Carmine’s On Penn

I have been to Carmine’s a number of times over the years and have thoroughly enjoyed the meal and atmosphere. We went last night with some out of town guest and was disappointment with the slow service and the meal quantity for a party of six. We had a party of six and during the meal had to order an additional entre. It is the first time leaving Carmine’s without several carry outs. Will go back, but was certainly surprised by the experience yesterday.

Bad service, mediocre food.
I went here with a group of twelve with a reservation. They weren’t prepared for us and our server didn’t use seat assignments so our food kept going to the wrong people. Pasta sauce was super watery. Lame overall. Eggplant was ok but heavily breaded.

Excellent! Start bread is amazing! Pear salad eggplant delicious but save room for the banana split dessert. Amazing!!! That’s it for 2 to 3 people.

What a great way to go for a big crowd. There were 30 of us for my nephews graduation from Law School.
The service was outstanding for a large group. Family style sharing perfect way to go as everyone able to eat at same time.
Don’t know if I should say this or not but drink prices also great. $ 11 for a Hendricks martini which goes for $ 17 to $ 20 in Scottsdale and San Diego.
Very thankful for a perfect evening.

Meal service was excellent, but the food and pricing was sub-​par in my opinion. The family-​style plates meant for two were underwhelmingly small, especially for the price. The bruschetta was delicious, the pasta and cannolis were fair, and the caesar salad fell flat. I wasn’t fond of the way that they don’t distribute physical menus to the tables, but have them on multiple large chalkboards around the dining area.

Finally, something worth dining for! Absolutely gorgeous dining halls with large, spectacular mirrors and Italian pillars and the tastes of aromas. We had a private party tonight and it felt wonderful having to dive in through a traditional Italian cuisine. The walls were the walls of traditional Italian culture with bold eye catching colors of reds, beiges and blues. The exterior of the restaurant cannot compete with the interior at all. The wonderful ladies were here to greet us in. There was sophisticated red wine that made me feel like I was part of the affluence club. We were sat in a private room and had literally one of everything from the menu!
We started off with soft, delicate creamy bread that was covered in light powder and added on Parmesan cheese that was the most finishing touch to it. Next we experienced the tossed Caesar Salad with vinegar, creamy butter and croissants! We had black mushrooms with Pico De Gallo and more slices of bread with a dose of light chocolate with yellow peppers.
The Chicken Marsala was to die for. It came with more black mushrooms and tasteful sauce. We had creamy yellow spicy chicken with spinach and avocados! My goodness! The pastas had ham, vegetables, soft marinara, and we even tried the Pasta del Diablo (Spicy pasta with clams and sauce! Ask about it!)
The dessert was delicious and the dinner was tummy settling. The best part it wasn’t greasy so it felt amazing to try more and more. So much food and elegant wine and liquor was just fantastic. We had a full helpful staff to assist us and serve us the dish. This restaurant is a romantic night hot spot! It can make out the best romantic restaurant for Italian food and we fell in love. Thank you, Carmine’s on Penn!

I gave this place one star and it was because I really didn’t like anything about this place. We came for my wife’s brothers, birthday party. We sat down and had to look at a menu on a wall which some of the people in our party had trouble reading. I’m not sure why there weren’t menus at the table.
I told the waitress that my wife and I were going to split something and we needed a separate bill from the rest of the party. The waitress gasped and said that’s not how they do this, it’s family style dining and it will all be on one bill. I understand that’s their policy but we weren’t going to consume the large amounts of food that the rest of her family was going to. I’m not sure why we would end up being stuck paying their bill just because of a family style dining policy.
Alright, we were there for her brother, so I bit my tongue. We decided to order the risotto. The waitress recommended it and said it was amazing. This was by far the worst risotto I have ever had. We hardly ate any of it. Once again, I didn’t want to complain because the dinner was not for me.
At the end of the meal, they packaged up the bland tasting risotto and sent me on my way. It sat in my fridge for two days before I decided to throw it out. I hate throwing food out but I couldn’t bring myself to eat any of that again.
I will never go back. Magiannos does a much better job with family style dining and the food tastes so much better.

