Osteria Marco

While Tamayo was certainly a bust last week, that didn't deter us from heading straight back toward Larimer Square for another dinner this Saturday. But instead of seeking pricey Mexican food, we headed across the street for low-key Italian fare at Osteria Marco.

Osteria Marco is one of many Denver-area restaurants operated by restaurateur Frank Bonanno. Mr. Bonanno is a pretty big deal in the Denver dining scene, although we haven't visited any of his establishments since a disappointing dinner at Mizuna about a year ago.

But we'd heard nothing but good things about Osteria Marco, his lower-priced and casual Italian restaurant on Larimer. We were looking to have an early dinner ahead of a show at Comedy Works's downtown location, and figured Osteria Marco was worth a try.

Located below ground level and dimly lit, the dining room at Osteria Marco felt like an expansive wine cellar. We met up with another couple and, at our request, we were seated in a high-backed booth near the bar-area televisions. The staff was very nice in accommodating us so that Mr. Oyster could watch the NCAA Final Four out of the corner of his eye, allowing him to continue his yearly, late-March ritual of suddenly becoming an avid college basketball fan.

The drink menu at Osteria Marco, as expected, offered a zillion wines. However, we were also pleasantly surprised to see a selection of great Colorado beers on tap, including my pick for the night, an Odell IPA.

Food-wise, we started off with a meat and cheese assortment ($24 including burrata), with burrata added as an "upgrade" for $5.

Meat and cheese plate with burrata

The plate was filled with three different cured meats, three cheeses (burrata is the big white dome on the left), blackberry jam, bread, and fried wonton-like strips.

The cured meats were all excellent, but the cheeses were the real star of the show. Each had a slightly different texture. The burrata had a firm shell and a rich, cottage cheese-like center. The blackberry jam was a perfect accompaniment to it. I would have preferred more bread and none of the wonton strips on the plate.

Mr. Oyster and I also split an order of the Arancini ($7).

Arancini

My first taste of arancini came at Linger last year in the form of their bolognese-filled, Crispy Risotto Arancini. These were more plain, like the croquettes that abound everywhere in Europe. They contained the requisite fried risotto outer shell, and a gooey cheese center. I preferred Linger's version, but my dining companions liked these at Osteria Marco much more.

The arancini were served with roasted garlic aioli (at left in photo above), which I actually didn't even try, as the arancini were rich enough on their own.

We also split the Braised Rabbit ($20), which arrived in a carrot broth and was prepared with with shitake mushrooms, kale, and carrots.

Braised Rabbit

For $20, this was a seriously cheap rabbit entree. And it was fantastic. The delicate rabbit was served with the vegetables mentioned above, all perfectly prepared, and a rich carrot broth. I loved the chewiness of the mushrooms with the crunchy carrots and the tender rabbit and kale. The dish did have some small bones in it, however, which I was not expecting and found annoying work around.

The friends we ate with ordered the Fig and Crispy Prosciutto Pizza ($14) and the Artisan Pizza ($12).

Artisan Pizza

For relatively cheap, these were giant, flavorful pizzas. I especially loved the sweet and savory combination of the fig and prosciutto. I'm not sure that these pizzas were quite as good as those at Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria, but they were also a little cheaper.

Unfortunately, our meal ended there - we ran out of time for dessert as our Comedy Works show was about to start.

Osteria Marco offered some very, very tasty Italian staples at surprisingly low prices. We're looking forward to heading back for more antipasti and pizza, as well as the desserts we missed during this trip. Frank Bonanno certainly redeemed himself in our eyes with this visit to Osteria Marco.

---

Casual Dining

(8 of 10)

Pros: Great food, great beer selection, cheap
Cons: Bones in rabbit dish, similarly good pizza at other places


Website:
http://www.osteriamarco.com

Parry's Pizzeria & Bar

My husband loves pizza, he loves beer, and he loves locally-owned restaurants that are conveniently close to our house (not always an easy thing to find in Highlands Ranch). To his absolute joy, he recently noticed "Coming Soon" signs at a shopping area near our house for Parry's Pizzeria & Bar, which advertised over 50 draft handles.

Since then, Mr.Oyster has been ridiculously excited for the restaurant to open. He has repeatedly craned his neck while driving past to see how close Parry's might be to serving thirsty, hungry patrons. He has speculated as to what beers they might offer, and how good their pizza might be.

So we were very excited to attend Parry's "Friends and Family" grand opening this past Thursday at their Highlands Ranch location.

