Gondolier Italian Eatery

Fantastic, the baked Ziti was the best I’ve ever had, the garlic knots are great. The service was friendly, attentive and knew the menu very well. We ordered the calamari appetizer and we were pleasantly surprised. The price is good and the portions are very generous. Family friendly, yet a full bar to meet everyone’s needs. Will absolutely go again. Two people in our party had the fettucini and they both liked it.

Ordered the Fettuccini Alfredo tonight and I can not believe the taste –or lack thereof.
I didn’t even know it was possible to make such a flavorless sauce. There is nothing going on taste wise. The fact that it was so expensive and has NOTHING on it makes it extra disappointing.
This is my second and last time eating here.

I’ve been trying to like this place for years, and I’ve finally given up. The staff is friendly, the ambience is nice, but the food is absolutely horrible, and it hasn’t changed in the 4 years I’ve been coming here. I can promise you, you’ve never had pasta that tastes anything like the any of the pasta dishes here. All of their pasta is thick and chewy and gritty. I ordered the chicken alfredo last time. Generally I assume alfredo comes as a sauce, but this was some gritty cheese on top of gritty pasta. There was nothing sauce-​like about it. The entire dish was also luke-​warm at best, but I’m willing to write that off to us having a party of 8. My wife got the risotto. Her impression was that instead of cooking the rice for longer to break down the starches and give it a natural creaminess, they just dumped a ton of cheese sauce on it and hoped you wouldn’t notice. My brother in law got a bowl of gluten free ziti-​like pasta. Now, it’s not really fair to criticize a restaurant for GF pasta since it’s not generally that great. However, I watched as he literally poured a full cup of red-​ish water out of the bottom of the pasta, which was the majority of the «sauce». They have 2 red sauces. Their rich tomato sauce is usually better than red-​ish water, but it never really has any flavor. The spicy marinara could have come out of a tomato paste can. Both my wife and I felt pretty sick the next day, so now we’ve given up.

Sunday I ordered 2 Gondo calzones and a Caesar salad with side I’d sauce and side of cheese. Well, we got the calzones, which by the way the dough wasn’t quite cooked through. Otherwise they were good. It’s too bad that I can’t say the same for the salad we never received. We were watching a movie and we were hungry so I didn’t think of it until in the morning when I was looking at the receipt. And salads are not cheap, regardless. We can settle up as that’s not a problem.

Consistently fresh and delicious Italian meals in big portions. Management and staff are great. My SO is Italian and Gondolier is our go-​to for date nights, celebrations, and cheat meals! Definitely a Boulder gem.

Our waiter was dismissive and rude, when it wasn’t busy and we had our entire family there after graduation. He pulled the menu out from under my hand and gave me a paper cut, while I was grimacing as he pulled it. When I asked for fresh parmesan cheese, he was was clearly inconvenienced. The food is good but not worth the mistreatment.

We love the food at Gondolier. It’s a very special restaurant to us, as we both had our first date and got engaged here (at two of the previous Pearl St. locations). I came here for unlimited spaghetti nights quite often through grad school. It’s a great deal!
No problem with the food, but since they have moved to the latest location, we have had issues with customer service both in person at the restaurant and when we’ve gotten takeout. Our takeout orders have been messed up quite a few times. We get the food home and realize something is missing or is totally different than what we ordered. This happens much more frequently than it should.
Our last experience in person at the restaurant was disappointing as well. I don’t remember our waiter’s name (probably a good thing for him) but we were constantly in disbelief the whole time at his rude comments and responses to our requests. It was kind of entertaining, but obviously not in a good way. Something was different about the spicy sauce I usually get (not as spicy as usual), so I asked to make sure it was in fact the spicy marinara. He got really defensive about it and said that was the only one, and I could add pepper flakes to it if I wanted. It had me wondering what happened to «the customer is always right»…no apology, not helpful about fixing it, his attitude was more like nope you’re wrong, too bad for you, this is what you get. We also wanted to order coffee with our dessert — I wanted regular and my husband wanted decaf. Our waiter asked us if we could just decide on one so he wouldn’t have to make both. This guy was definitely not a people person, which I feel is kind of an important personality trait for waitstaff.
We’ll still go to Gondolier because it’s special to us and we love the food. I’m hoping the next time we go in person that we’ll have a much improved customer service experience because that was a little discouraging. Also hopefully their takeout order accuracy will improve. I would really like to be able to give a higher rating!
All that said, I love their homemade pasta, and the sauce is delicious. My favorite is the mix of olive oil/​garlic sauce and spicy marinara. Ravioli is great, too. I like trying their desserts and drink specials when we go in person to the restaurant.

