Carmine's On Penn

Review summary

1. C

   Chris VIP

   Denver9 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   This was the first time we had been to this restaurant. Good food and service.
   

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2. t

   tracy

   Denver6 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We were sat promptly, waters came quickly and our server, Brian, introduced himself and brought delicious, homemade bread. We got along so well with Brian and he definitely made our experience fun. He recommended The Montana pasta dish that had chicken, sun dried tomatoes, asparagus and ziti pasta covered with a Gorgonzola wine sauce. I’ve never had such a dish and it was really good and rich with flavor. I wish there was more asparagus in the dish. We also had a Caesar salad that was plentiful and fresh. For dessert, we shared 4 cannolis. Yum. The evening was wonderful.
   

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3. T

   Tracey

   Denver2 reviews

   2.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   We came for restaurant week for a pric fix menu of salad, entree and dessert. We enjoyed the food but had a server who completely forgot about us/ignored us. After ordering a $104 bottle of wine, he brought it to the table and left it there. 15 minutes later we had to request the manager to open it for us so we could enjoy it Server offered and then forgot the bread (we had to ask another server after waiting a long time) and we finally ordered dinner about 30 minutes of being patient with wine only. When dinner and salad arrived, it was good though. Another long wait to order dessert after we were done eating. 30 minutes later no dessert came, but he brought the bill and expected us to pay it before dessert arrived. He brought dessert to go in boxes and the chocolate cake piece was half the size of what we saw other people get who had gottten the cake. It had no homemade caramel sauce he had told us about and was pretty dry. After we paid and spent 2 hours waiting for salads and shared entrees, I said something to the manager who didn’t really seem to care either We won’t be back. Didn’t feel valued and were completely forgotten by our wait staff.
   

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4. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   Denver3 reviews

   4.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   The reason I put a low score on service was due to host/hostess. Arriving early for a 7:30 reservation they kinda forgot us at the bar until I re-engaged.
   

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5. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   Denver4 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Service and food continue to be outstanding! A true Denver gem.
   

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6. S

   Susan

   Denver5 reviews

   3.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   We went to Carmine’s for Restaurant Week - it was advertised as $35 /person. However, when we got there it was actually $70/couple and we had to select just one entree for the 2 of us - hard to do when you have different tastes. Food was delicious but the service was terrible, our server seemed very distracted - it took over half an hour to receive our appetizer. The pear salad was amazing and the pasta dishes had great flavor, so the food was certainly impressive but the overall experience was not great. This was our third or fourth time at Carmine’s but we probably won’t go back.
   

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7. A

   Art VIP

   Denver92 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Long time customer brought a newbee from NYC and she thought the chicken parm was excellent! Great as always, thank you!
   

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8. B

   Bonni VIP

   Denver51 reviews

   3.0

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 2

   Went with friends to Carmine's on Penn to kick off 5280 Restaurant Week. We scanned the online menu, which clearly said $35/person and gave choices of salad, entree and dessert - stating that the entrees were the family size ones. So I made the reservation and paid the $25/person reservation fee - which is only charged if you no show for your reservation. When we arrived at the restaurant (after the challenge of finding parking), it took over 5 minutes for the host to acknowledge us - even though we were standing right next to him. The restaurant wasn't too busy since we were there early but the staff seemed to be a little frazzled. We were finally shown to a table in a room towards the back and there were only 2 other tables seated in the room. We looked at the Restaurant Week menu and were surprised to see that it was actually priced at $70/couple. Our server was Jack and he was very nice and helpful. Since there were 3 of us, he explained that on that menu, you really could only order one salad, entree, and dessert per couple but that we'd have enough food for more than the 3 of us. He suggested that we order one extra smaller entree to go along with the "meal". So we ordered the large Chicken Montana and a small Chicken Marsala. We were first served a basket of delicious rolls. Salad was good, large portion. Family size Chicken Montana was enough for 5 portions but was mostly pasta. There were a few tiny pieces of asparagus and a few more sun dried tomatoes along with some not so tender chicken but great gorgonzola sauce. The Chicken Marsala had 3 slightly more tender chicken breasts smothered in a way too garlicky sauce with some small chopped up mushrooms. The chocolate cake had a funny taste (like the butter) like it came from a dirty fridge. Besides the average food, the deceptive pricing practice has me turned off this place so I won't be back.
   

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9. D

   Daniel

   Denver2 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 1 March 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We celebrated two birthdays at the same time. Well, we couldn't have come to a better place. This is a great family dining establishment and we love having you in our neighborhood.
   

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10. J

    Jim and Jo Lynn VIP

    Denver10 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on 20 February 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    Great food, great service in an authentic neighborhood gem.
    

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