Parry's already has two other south-suburban locations, one in Parker and one in Castle Rock. I haven't been to either of those spots, but apparently they are smaller and are less beer-centric than the new Highlands Ranch location.

We arrived to a packed and lively Parry's Pizzeria & Bar. The restaurant has a definite sports bar feel to it. There's a large, separated bar room directly in front of the main entrance, where the famous 50 taps are showcased. The main dining area is also spacious, with seating in brick booths and flat-screen TVs everywhere.

Their extensive beer list included many local Colorado favorites, and other well known-beers from across the country. I ordered a White Rascal from Avery Brewing Company, and my husband enjoyed a Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat followed by a Rotator IPA.

We talked to their manager briefly about Parry's beer selection, and they certainly offer (or plan to offer) a wide variety of well-known local and national beers. There aren't many places in the south suburbs with such a sophisticated beer menu, so they will stand out from other restaurants with their beers alone.

As for our food choices, we started off with an order of their Buffalo Wings:

Buffalo Wings

Yes, that's steam coming off the top. The wings required a little bit of a wait, but they arrived at our table piping hot and fresh out of the fryer. The wings were very large, and were coated in a thick, spicy wing sauce which I thought had the perfect amount of heat for a "hot" wing.

We also ordered their "Summer of 2010" pizza, which contained pepperoni, Fontanini Italian sausage, jalapenos, and pepperocinis.

Summer of 2010 Pizza

I loved this pizza. It was cooked perfectly, and generously covered with cheese and toppings. The pepperocinis and jalapenos tasted freshly chopped, and added a pleasant heat to the pizza. The Italian sausage was extremely thinly sliced and well seasoned.

For dessert, our meal ended with a cannoli:

Cannoli

This was the only thing from Parry's I wasn't crazy about. I didn't get much of a ricotta taste from the filling, and it hadn't been piped into the center of the cannoli very well, leaving much of the cannoli shell vacant.

Parry's is likely to be a crowd-pleaser in Highlands Ranch, by keeping patrons entertained with sports, pizza, and beer, while also being a completely acceptable place to bring kids.

The staff was extremely gracious and seemed very enthusiastic about the new restaurant. Parry's apparently has large expansion plans in the works, and I'm sure they'll be extremely successful.


Casual Dining

Website:
http://www.parryspizza.com/

Cucina Colore

A couple weeks ago, we met up with Sizzling Cupcake and her friend for dinner at Cucina Colore in Cherry Creek. Neither of us knew much about Cucina Colore, but we had picked it from the list of Denver's savored.com restaurants.

Cucina Colore has an outstanding location at 3rd and Steele Street in the heart of Cherry Creek North. If you've never soaked in the atmosphere of Cherry Creek North before, let me just sum it all up by pointing out that there is a giant Lululemon store right across the street from Cucina Colore.

Our reservations were for a 7 pm dinner on a Thursday night. Inside, the restaurant was packed with attractive, well-dressed Cherry Creek types. It had a very lively atmosphere and certainly seemed to be a popular local spot.

Cucina Colore apparently offers "the contemporary expression of Italian cuisine." I'm not sure what that means, but the menu features an array of pizzas and homemade pasta dishes.

For an appetizer, we ordered the Baked Fonduta, which was a cheese dip including blue crab, spinach, and artichoke hearts, with mozzarella and fontina cheese. After assuring us that our appetizer would be "right out", we waited a significant fraction of an eternity for the fonduta to arrive.

Baked Fonduta

After our ridiculously long wait for the fonduta, we were faced with a bowl of baked cheese surrounded by a haphazard assortment of crackers. The fonduta was ok; I mostly just tasted lots of cheese and crab.

We ordered one of their wood-fired pizzas with Italian sausage, red onion, and red peppers.

Red onion, pepper, and sausage pizza

It's hard to go wrong with red onion, red pepper, and sausage as toppings. I particularly loved the spicy Italian sausage. The crust, however, was a disappointment. It was burnt at the edges but too soft in the middle. We actually ordered two of these pizzas at the table, and they were both unevenly cooked. 

As his entree, my husband ordered the Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli:

Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli

Like the pizza and the cheese dip before it, the ravioli was a letdown. The seafood filling was heavily pureed and lacked a noticeable lobster flavor. The pasta was covered with a cream sauce that was thin and weakly seasoned.

For dessert, we ordered tiramisu and cheesecake:

Tiramisu

Cheesecake

The presentation of the tiramisu was a little sloppy, and the portion a bit too big. I didn't detect much of a coffee or liquor taste, but it was basically a decent dessert.