Great service
Great atmosphere
Omg fire the cook
I had the spaghetti
Wich smelled horrible, marina (no seasoning) which confused me because it tasted bad
the meatball was a ball of bread paste with almost no meat in it
I don’t know what it was but Italian it wasn’t
Sorry to say I will not be returning to this place for the food

I agree with Spangler in a previous review. Went tonight for the first time after seeing mixed reviews on Unilocal.Boy that was a mistake.
The chicken Alfredo is tasteless. The chicken had no flavor, the sauce was horrible, and the spaghetti smelled really bad.
The waitress was super nice and friendly though. That’s about all that was good here.

Super little Italian restaurant hidden in a strip mall right at Baseline and Foothills. My ladies social group dined there on a recent Saturday afternoon. I work in Boulder and one of my clients goes there all the time so it came highly recommended and we were not disappointed. I am posting pix of some of our dishes — they were all wonderful and the desserts were yummy. Our waiter was spot on with our dishes, filling our water glasses and making sure we were not lacking with anything. We had a wonderful time and I thank The Gondolier for the amazing, awesome, glorious, yummy, delicious GARLIC KNOTS! I could have made a meal just out of those!

Came to Gondolier with my roommate on Valentine’s Day. The ambiance is very laid back and friendly, with huge tables and booths and wood finishing to make it feel like a homey Italian restaurant.
After checking out some reviews I ordered the garlic knots. Everyone is right. They’re incredible. Eat them while they’re hot!
I also ordered a phenomenal side salad that consisted of arugula, goat cheese, sliced almonds, strawberries, balsamic vinaigrette, and some sort of strawberry reduction sauce that blended perfectly with the tart bitterness of the balsamic.
I also ordered the spaghetti with spicy marinara and wasn’t too blown away. The noodles are very thick and authentic with a pretty rich marinara. Unfortunately I’m picky about pasta and the spaghetti just didn’t cut it. The portions are HUGE so I was excited to take basically my whole dish home for future meals!
For dessert we ended with the chocolate torte; a dense slab of flourless chocolate cake served with cherries and sliced almonds.
Our waitress was absolutely amazing and even gave us flowers for Valentine’s Day along with our check!

I tried The Gondolier only because it was next door to my gym and I needed to nosh ASAP! I’d written them off for no apparent reason. Boy was I wrong. They nail it from A to Z.
Everything I’ve tried has been excellent, and I appreciate that the prices are affordable for such tasty food. My favorites are the Gondo Calzone, chicken caesar sandwich, the chicken Parmesan. On special occasions I spring for the steak. Hats off to the chefs!
No matter what your flavor, the bar has it. The bartender does infused vodkas and homemade limoncello. They also have some unique whiskey and gin offerings. I’m drawn to the craft beers on tap or in cans, which are mostly from Colorado.
The service is off the charts. They greet me every time I come and I every time I leave, even though they know I’m just sitting at the bar. I’ve got my go-​to bartenders, but a lot of the staff stops by for a chat and know me by name — everyone’s super personable. It’s cool that the owner is usually in and working to make sure that everyone has a good night!

Was in town to visit family and they recommended this place. We went for a late lunch, and loved it! Our waitress was awesome! Very attentive and beyond polite. I am not the biggest pasta fan, but did try the homemade spaghetti and ravioli that other family members got. only a few bites were filling! So good! I went for the Chicken Caesar Panini. Was expecting it to just be a small sandwich on bread. NOPE! Instead of regular boring bread, it was on their homemade pizza crust, fully baked and lightly grilled. I could eat that thing everyday and not get sick of it! It was huge, and just perfect. I want to know their recipe for that pizza dough!!! It was almost like a fluffier naan. So good. I wish we had tried this place earlier into our trip so I could have had it a few times! Kudos!

