Trattoria Stella on Colfax

Reviews

• Kate W.

  star star star star star 11 June 2026

  Best Italian in Denver.
  
  I checked the desert menu to just make sure I had room with whatever I ordered.
  
  I got baked Brie, Bolognese and two different deserts and I'm not kidding when I say I rolled out of this place happier than arriving. I had 0 expectations as with all places I go to eat, but the service was phenomenal and the food, unparalleled for others in Denver. It's a little off the main stretch, but worth the going and you could eat just about anything... at all... and you'd not be mad.

• Hallie M.

  star star star star star 4 June 2026

  Trattoria Stella is easily one of my favorite restaurants on Colfax. The staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. The food is... out of this world. Trying the Bruschetta of the Day is a must! They are always equally exploitative and delicious. If you want some extra carbs (and who doesn't?!) request a bread basket and you won't be disappointed.
  
  My favorite menu item is the 32nd St. Pasta which combines all of my favorite things - goat cheese, pecans, and dried cranberries with a lemon olive oil sauce topped with fresh tiger shrimp. It packs a punch of flavors. Some of the other popular dishes at our table were the lasagna (it was veggie the last time we came), the tomato vodka creme, and the bolognese.
  
  Wine, beer, and cocktail menus are all stellar. We will continue to be regulars here!

• Don M.

  star star star star star 3 June 2026

  I had always wondered about this place and tonight was my first time there.  My daughter said pasta sounded good for dinner so we gave it a try.
  
  My daughter had spaghetti bolognese and I had egg plant parmigiana.  Both were phenomenal and had completely different red sauces that were conceived to compliment the dish. The bolognese was thick, luscious and meaty. The parmigiana sauces was fresh bright and wonderful!  
  
  The food runner accidentally spilled some sauce on my silk Hawaiian shirt. She was very apologetic and I told her, the shirt is old (which it is) and has a few other spots (which it does) and that it was an accident (which it was). She told me that was the first time she's done that in 12 years, to which I told her I then should feel honored!  Really nice great friendly, good staff. I highly recommend the place!!

• Avril M.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 20 May 2026

  Stopped for dinner in what was an epic storm this evening in Denver.  The waitress was more than reluctant to accommodate us near a window since seating on the patio was non existent because of the weather.  She did not offer us a bread basked.....we had to request it. Once she delivered the bread we had to forage for our own oil and vinegar.
  The cherry on the cake was seeing this distasteful sign in the cooking area halfway through our meal.
  We will NEVER support this restaurant again, neither will our friends and family.  Politics should be left at the door of your business.

• Dean C.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 14 May 2026

  5/20/18
  
  So, I was already in a bad mood coming in, but I assure you everything I had here sucked this day and it wasn't just cause everything else sucked this morning too...
  
  I actually wanted to go to the biscuits & gravy restaurant nearby, cause that's pretty much my most favoritest breakfast food there is, but alas I got there and it was like 45min FOR TAKEOUT!!!  Wow.  So, this looked like a good second best.... but it wasn't.
  
  1. Spicy Mary $9 "absolut peppar, red pepper flakes, hot sauce, hot peppers & olives":  Spicy huh?  Like to who, a 2-year old?  There's tons of green / bell pepper taste though, but it didn't help make it "flavorful" as the result was still quite thin.  3/10
  
  2. Baked Burrata $13.95 "yellow grits & burrata de mozzarella with two poached eggs, prosciutto, asparagus, & a medley of tomatoes, topped with lemon oil, mixed greens, & crispy onions":  This was utter fail.  UTTER FAIL.  It was served on a sizzling plate, but that's just about where anything impressive would end.  None of the gazzillions of different ingredients tasted good together.  The prosciutto was strangely boiled and was super tough--none of that nice silky texture you'd expect remains.  The grits were SWIMMING in water.  And man, I dunno why, but the burrata was on the bottom--who does that???... the soft buttery texture--GONE.  Just a mass of goop on the hot bowl surface.  OH... and I almost forgot--one asparagus was RAW, and the other was so tough it was inedible...
  
  ... WHAT THE LIVIN F!... did they just decided it was trash day and didn't want to throw out the old prosciutto, going-bad-burrata, month-old asparagus... WHAT WAS THIS!?  1/10
  
  I saw the food other people had--you know, normal breakfast stuff, and it looked pretty good.  You know how I roll, so this always happens to me.  I always go for the most special thing on the menu, and well, I get this.  So, yeah, there's a good chance everything else is great (though the bloody mary still should have been better)... but hey, if it sucks, don't put it on the menu and waste people's $$$ and appetite right?  So I have no sympathy...
  
  1/5
  
  #denver #colorado #breakfast #brunch #americanfood #star