The cheesecake, however, was extremely bland. It wasn't nearly sweet enough, and it lacked any noticeable lemon or vanilla flavor.

Even with our 30% savored.com discount, Cucina Colore felt too expensive. The tab was about $95 after our discount, including about $20 of drinks.

Cucina Colore looks and feels like a hip neighborhood spot, but tastes like a mediocre Italian chain. It also reminded me of every forgettable business lunch or dinner I've ever had. The restaurant has a great atmosphere, but service was slow and food was expensive and totally underwhelming.



Casual Dining

(3 of 10)

Pros: Great location in Cherry Creek North, lively atmosphere
Cons: Mediocre food, slow service

Website:
http://www.cucinacolore.com/

The Wooden Table

Our insatiable desire for delicious food brought us to the Wooden Table in Greenwood Village for a recent dinner. The Wooden Table is an Italian restaurant that opened just this past September, and it lies sandwiched between a couple of other shops in a pretty average shopping area at University and Orchard. We showed up to a mostly-full restaurant for reservations at 6:30 pm on a Friday night.

Despite the low-profile location, The Wooden Table boasts a co-owner who is the former Executive Chef of Osteria Marco downtown. 

Wooden Table may seem isolated in the suburbs, but it's probably appealing to the nearby residents of Cherry Hills and Greenwood Village, as there don't seem to be many comparable restaurants nearby. It filled to capacity shortly after our arrival and there was a lively atmosphere.

I rarely get worked up about restaurant decor or ambiance, but the Wooden Table seemed a bit weak on interior design. The restaurant occupies a large, sparsely-adorned single room, with white walls dotted with random black-and-white photos of trees. It felt a little empty. Also, the restaurant windows face directly out to glowing TJ Maxx and Sally Beauty Supply signs across the parking lot, so it's not a place to go for a nice view.

We started with a couple drinks and a disappointingly boring baguette with olive oil:

Bread and Olive Oil

(Yep, after that photo we decided we needed a flash. We're amateurs.)

As an appetizer, we ordered the Frutti di Mare Crudo ($13):

Frutti di Mare Crudo

Crudo is a raw, ceviche-like seafood preparation that is typically marinated in a combination of olive oil, salt, and an acid component (normally lemon or lime juice). In this case, the crudo included baby octopus, shrimp, and scallops, arranged on a layer of tonnato and chili oil. It was similar to the Insalada Frutti di Mare we enjoyed at 5280 Dines a month ago. It was light, citrusy, and loaded with tasty, fresh seafood.

We also split a half portion of the Ravioli ($10):

Ravioli (half portion)

The ravioli was stuffed with ricotta, and topped with shaved Parmesan and red sauce. The pasta was perfectly cooked, with a rich and creamy ricotta filling. The red sauce tasted a bit sweet for my preference, but was well seasoned and flavorful.

Now, let's back up a second here. Why exactly did I track down this random shopping center Italian restaurant for a slightly fancy dinner?

I had been drawn in by the allure of this:

Westword's 100 Favorite Dishes: Pork Tenderloin with Bread Pudding and Green Split Peas from the Wooden Table.

From the Westword write-up, the pork dish looked ridiculously tasty, and Apple Ham Hock Bread Pudding sounded like something I shouldn't pass up in this lifetime.

Well, my husband is really the pork lover in the relationship, so I convinced him he needed to order it.

And here it is:

Berkshire Pork Tenderloin

That's Berkshire pork tenderloin atop apple ham hock bread pudding, with green split peas and braised red cabbage ($23).

It didn't exactly look like the photo Westword posted, and it certainly didn't live up to our elevated expectations. In fact, the pork was pretty dry and weak on seasoning. I enjoyed the bread pudding, the split peas, and the cabbage, but nothing tasted particularly special, and it wasn't nearly good enough to make up for the disappointing pork.

For anyone seeking a pork dish (or, more specifically, a Berkshire pork dish), my husband's Boneless Berkshire Pork Chop at Vesta Dipping Grill last month was much, much better.

Moving on, I ordered the Meatballs ($20) for my entree:

Meatballs

That may look like regular old spaghetti and meatballs, but it was so much more than that. Somehow, The Wooden Table has managed to concoct an incredibly perfect and wonderfully seasoned meatball using veal, pork, and beef. That spaghetti-looking pasta was actually bucatini, or in layman's terms, "spaghetti with a hole down the center." Like the ravioli, the pasta was cooked just right. This was the best thing I ate at Wooden Table, and certainly more deserving of any type of "Best Dish" nod than the pork.