Second time, again early reservation on a Friday evening, party of six where one was a (well behaved!) 4 year old and again, fantastic service. So friendly, helpful and attentive to every need including boxing up the ton of leftovers without complaint. Great cocktails (Manhattan, Bombay Saphire Martini up/​dirty with blue cheese stuffed olives — awesome).
Definitely check it out, maybe you’ll dig their food a bit more than I do, it just doesn’t ring my bell and the table while everyone was happy and enjoyed it, felt pretty much the same. No ‘oohs and ahs’. Maybe I’m ordering the wrong things but we tried 4 different dishes family style so, I’ve had a decent selection of their food.
A great place, great staff, cool neighborhood location. I attach a pic of the menu on the wall.

One of the better Italian places in Denver! It was a little confusing since it’s a family style place and it was restaurant week. Not everyone in our group was hungry enough for the whole meal but we figured it out. There chicken parm is some of the best in Denver. The ravioli was good as well. The gnocchi was pretty average and I would not really recommend it.
Overall always a pretty solid experience.

This is a great place for celebrations! We go here for anniversaries, birthdays, etc. The food is authentic and delicious! I am personally not a fan of the giant wall menu, since we are usually sitting under it, and intermittently wonder why people are rudely staring at us for long periods of time. Nonetheless, this is the best Italian food in Denver! The portions are ridiculous though, so be prepared for true family style and take some home. The tiramisu should get it’s own zipcode, as it rolls out on the tugboat-​sized plate! It’s super good though! I remember not being too terribly impressed with a seafood dish, or a seasonal squash ravioli dish. Seems best to stick with the basics, which are yummy

We came here for Valentine’s Day and hadn’t been in a long time but I was very happy. Loved the Chicken Montana it was so delicious, it could’ve had a few more pieces of chicken but the sauce was amazing and I love the asparagus and the tomatoes in it! The garlic knots they serve are the best I’ve ever tasted I could’ve eaten a million of those! We also started with the Caesar salad which was also very good! Service was great our server was very knowledgeable on the menu and could recommend wine for the dish! Water cup was never empty and it was very busy in there! I will def come back again soon!

Family style dining but gives options for 2 people dining. Bread was to die for. Salad was pretty good and gnocchi although a little over cooked had amazing flavor. Would love to go back with a big group to try more dishes. Service was great and friendly!

I recently reviewed this establishment with a 5 Stars rating and must offer a newer rating based on my visit last night to a 4 Star rating.
I called for a reservation and was helped without a problem. Plans changed and I ended up at the restaurant about 45 minutes early and had no problem waiting while the hostess found appropriate seating for my party of two. We waited about 20 minutes and were sat at a table that had been empty the entire time we were waiting at the bar. Still, that’s ok! We sat at the only open spot at the bar facing away from the menu painted on the wall. I needed a handheld menu to look at so I did not have to awkwardly turn my neck all the way around as if I was starring at the patrons directly behind me eating. When I asked the maître d for a menu, he was a bit short with me, «its on the wall», he said. I said, «do you have a small menu so I don’t have to kink my neck to look at the wall behind me, while I wait at the bar?» He said nothing, just grabbed a menu and quickly handed it to me. No, «oh absolutely, sir… my pleasure sir». Nope, none of that. Just silence. «Thanks???», I thought to myself.
But that just leads to my real issue which is that when I was seated and about ½ way through my meal, my water glass was empty and it was the only beverage I was drinking (no wine, etc.). Neither server nor busser ever came back to the table to check on us, fill my glass or anything else. So I literally had to drink the water glass of the person who I was dining with… who had already drank from their glass. It was a bit embarrassing. Its not ok to let people choke down their food without a beverage… Not ok.
Side Note: the chicken piccata was unimpressive and rather bland, actually.

What has happened to our beloved Carmines? I have been going for over 25 years, and with the current ownership things just seem to be getting worse. Unfortunately I had the veal Piccata on Christmas eve and could not even chew it. Now they have smaller serving sizes but if you order those, they just put them down and walk away, unlike the old Carmines that served your family. Finally our favorite, the garlic rolls were DRY DRY DRY.
I will not be back under current management. It used to be a five star rating, not anymore. Too bad for one of our neighborhood gems.

Finally getting around to writing this review from the other night. That’s how good dinner was, the story had to be told. My friend and I started off with the Mussels in a tomato basil broth which was delicious. We shared the Chicken Besciamella and it was amazing! Breaded chicken breasts with roasted mushrooms and fresh sautéed spinach in a Fontina Mornay sauce, talk about melt in your mouth delicious. I highly recommend this dish, just writing this review is making me crave it.

