Cafe Jordano — Restaurant in Lakewood

This establishment is so incredibly disappointing in every single way. We have eaten here several times and are severely disappointed each time.

Where to begin?

The food is bland/flavorless along with being lukewarm at best when it arrives. But wait, there’s more!

The “service” or lack thereof is the most unpleasant facet. We usually attend on weekend evenings and the wait is often upwards of 30-45 minutes which would not be a problem if not for the multitude of additional issues. A dinner of this caliber should not take upward of an hour and 45 minutes, which is the norm here.

Our most recent visit was the most upsetting. After waiting outside for around 45 minutes, because there is an extremely limited waiting area inside, we were finally seated. We were placed at a terrible booth in a dark corner, surrounded by walls near the bathroom.

We sat for nearly 45 minutes with absolutely no contact or acknowledgement of our newly seated presence whatsoever. Eventually, a busgirl swung by our table and quite literally flung a bread basket across the table while she was still walking by. They do not acknowledge you in any way. Finally our server arrived at our table wreaking of cigarette smoke and extremely flustered. She first complained that she was overworked and had far too many tables, then quickly detailed the specials and demanded we give her our entire order right away. There is no offering of drinks and/or appetizers and guests are made to feel as if they are truly bothering the waitstaff. If you want to receive anything, be prepared to give your entire order immediately and god forbid you might need an extra napkin, a water refill or a cheese shaker which actually works - there will not be a person in sight to get it for you.

The server did not visit our table again until 20 minutes after our entree plates were removed. She remembered she still hadn’t delivered our ticket at which point it took another 10 minutes to actually receive the tab and close out.

The owner is always posted up at the front, barking orders to her staff as well as guests attempting to place their name on the waitlist. If you are not one of the few people who personally knows the owner and receives a hug from her upon arrival and departure you can forget about any semblance of good service, or hell, any acknowledgment or gratitude for your patronism whatsoever. She is brash, rude, unwelcoming and indifferent to the customers who keep her business afloat. However, she happily sits at empty tables visiting with her boyfriend while people wait outside to be seated and while her staff bounce around in a chaotic flurry. It appears she wouldn’t lift a finger to help or make for a smoother dinner service.

Though I’m no expert in the area of food service, it is obvious that this place is inefficient. I truly believe that a large majority of patrons at Cafe Jordano go there out of default and simply because of its convenient location and the fact that it is the only locally-owned Italian restaurant in the area. That is definitely our excuse for returning again even though we should know better by now.

There is no apology or consciousness on behalf of the owner or waitstaff of their consistent, extremely poor service and routine mishaps, even when customers are obviously frustrated and disappointed.

This eatery has so much potential, and it does have a decent atmosphere for being located in a strip mall, but it is a true waste. The staff makes customers feel as if they are doing them a real kindness to visit their table and poorly serve a table. Do yourself a favor and take a bit of extra time and miles to find...

Totally unique and expertly prepared delicious one of a kind Italian restaurants in the city. I almost hesitate to use the word Italian because this Italian is a different Italian than the standard American idea. (BTW I am half Italian and grew up with an Italian family and food that is more traditional to our country but represents a small part of Italy) I had to look up the bad review because I can’t believe I got less than five stars. They said it was the worst Italian food ever but that’s like going into a Mexican restaurant expecting Greek food. There are many regions of dialects and types of foods in Italy and if you’re going in there to find the more traditional Italian food go anywhere else. If you want something completely unique and some of the things that are not found anywhere else in Denver that are highly addictive this is the place to go. The owner is from Italy and has created her own menu that has items on it like the buffalo, ever had buffalo Italian anywhere ever? You can’t get this anywhere else that’s why I go there is just for this dish because it’s so unique and creates a craving so beware. If you have a problem with this place talk to her (The owner from Italy) directly instead of taking the cowards-invisible-click-and-point-way out of bashing on a local business that is actually beyond your scope of recognition -because she will take care of you. She is all about customer service despite having a product you can’t get anywhere else. Don’t go here with any assumptions about what you think Italian food is this is very unique delicious and the owner like I said is from Italy and she is all about service! I bet she would rather give you a refund and direct you to Maggiano’s which you are really expecting, rather than take your uneducated close minded view of what Italian food is. These reviews are a sham because the people don’t have the guts to have communication with the owner who is almost always on hand (try finding that at Maggiano’s which I also love by the way). Can we just help each other out with constructive criticism rather than condemning someone with a permanent scar of a one star? FYI I have been in the restaurant business for 30 years and one thing I have noticed is that if the location has a dish you can’t find it anywhere else that’s really good, it’s part of their winning formula. But you just can’t compare this place to anywhere else because there is nothing like it. I hope some day they have a nice building that is unique as the menu and her creator. Your ignorance...

I came here 4 years ago and the food was impeccable. Everything was made from scratch and you could taste it. When I first entered the restaurant I wasn't greeted with the normal welcome from the owner. Nor even a welcome from a hostess. I almost thought for a second is it a seat yourself place now? As I pondered what to do for a while I watched as the waiters and waitresses fumbled with their POS.

Finally the owner showed and pointed us to a table we could sit at and said "enjoy your dinner" They expanded the dining room to accommodate more customers since I came last, and I'm not sure if being too big made the quality suffer. They were busy with many customers.

I ordered two dishes one was gnocchi with red sauce and cheese and linguine with clams and shrimp. This came with either salad or soup. I ordered both. The waiter proceeded to bring us bread which could be used with olive oil and balsamic. The bread which was free was alright it was cold and lacked flavor, but at least it could be masked by the oil and balsamic.

The salad and soup came fairly quickly. The salad was fresh but wasn't dried properly so it was more of a soupy salad. The soup was their special, a zuchinni and sausage mixture. It might have tasted good but it was cold so we didn't eat very much of it.

After a short time further the main courses came. The gnocchi was mushy and the red sauce tasted like it was canned sauce which was very watery without seasoning . The linguine though it looked fantastic at first glance was drinched in a pool of oil. The shrimp was tough and the clams were mediocre.

I called the waiter and asked him is this usually how they make the linguine? He stated"I'm not sure". He asked if we would like something else which was nice of him, but after the other courses of food we experienced I declined. The bill was 33 dollars for both without drinks which normally wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the fact that I was still hungry. I asked for a box but realized after I received it that I wasn't interested in eating the food now, and certainly wouldn't want it later. I left a tip with my bill as I didn't feel it was his fault the food wasn't good.

I just lost my appetite mainly due to disappointment. I usually recommended my friends to come here. Unfortunately good experiences can build on each other to make it memorable, but it only takes one bad experience to forget all...