I'm not sure if they do this on a regular basis, but the restaurant served complimentary dessert liqueurs to all its (over-21) diners that evening. I don't care for liqueurs in any form, but my husband was happy to polish off our Amaretto and Limoncello glasses.

We finished off the meal with the Pumpkin Cheesecake ($8):

Pumpkin Cheesecake

The cheesecake was topped with a praline and pumpkin seed brittle topping, and served with whipped cream on the side. It was a lovely fall dessert, but of course we may have been easily pleased, both of us being cheesecake and pumpkin lovers. It disappeared quickly.

Two months after its opening, The Wooden Table has a basis for a great restaurant. The food is mostly very good, and the location has easy appeal for the area's residents. I felt some of the dishes needed more polish, and there's room for improvement in the ambiance.


Casual Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Food was mostly good. Pasta was excellent.
Cons: Disappointed with pork dish, boring location

Website:
http://www.thewoodentablerestaurant.com/

Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria, Vallagio

Note: This is a follow-up review for my first and second visits to Marco's, both at the Ballpark location downtown.


I can't stop eating at Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria.

After two lovely visits to Marco's Ballpark location, we've been long overdue for a trip to their south suburban spot at Vallagio.

Vallagio is some sort of newish integrated living community, with a variety of shops and restaurants placed alongside condos and lofts. Parking is a lot easier at Vallagio compared to their Five Points spot, but it lacks the downtown atmosphere and proximity to, you know, other cool stuff.

Unlike the Ballpark location, we definitely didn't need reservations for the the two of us at 7 pm on a Friday night. The Vallagio spot has a more spacious interior than Ballpark, and it also has a very large patio area. The patio was packed on the warm night we visited, but the indoor seating was only about half occupied.

We sat indoors and quickly got settled in with a couple of beers. Then, it was time to order the dish we'd both jealously eyeballed on our neighbors' tables at our last visit: the Meatball Sliders ($9).

Meatball Sliders

These came on two buttery, garlicky rolls, topped with Caciocavallo and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, and with a side of tomato sauce. They were fantastic. I love that I could smother them in red sauce before taking a bite.

To follow up our sliders, we settled on the Del Re pizza ($18). Directly from the menu: Truffle and Porcini Mushroom Pecorino Sardo Spread, Fresh Mozzarella, Topped with Mushrooms, Proscuitto di Parma, Fresh Basil.

Del Re Pizza

The Del Re was tasty but just too rich. The creamy pecorino sardo spread, coupled with the generous layer of mozzarella, was too heavy tasting for my preference. I enjoyed the flavor of the proscuitto itself, but its saltiness and meatly flavor added another level of heaviness to the pizza. Fortunately, the mushrooms were the same wonderful, chewy porcinis as the ones that sat above my beloved Brooklyn Pizza at my last visit.

The two dishes were too much food for us and we weren't able to finish off the last couple Del Re slices.

The service at Marco's in Vallagio was very good, and felt more relaxed and less hurried than the bustling downtown location.

Overall we were just as happy with the Vallagio restaurant as the Five Points one. Go to Marco's at Ballpark if you're looking for a lively atmosphere and plenty of nearby entertainment.  Check out Vallagio if you want a quieter evening or something more kid-friendly.

Website:
http://www.marcoscoalfiredpizza.com/

Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria, Repeat Visit

See original review from 5/4/2011

Last night, it was finally time to pay another visit to the delicious pizza at Marco's Ballpark location.

There were four of us at dinner, and we decided to split three pizzas between our group: The Brooklyn and the Manhattan were both new to Mr. Oyster and myself, and we also had to get ourselves another dose of my beloved Bronx pizza.

The Brooklyn pizza came with sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, red onions, fresh mozzarella, and San Marzano tomato sauce.

The Brooklyn

This was similar to the Staten Island pizza we ordered at our last visit, but without the overpowering Vidalia onions, and instead, with mushrooms and pepperoni that we loved. The mushrooms weren't typical button mushrooms (I believe they were porcini?) and they had a wonderful chewy texture and meaty taste.

The other new pizza we tried was the Manhattan, which came with basil pesto, fresh mozzarella, red onion, grape tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, Lemoncello chicken breast, and pine nuts.

The Manhattan

This pizza was beautiful and contained a million of my favorite foods as toppings, but it didn't quite live up to the Neapolitan heaven I expected it to be. The pesto was both very sharp tasting and spread very generously, making the pesto flavor strong to the point of slightly overwhelming. The cheese was also placed a little too generously, a la Pizza Republica, and the Lemoncello chicken breast didn't have near the same flavor as the wings we had at our last visit. Still good, but definitely not my favorite.