Came here with a group, so family style was great. Enjoyed the service in that he really listened to what we all like and gave recommendations. Started with the Antipasti which was fine, nothing too great, though the cold tomato sauce and stuffed olives were really good. We then got the house salad which was a very standard salad. For the entrees we got the chicken parmigiana and strossapreti. Strossapreti was very good, but pasta was not much better than I’ve had at other Italian places. Chicken parmigiana had a very strange texture and I couldn’t eat it. Very enticed by the cannoli but didn’t get it. Overall, don’t think I would return as there are better Italian places closer to me.

Holy Toledo, how hadnt I been to Carmine’s on Penn sooner?
I joined a group of friends to celebrate a birthday and WOW, I loved every minute of it.
We started with the pear salad. I dont like pears, but wow, it was perfectly light, perfectly crisp, and absolutely delicious!
We ordered 3 dishes to share with the table. The chicken Parmesan (which wasnt my favorite, but still good), the seasonal gnocchi (which had lamb and asparagus), and the fruitti fish dish, which was hands down the best dish we had!
The service was fantastic, the breads they served were great, and the vibe was perfectly relaxing and chill. I loved that they serve you (since it is family style). Just added to the experience.
I cannot wait to go back!

What the hell just happened?
I’ve eaten at Carmine’s on Penn since they opened in 1994. I’ve loved the food so much I’ve had company parties here, even ordered take out for special events, but something terrible has changed. To start the wait staff was preoccupied with sitting down at each table and having an extended conversation about what to order. This is likely why we didn’t get our drinks until well into our salad and then only when we asked the man what had happened to the cocktails.
Speaking of the salad, it was the first change we noticed. The smaller serving for two was fine, but the giant croutons in the salad were not the same as past time, they were thick, heavy and the size of giant, Lego building blocks, not light and crunchy. The garlic rolls were off, they were doughy and under cooked, possibly the reason our waiter removed our bread plates early without asking if we wanted to choke down the rest of the bread with the main course.
The pasta in the seafood Fra Diavola failed. It was overcooked. When you’ve eaten here as many times as I have you know when something drastic has changed. The sauce had changed too. It was thick, hot like you would expect at a Mexican restaurant and tasted tinny like tomato paste from a can. Again, the portion for two was a bit of a shock and not something we asked for. In the end, the difference in price for the smaller portions was about $ 10.00 from the exact same meal we ordered the time we ate here last.
I’m traumatized. Once my favorite Italian restaurant in Denver and now I cannot see ever returning.

I absolutely love Carmines. I’ve been coming here for years and consider it one of the best Italian restaurants in the state. I’m surprised to see any negative Unilocal reviews, some people just gotta hate, huh. The service is always outstanding, the pasta is always perfect, and the wine program is super solid. Do this: small pear salad to start, linguini with clam sauce, and Moose pasta… you’re welcome! :)

Went to Carmine’s on Saturday for Restaurant week. Bad idea! When we got there the reservation was not ready and we had to wait in the door way — which was clearly in the way of other patrons. We were seated and given bread promptly. However, the bread was still dough and not cooked. We asked for another loaf and it was the same problem. I could have made pizza dough out of the bread! The server never introduced himself or explained Restaurant Week. A huge downfall was the menu did not explain any of the Pasta dishes. For example we didn’t know what Moose Pasta was or Tour of Italy Appetizer. There was no clarification as to what anything was. When we asked the server he knew, but it would be more than helpful to have an explanation of what we ordered.
We ordered the Baked Ziti with Sausage. It was okay. Nothing to rave over.
They also didn’t have a cocktail menu which I thought was strange. We ordered whisky ginger ales, and they didn’t have ginger ale so we got ginger beer. As a result the drinks were $ 9.50! Would have been better off with the wine.
We got our Tiramisu to go which was a soupy white mess. I’m not even sure how they got the dessert in a to-​go container it was so soggy. We froze it and it was better later in the night.
Our bill was the biggest surprise. $ 95.00 for Italian! I could have made 4 pasta dishes at home for $ 95.00.
I would not recommend this restaurant. Over priced and unorganized and poor customer service.