Had a couple glasses of wine here during happy hour, which was a great deal at half off! My boyfriend and I were visiting from Las Vegas and wanted a good glass of wine and they certainly delivered. The bartender was extremely sweet as well. It was a great find and I’m glad we stopped in.
Nick P.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Denver, CO
I have been going here for over a decade and the food is awesome. Definitely one of my favorite places in cherry creek to eat. The remodel makes the bar even more inviting to sit at and the bartenders are always friendly!
Christine A.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Denver, CO
I’ve been to Cucina Calore many times, but, I went back for the first time in many years. I had forgotten how good the food is. I had a arincini balls, which were good, but, a little too much gorgonzola cheese. I also had the salmon with broccoli rabe and risotto. This was the most delicious meal I’ve had in a long time. The salmon was cooked perfectly and the dish was fresh, simple and satisfying. The restaurant is beautiful — elegant and sleek. The service is average to good. If they were a bit more efficient, I’d give them 5 stars.
Shana H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Denver, CO
I had the best broccoli and cheddar soup and pasta bolognese here. I mean, really. It was like they kept a fresh garden in the back and, upon my order, plucked a few broccoli florets and green onions directly from it, whipped up the cheddar soup base from scratch, pulled it from the fire and dropped in the chopped broccoli and green onions with just a slight stir. The Best I have Ever had. I need to find out the brand of pink moscato they carry also because it was also very savory.
David F.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Denver, CO
The food is excellent. It is One of the better Italian restaurants in Denver. Their expansion was smartly done and the restaurant has a better layout now for seating. One of my favorites. It Is also one of the few Cherry Creek restaurants the has its own parking lot — — a big plus. If there is a negative, it is the price of the salads.
Erin C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Anaheim, CA
Came here for drinks and desert. Outstanding chocolate mousse and Cheesecake. We sat at the bar and were attended to immediately. Bartender was very friendly and I would come back for dinner.
Denise G.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Aurora, CO
When the owner of your company invites you to a new restaurant to join them for lunch, you jump! I certainly did when she mentioned going to Cucina Colore. I had heard many great things, but have never tried it before. We arrived and were seated immediately. The server went over the specials for the day and one caught my attention. Angel hair pasta with chicken, asparagus and sun dried tomatoes. My boss ended up getting the same thing as well. The bread arrived and was perfect. I am not usually a huge bread fan. I feel that all it is is filler for the flavored food to arrive. I decided to try some and it was a little hard on the outside, but soft and moist on the inside. This is how I like my bread. I ate about half the basket. Whoops! I should have shared. All was good when the server brought out another basket. The food was brought out steamy hot and looked absolutely amazing. Amazing isn’t a good enough word. It was so inviting, and delicate looking. My first bite was mouth watering. The chicken fell apart, it was so tender. The noodles were cooked to perfection and the flavors of the cream sauce, asparagus and tomatoes brought everything together into this perfect dish. I could eat this everyday if it was available. Great dish! Super friendly staff, and of course the décor was beautiful. I will be back! Hopefully to get more of this dish.
Lanell P.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Denver, CO
The most ridiculously expensive and pretentious restaurant I’ve been to in a long time. As an self-proclaimed expert in Italian food, having lived in Italy for many years, this American/Italian knockoff was a huge disappointment. I was literally shocked when I got the bill. I cannot recommend this place. The only good thing I can say is that the atmosphere was relaxing and the service was attentive.
Freddy Y.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Belltown, Seattle, WA
The atmosphere is cool and upscale. Service is slow and don’t you hate when you’re told you’re not sitting in the happy hour section? Yes, after we were seated we learned we had to move to another table if we wanted happy hour. Why do restaurants think the backlash is worth the policy. Never coming back. Took solid 10 min to get our drink on a slow Wednesday afternoon.
Bruce W.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Denver, CO
Something has happened to Cucina Colore and we believe it originates with the service. Even with reservations, they will typically try to seat you at the worst possible location. Last week, three of us went in early and asked to sit on the patio. The patio was e-m-p-t-y. We saw a table for four, and asked to sit there. We were told they were reserving it for a party of four. OK, I didn’t want to make a scene so we crowded around a smaller table. Wouldn’t you know it, less than 10 minutes later another party of three showed up, and they sat them at the same table refused to us! Food is expensive and has gotten predictable. The establishment has declined.