And the Bronx pizza, I love you as much as ever:

The Bronx. My favorite pizza in Denver. 

The three pizzas was a bit too much for us; we ended up taking an equivalent half pizza home. On another note, the next table over ordered the meatball sliders, and we got some major food envy staring at them. Next time.

Another excellent visit to Marco's. Try the Bronx pizza if you go.

Website:
http://www.marcoscoalfiredpizza.com

Pizza Republica

The Neapolitan pizza craze is exploding like a supernova, and sometimes I wonder if it isn't just going to begin collapsing under its own weight, imploding into a black hole and sucking in with it all kind of delicious Italian food and maybe a few random bystanders, and the next thing you know all that will be left behind are a dozen vacant restaurant facades and a consumer base wondering why they ate so much Neapolitan pizza over the last year or two.

But then I must look to myself, and realize that I am happily continuing to supporting their Neapolitan niche by eating at three such establishments in the last few months: Pizzeria Locale, Marco's Coal Fired Pizza, and now, Pizza Republica.

I knew a few things about Pizza Republica before showing up: they serve Neapolitan pizza, they're owned by the Jet Entertainment Group (uhh what?), and their website is not very user-friendly.

Once again, my husband and I were fortunate to have some taste testers with us, and we had no problem getting a table for four at the early 5 pm hour.

I was a little terrified that, given Republica's management, the interior might look like some sort of wild trendy nightclub downtown. Fortunately, it didn't. The dining area was pretty average looking for a classy pizza spot in the conservative suburbs, with high ceilings, ample lighting and a moderate noise volume.

After an excessively thorough introduction to the ins and outs of the menu from our waiter and a round of drinks for everyone, it was time to get started on the food.

We started out with the Republica Meatball ($6), which is described on their menu only as "Simply the best, ever".

Meatball Appetizer

We cut the tennis-ball sized meat sphere into fours and dug in. It was not the best ever, it was merely very good. The meatball itself was decent, but I really loved the sharp, oregano-heavy flavor of the red sauce.

We ordered three pizzas (each $16-$18) for the four of us to share. First was the Giacomo, which came with mozzarella, goat cheese, mushrooms, arugula, and fried garlic.

Giacomo Pizza

The garlic flavor was intense. See those nutty looking things on the arugula? That's crispy, delicious, fried garlic. There's even more buried among the sauce and cheese. The four of us each liked this pizza in exact proportion to how much we liked garlic. It will keep the vampires away (if you're worried about such a thing).

Next was the Rustica, which came with mozzarella, Genoa salami, Parma Prosciutto, and red pepper flakes.

Rustica Pizza

The menu advertises - or warns - that the pizza is spicy, and it is, but not nearly as spicy as I was hoping. I enjoyed the meaty toppings, but I missed the expected intense red pepper flavor.

The Vesuvius was the third pizza of the night. This one wins a few novelty points: half the pizza is meaty, half the pizza is vegetarian, and the vegetarian side is folded over to form a calzone. The meat toppings are pepperoni, capicola, and Genoa salami. The veggie side contains ricotta, goat cheese, artichoke, olives, and spinach.

Vesuvius Pizza

Now, why would anyone make a pizza like this? Who decides they want a half meaty / half vegetarian, half pizza / half calzone concoction? We did, apparently, but it is a little silly. Plus, if I were a proper vegetarian, I wouldn't want meat drippings getting all over my veggie calzone side. But it does look cool.

We finished off with the waiter's dessert recommendation, the tiramisu.

Tiramisu

I loved it. The mascarpone filling was light and creamy and sweet. I actually don't care for a strong liquor or coffee taste in tiramisu, so I was happy that both flavors were pleasantly subtle.

Overall - and this may just be personal preference - all three pizzas were too "heavy" tasting for my Neapolitan preference. They were too cheesy and too greasy, and the crust was too thick. They were otherwise well executed, but with the current glut of Neapolitan pizza restaurants I feel like I'm entitled to be picky. There's better Neapolitan pizza out there, even in the 'burbs.



Casual Dining

(6 of 10)



Pros: Decent pizza, good service, great wine and beer selection.
Cons: There's better Neapolitan pizza out there.

Website:
http://www.pizzarepublica.com/

Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria

To understand how my husband feels about pizza, think about how the Cookie Monster feels about cookies. Yep, it's pretty much the closest comparison I can make.

