North Italia – Denver

This WAS a 4 -5 star restaurant for us in the past. We’re not from Denver but we try to get to North as much as possible. The rosemary chicken and strozzapreti are great dishes. We had good service in the past, and the manager was friendly and checked on us. On our last visit we showed up at 5:15 and asked for a table. The hostess said it would be about 30 minutes, although the restaurant was half full. I assumed they had a lot of reservations. She said we could sit at a table in the bar and still receive the full menu. The bartender came over and took our drink order. We received our drinks and asked for menus. We studied the menu and decided on appetizers and dinner. Several minutes passed and still no contact from the bartender. We both made eye contact with him several times. We thought maybe he had assigned a waiter/waitress to us, but no luck. Shortly after we sat down, three young, attractive well-dressed women sat next to us. He quickly served them and repeatedly asked if they needed anything. Every time he came by or looked in our direction we tried to get his attention. I didn’t think too much about it at first, I thought maybe he was having a bad day. It soon became very obvious that he was ignoring us. He wasn’t busy with customers and was restocking produce, etc. After being there for over 30 minutes, I asked the hostess if we could be seated in the dining room. She again said it would be about 30 minutes, but surprisingly most of the same empty tables were still empty. I told her she said we could get dinner in the bar, but the bartender refused to help us. I also mentioned that he had helped the other table several times already. I hated to leave because I love the food, but we decided to leave. I went to the bar to ask for my check. The manager noticed me standing there and asked if he could help. I told them the bartender refused to help us but was serving the other customers. The manager said he would check on availability of dining tables, but I told him I just wanted to pay for my drinks and leave. He said he took care of the drinks. The BACKSTORY: We were dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Nothing fancy or designer, but clean and serviceable. My girlfriend wasn’t wearing makeup or jewelry. We definitely didn’t fit in with the “Cherry Creek” fashion, but we normally dress casual. On our other visits we were dressed “business casual” and were treated great. If there is a dress code, it should be stated, and I didn’t think it would be a problem since the staff wears jeans. Although we did not dress fancy, we did not smell, we weren’t loud or obnoxious, all we wanted was a nice dinner. It’s too bad we were treated so poorly, because we lost a favorite restaurant, and North lost our business. The manager that was so kind to us in the past was not rude to us, but instead of paying for our drinks, he could’ve just apologized and seated us in the dining room. I wrote to the company on the foxrc.com website and they never replied.

I LOVE everything here! Chicken pesto is my favorite thing to order every single time. We ordered short rib pasta this time and it was too salty for our taste, not sure if it’s always that way. The atmosphere is always great and I love the little details of fresh flowers and candles.

Great atmosphere and great service. We love coming here for a casual night out. They are always happy to split plates which allows us to try a bunch of things. Can't beat the pizza for a quick lunch after shopping.

North Italia is hip, fun, and offers an excellent dining experience. Even though I prefer to support local restaurants over corporate owned, the staff here makes this feel like a neighborhood hang out. The food is excellent, and it is a must try if you are looking for an Italian dining option.

5 stars is not enough credit for this food! It was definitely made with lots of love! Even the chicken parmigiana was a heart!!! Thank you for the great food and service! We will be back.