Matt W.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Greenville, SC
This place was kind a staple for my family for special occasions when I lived in Denver 10 years ago. I thought it would be good to get the family together and try it out while I was back in town and it did not disappoint. It’s a little pricy, but the food and wine were spot on. We started with the goat cheese followed by house salad and split the arrabiata and Pizza Parma, both were great. We topped off the meal with the famous peach bread pudding, best I’ve ever had!
Miles H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Littleton, CO
The food here is great. It’s a great little restaurant and I’m glad that they recently expanded which gave more room to the guests. My favorite is their Parmesan bread. Omg! Yummmmm! Staff is always friendly and helpful. Nothing over the top about this place, but definitely a place I enjoy!
Katherine N.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Englewood, CO
I had high hopes for this cherry creek staple, but left wholly disappointed. The service was okay. I would say it was good, but she kept checking that I was fine with water. I understand alcohol can stack a ticket, but with the price of the food at this joint a server can still get a hefty tip without it. Caesar salad was nice– crisp, cold, not too much dressing. Every entrée our party had was lacking. The steak was over cooked and had no flavor, pasta was cooked al dente, but WAY under salted. I know people are scared of salt… but pasta water should be heavily salted to give pasta a rich depth of flavor. The pasta sauces were lacking any character. Weak, runny, and did I mention, no flavor? The steak came with asparagus that had not been trimmed. Half of all the stalks were too fibrous to cut or chew. After all of that disappointment the waitress asks us a million times if we wanted dessert… Are we sure… After dinner drink… Coffee… The mousse is amazing… We kept politely declining and thanking her. Finally, the 13 year old in our party gave her a sharp tongued, «I think we’re good!» The bill was over $ 120. We tipped appropriately and dragged our disgruntled and dissatisfied butts out of there.
Lisa B.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Nashville, TN
I was here in a group of 9 for dinner on a Sunday night and my feelings are mixed… We parked in the little lot behind the restaurant(it’s free, contrary to the appearance of the gate/arm) at exactly our reservation time. In the 2 or 3 minutes it took us to pile out of the car, open our umbrellas, and walk around to the front, the restaurant was calling to ask where we were. Whoa. We can see you calling us and it’s less than 5 mins after our reservation time. You would think they had a packed reservation schedule given the call at 3 mins late, but the side of the restaurant where we sat was pretty empty and stayed that way all night. That aside, the atmosphere was nice and the place looked great. We were immediately seated, greeted by the waitress, and waters were poured. The service was pretty good from start to finish. The menu had a good range of options. On the up side, everyone loved the mussels. I can’t comment since I didn’t eat them, but they seemed to be a universal hit. My pasta, however, was extremely salty and hard to finish, so I opted to fill myself on salad, bread and wine. Not the worst alternative! The caprese salad was good and quite big. 2 people ordered the fettuccine, which came out as spaghetti for both of them with no explanation… ? Overall it was a good experience, but I wasn’t blown away.
Kristin Winkler S.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Denver, CO
Excellent service but food was below average. Salads were fine but entrees not so much. I had the Conchiglie pasta dish, shells in a dismal runny cream sauce with an odd aftertaste. My husband had the Arrabbiata, which was just average. The pasta was cooked al dente, but the sauces were lacking any character. We order liquor or eat any proteins and the bill was $ 60 — this seemed a bit absurd. The room was noisy and lively, filled with typical Cherry Creek North middle-agers(myself included), but also lots of children with their parents. I can walk to this place but next time I’ll head further to North or take a drive up to Shells and Sauce or over to Locanda del Borgo. All offer better neighborhood Italian fare.
