were, “Do we need to move to Florence to be close to this...

I hardly write reviews but felt the need to after our experience here. We just recently moved to town about 5 months ago and finally decided to give this place a try based on the online reviews and recommendations made to us by locals. As of right now, I'm not sure how this place is so highly reviewed by people. We ordered 1 large Pepperoni, 1 carnivore calzone, and 1 order of garlic knots totaling a little over $35. The garlic knots were not as described in the menu....there was no white sauce topped with roasted garlic and parmesan cheese. In its place we got 5-6 burnt (like literally black over 75% of each knot) knots that were extremely dry and a few pieces of roasted garlic that were just thrown into the box with the knots. We didn't even finish the last 4 because nobody in my family wanted them. We also ordered the $12 carnivore calzone. Their idea of a calzone is one that is slightly larger than that of a pizza pocket...for $12... We are not new to calzones and by our past experiences at different places this place was a total letdown. There were barely any toppings inside the calzone and the sauce was so watery that by time we got home with the food (5-7 min drive from restaurant) the entire bottom was soggy and mushy. It was maybe a $5-6 calzone at best. Not worth the money at all. However, the pepperoni pizza was actually really good but it needed more toppings. I felt we should have just ordered a cheese and saved our money. It was a 16" pie and my wife counted 15 Pepperoni's spread out on it. So I mean it was mainly a cheese pizza anyways. Anyways, long story short, we cannot recommend this place at this time. Save your money and shop local somewhere...

In all my years of dinning out and trying new places, this is the first time I’ve felt compelled to write a review. I am 100% about supporting local businesses, and helping the little guy in today’s market. Today’s experience was in my opinion below sub par….. with us being the only family dinning in, the service was slow and unwelcoming. We sat ourselves while watching the waitress talk on the phone with no welcoming gesture, or acknowledgement we were there. 3 out of 4 of us ordered a meatball dish only to be told 10-12 minutes after our order was placed that there was only enough meatballs for 1 of the dishes. I opted for another dish and my daughter opted to have her pasta without a meatball(kids meal). 3 of the 4 dishes arrived 10 minutes prior to the kids meal pasta dish being served which was odd because it was obviously microwaved noodles that lacked any sauce or flavor. The calzone was soggy and cold in the center….. the fettuccine Alfredo was so heavily seasoned with what tasted like an off the shelf pesto sauce it was inedible. We battled what appeared to be fruit flys and household flys our entire time at the table as well. When asked at check out how our meals where, I stated not good. The server stated “oh, your total is $100+” without inquiring as to why our experience wasn’t good. If you are in the mood for Italian food in Florence, I’d recommend driving up the road and getting a frozen meal from DG or Big D grocery and saving yourself $100. It will be a much...