What happened to the best pizza in Boulder? I have been to the current location now three times for pizza hoping to relive the incredible pizzas at the old locations. I was hoping they would get their act together. All three times the pizza was doughy and bland. The fantastic spices are gone, no longer a great crust, and the red sauce is mediocre. I think The Gondolier has cheapened the recipe. It didn’t help that the raspberries in the salad were old. I hope the 50 year run of The Gondolier does not come to a sad end due the recipe changes.
Server was very polite.

This place has been around about 50 years and maybe as many locations.
Good, basic Italian food. The service is good and the atmosphere not bad for a strip mall.
My wife is gluten free and they had several good options
We will certainly return if they don’t move again.

We ended up in this shopping center after missing our turn. I’m so glad we missed our turn and ended up in front of the gondolier.
I love Italian food. I guess it might be because it’s in my blood. But I will make up any excuse to justify my love for some good chicken parmesan. The gondolier has a great chicken parmesan sandwich and its huge! I decided on a side of their homemade minestrone soup with my sandwich and it did not disappoint. My honey had the eggplant parm sandwich and was very happy.
We left very full with 2 containers of food. They don’t skimp on the portions at all! Prices are reasonable. Would definitely come back if we were in the area again.

Sat down at an EMPTY bar (there was NO ONE else in the entire place). I kindly asked to change the TV channel and the manager’s response was: «football on this tv, tennis on the other one, she can move».
I’d understand if there was another person watching, but there was not another single soul there! I’ll take my business elsewhere. This is no way to treat a customer. I guess the Bronco’s game on an empty restaurant is more important than treating your patrons well.
Never coming back to this place again! It’s a shame because the food is good.

Had a wonderful meal tonight. Large house salad and pizza, accompanied by a nice Chardonnay. Service was excellent. Restaurant is much larger than it appears from the outside, there is s lot of seating past the bar. The bar is large and fully stocked. Nice decorations as well. Booth or table seating plus the bar. Not a typical strip mall dining facility. They care about the look and feel of the restaurant and that same care translates into the meal. Fresh ingredients and excellent presentation on the plate. Of course it tastes great as well. I am bookmarking this for next time I’m in town.

Since The Gondolier reopened, I have visited several times. In my first review I noted that it was quite AOK with me. It turns out that my NJ born husband, who also grew up with red sauce comfort food likes it quite a lot. And I have grown to be a fan.
I have tried many items on the menu by now and I have a clear favorite entrée. It is the linguine with clams, and I mean clams, not just a sauce flavored with bits. Whole fresh clams in their shells. Little bitty ones and sweet. Lots of them.
I also have to have garlic knots with nearly every meal. The mussels are very tasty with a traditional broth. I love calamari and this small plate is good but like so many similar Italian restaurants, the fried seasoned crust overpowers the squid. Pretty traditional but I do like it more minimalist.
The eggplant parm is another favorite and can be had as a sandwich on a roll or as an entrée. I prefer the sandwich and this is perhaps the only meal I have skipped the garlic knots. It would be overkill with the warm yeasty bread.
The unpasta plate is basically shredded veggies, good for a lighter meal which is what I really needed one night but not my style on a regular basis. I’ve had a couple of desserts but I’m usually too full.
I am not a beer drinker but my husband always likes one with these meals. He has been very happy with the selection of local craft brews. Some are regular menu items, some rotate, but there’s always variety.
One thing to note, if you have a big party to entertain, this is a great place to do it. Call ahead and they will arrange some tables. They have a lot of space. And speaking of space, you get some real elbow room here and you don’t have to hear everyone else’s conversations. Also, they even have a room in back big enough for a private event. We went to one with close to 30 people and it came off pretty well. There were a few logistic missteps and the billing got complicated but all in all it was a very successful celebration. The food was as well prepared as a normal dinner there, though it had been set up with a limited menu with a fixed price for simplicity. But the choices seemed to accommodate everyone’s needs.
And a plus for people around Boulder, the parking is nearly unlimited in a private lot right in front of the restaurant.

Aaaahhhh! Winter comfort food!!!
Thanks for the Tiramisu!!!
Pizza and spaghetti were marvelous, too!