Chad R.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Denver, CO
With friends in town from the Rotten Apple visiting a new couple also recently moved to Cherry Creek from the Rotten Apple plus my dear, dear she-beuax now moved to Denver from the Rotten Apple to be with yours truly… I’m under a ton of pressure with the eats list. Particularly when it comes to the Italian food(and these fools know some Italian food). But I got Cucina Colore. I didn’t know they renovated recently, but the new joint looks stellar. I mean, the old joint looked stellar, and now there’s just more stellarness. Def start with the mussels– the portion is no joke(easily shared by five), and they gots that gluten free bread(no charge!) so I ain’t gotta sit there like a chump while the homies dip into that olive oil. I usually go for the pasta cuz their bolognese is off the meat rack, but this time I went steak, and it was perfect. Seriously, yo– perfect. Reasonable wine prices and selection; my man makes a meeeeeean negroni. My other man politely waits for us all to catch up over drinks, doesn’t rush the order– even when we know that, to some extent, time is money to servers who want that volume, right? Homie played it the right way and just treated us well. Memorizing orders, keepin’ the wine glasses filled, doin’ it right. This is the spot.
Tara R.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Denver, CO
Had dinner here with two friends during the holiday season. Made the reservation via OpenTable and got a confirmation call earlier in the day. I was seated promptly upon arrival. Food was great! We shared the fried calamari which was a great starter for three, along with the complimentary bread and oil. I had the Pasta of the Day – fusilli and cod in marinara – and my friends had one of the pizzas and salmon with risotto. Word of advice regarding the pizzas: unless you’re REALLY hungry, they’re best shared between two people. Desserts were tiramisu and crème brûlée cheesecake, both tasty. The tiramisu could also be split between two people. They comped my tiramisu once they heard it was my birthday – nice touch! Service was great. We were waited on by three different people throughout the course of the evening. It was slight cause for concern that they’d mess something up but fears were unfounded – they got everything right and did it promptly! Good prices too. A dinner for three was over $ 100 with drinks and dessert. This place goes on my list as one to recommend and visit again! Thanks for a great night!
Aaron E.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Orange County, CA
Cucina Colore offers conventional and convenient Italian inspired fare to the Cherry Creek area of Denver. I tend to want a Neapolitan style pie after having consumed a few libations and a friend of mine mentioned that Cucina Colore had a wood oven on its premises so after taking in a ball game I decided to give them a go. The restaurant is quite nice, they keep it exceptionally clean. The menu is what you would expect in an Italian eatery in middle America, that being no real shocking reveleations from Napoli or Torino. That said, all of the standard fare is well represented. I went with their Margherita pizza and a beer, the perfect combination that afternoon in my eyes. The pie came about fifteen minutes later and had decent eye appeal, but no «pop» factor. Basil and olive oil laid a top of a layer of mozzarella that hid another layer of ground tomato before the crust. Some of the ingredients were… shoddy, especially the cheese which I am guessing was Sysco frozen grade. The basil was also quite wilted which was a bit disappointing. Those complaints aside it was still a serviceable pie. The wood smoke was well entrenched in the crust, which may have been it salvation in retrospect. The service and cleanliness at Cucina Colore was exemplar and on those merits I would most likely make a return trip to try other offerings.
Cody C.
Rating des Ortes: 1 Denver, CO
New management is horrible here. They’re turning away 15 year veterans of this establishment and they should be ashamed. Also, my friend went here a few weeks ago, was sat by the manager, ordered over $ 200 worth of food, paid the bill, and as soon as the bill was paid, that same manager asked my friend and his boyfriend to leave because they were wearing tank tops! How unprofessional! If you have a dress code, maybe you should post it or not seat someone, let them run up a bill and then wait for them to pay it before you ambush them. I will NEVER step foot into this place ever again.
Frances G.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Austin, TX
What a lovely spot for ladies to lunch! A breezy and open interior instantly puts you in the mood for a easy and light lunch. The friendly service and the mobile check-in offer that allows you one complimentary glass of wine isn’t so bad either! Browsing the Italian dishes made my heart skip a beat. It’s as if the restaurant curated the menu just for me. Fresh ingredients like artichoke hearts and mussels were calling my name, then my eyes went straight to the just as delicious-sounding, but maybe not-as-good-for-you dishes. I am talking baked goat cheese and the Fusilli Arriabiatta. So, in effort to meet in the middle and make both the devil and angel on my shoulders happy, I settled for the Pollo e Orzo: grilled chicken, olives, ricotta, orzo, and sun-dried tomatoes. It was fresh, healthy, and satisfying. I will definitely be back, but will be sure to get glass of wine next time!