La Piazza del Villaggio Ristorante — Restaurant in Mountain Village

I never write reviews on Google but absolutely felt the need to do so in this situation. Hopefully this will save you from recreating the horrible dining experience we had here. The service is just terrible. The waitstaff is inexperienced and inattentive. I can’t tell you how long we waited for the server to come check on us or even to take our order. They don’t know anything about the wine list and could not even recommend one. Not what you would expect for a Telluride restaurant that serves only $70+ bottles of wine. My friend ordered the rigatoni vodka. He did not order the hair that came with it. What a nice little surprise that was. My minestrone was watery and tasteless and the vegetables were mushy. It tasted like it came out of a can. The gelato. Everyone on here raves about it. I ordered the lemon gelato as stated on the menu. I was given a sorbet. These are 2 completely different desserts and the server didn’t even bat an eye when I ordered verbatim the lemon gelato. When we asked about it later she said “oh yeah, that’s a sorbet. We don’t have lemon gelato. Did you want a gelato?.” ????? (Please refer to bullet point number 1 with regard to the level of service we received.) All in all, this restaurant is an overpriced version of Olive Garden. There is absolutely no authenticity to their menu. Please save yourself the trouble and find...

This was one of the worst dining experiences of my adult life. My friend and I were visiting Telluride and saw the glowing reviews of this restaurant.

From the beginning I knew things were not going to go well when I asked the waitress about the wine list and she said “it’s right here, didn’t you see it?” indicating the cheap paper menu tucked under the plastic bin holding the disposable salt and pepper packets.

When I asked her about the unfiltered wine, she incorrectly stated that it was only available by the glass. Then I pointed out that there were bottles available and asked her what they were like, she said they were “unfiltered”. Clearly she had no knowledge of wine but didn’t offer to find out. We settled on a bottle of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which was good.

I ordered the Rigatoni Vodka, the flavor and texture were similar to something you might get at a shopping mall food court, or maybe a hospital cafeteria. There was hair in it, which indicates poor quality control in the kitchen.

Finally, a good Italian restaurant (or even a bad one) should know the difference between Gelato and Sorbet. Apparently this one doesn’t.

On a good note, the owner was friendly and greeted everyone as they entered. He also adjusted the umbrella for us so we didn’t have the glare...

We were craving authentic pasta, and while Telluride doesn’t offer many options, this place seemed to be our best bet. Despite mixed reviews—some saying it was overpriced and others calling the food mediocre—we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, the reviews were spot on.

The menu claims the food is “made to order,” but my veal marsala told a different story. The marsala sauce was so separated that it was essentially just oil poured over the meat. My wife’s bolognese wasn’t any fresher—the sauce tasted flat and uninspired. If “made to order” simply means plating pre-made food when you order it, then yes, they’ve mastered that.

The service was… confusing. While we were attended to regularly, we never knew who was actually our server. At least three or four different people came by to take drink orders, and it was unclear who to approach when we needed something.

Overall, I wouldn’t go back. It was the most expensive meal of our trip and easily the worst. The small Italian spot near our home serves genuinely fresh, made-to-order dishes for a fraction of the cost—and far better quality.

On a positive note, the ambiance was nice, but that’s hard to mess up when you’re dining on a patio surrounded...