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All in the Family

Gaetano's makes for a disappointing spaghetti Western.

A A A Comments By Jason Sheehan Thursday, Aug 4 2005

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Mark Manger

Bucking tradition: Some things have changed at Gaetano's, but the food isn't one of them.

Location Info

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Gaetano's Restaurant

3760 Tejon St.
Denver, CO 80211

Category: Restaurant > Italian

Region: Northwest Denver

5 user reviews	Write A Review
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Details

3760 Tejon Street, 303- 455-9852. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday

Calamari: $7.75
Fritti: $3.95
Polpette: $3.95
Tasty Treats: $3.25 each
Ravioli: $9.95
Carbonara: $13.95
Linguine with clam sauce: $14.95
Sausage sandwich: $6.50< br>Scampi: $14.95
Chicken scaloppine: $15.95

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The shrimp scampi sat in a puddle of dull, broken sauce, sprinkled with parsley and mounted with shrimp that were barely blushing and totally undercooked. The ravioli looked and tasted like something from the drive-thru at Fazoli's. For my linguine with clams in garlic and oil, the kitchen had somehow managed to take all the correct ingredients -- olive oil, wine, butter, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper, dry herbs and clams -- and bind them together into something that tasted like I was licking the inside of a can of tuna. Finally, the chicken scaloppine -- boxed off on the menu and tagged as "To Die For" -- nearly was: It had been chopped into hunks by some grillman wielding a hatchet, given barely a sear on the flat grill, then served just this side of raw.

For me, that was it. I understood that it was a busy night and the kitchen was unprepared and under fire. But that's no excuse. After three disappointing meals culminating in a couple of plates that could have been flat-out dangerous had I been polite (or stupid) enough to eat them, I was done with this new, improved Gaetano's. After all this, I'm thinking maybe I would have been better off with the communal soup pot, the sauce from a can, and the three brothers who made the place famous just by being themselves.

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