So it only made sense, when looking for a place near Coors Field to grab a pre-Rockies dinner with friends, to try Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria.

Knowing that Marco's would likely be packed just before a ball game, we made reservations for four for a very early 5:00 pm dinner.

My husband and I arrived about fifteen minutes early and were told that despite our reservation, we'd have to wait until our entire party arrived to be seated. Ok, no problem, off to grab a drink at the bar. Oops, we couldn't do that, all the bar stools were taken. So we sat down near the bar, at a table which we couldn't decide if it was part of the bar area or not...it wasn't. Fortunately, a couple people soon left the bar and we were able to grab two of the precious few seats available.

After a beer for each of us and the arrival of our dinner companions, we were seated at a real table. We were soon greeted by a very friendly waiter who took good care of us for the rest of the night.

To start, we had to try the Lemoncello Chicken Wings after reading rave reviews on Yelp.



Lemoncello Chicken Wings



They were well cooked and well seasoned but didn't live up to the hype. I couldn't get over the extremely charred look of some of them (part of the "coal-fired" mystique maybe but it still turned me off) and I missed the spiciness of a normal hot wing. I still don't know what "lemoncello" means, but it's not as tasty as Franks Red Hot.

Next up, it was time for the pizza that we all came for. And before even trying a bite, my husband became every excited about a certain pizza at Marco's. He likes to brag about his Italian heritage, and especially about how his family comes from the Abruzzo region of Italy. After a brief perusal of the menu, he excitedly pointed out to me that Marco's offers an "Abruzzo" pizza, which comes with a cheesy concoction of Buffalo Mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Gran Cru and Caciocavallo cheeses. In other words, a fancy quattro formaggio pizza. We ordered it, of course.

We also ordered two "New York Pies": The Bronx, topped with meatballs and ricotta cheese, and the Staten Island, topped with sweet Italian sausage, Vidalia onions, and roasted peppers.

Fortunately for my husband's pride, the Abruzzo was amazing. I don't normally order four cheese pizzas because I find them bland, but the cheeses each had a creamy and sharp flavor.

Abruzzo

Lots of cheese on one pizza is great and all, but now it's time to talk about the real shining star of the evening: the Bronx pizza. I had been skeptical about the ricotta cheese; I thought it might be overwhelming or too lasagna-y or just the wrong match for pizza dough. I was wrong. Whoever dreamed up the toppings on this pizza is a genius. The ricotta was rich and creamy and spread lightly enough on the dough to still make it manageable as finger food. The meatballs were thickly sliced, well-seasoned morsels of meaty perfection. The Bronx pizza at Marco's might be my favorite pizza, ever.

The Bronx

The Staten Island was my least favorite of the three, and the only one our group didn't finish. It was bland compared to the other two pizzas, maybe because the only cheese used was standard mozzarella, and the Vidalia onions were overpowering.

The Staten Island

We were awfully stuffed after three pizzas and an order of wings between the four of us, but apparently not that stuffed, because when Mr. Oyster saw cannolis offered on the dessert menu, he couldn't refuse. Like the pizzas that preceded it, this was as good as I could've imagined. The ricotta filling was perfectly creamy and sweet. Our waiter informed us that the filling is made in-house, but the shell is not as they don't have an oven to bake it properly.

Cannoli

Since leaving Marco's, my husband has declared it as his favorite Neapolitan pizza ever. This is a big deal from a guy who eats so much pizza.  

Marco's has a second location, closer to our lives in the 'burbs, at Vallagio. We're rearranging our calendars to try that location after the culinary joy at the Ballpark Marco's. 

If you like Neapolitan pizza, go to Marco's. Period.

Casual Dining

(9 of 10)



Pros: Pizzas are well executed and follow Neapolitan standards. Unique toppings. Excellent cannoli. 

Cons: Not nearly enough room at the bar. Won't seat incomplete parties even with reservations

Website:

http://www.marcoscoalfiredpizza.com/

Pizzeria Locale: So much hype, so little crust

There's been a lot of excitement about the opening of Pizzeria Locale's modest space east of Boulder's Pearl Street Mall.  That's mostly because it shares owners with the fancy Frasca Food and Wine, just down the street, and because of their famously painstaking effort to duplicate a true Neapolitan pizza (see Denver Post article for more details). 

My husband, my mother and myself stopped in for lunch this past Saturday.  At 12:15, they were busy enough that there were no tables available, but we were able to grab seats at the pizza bar.  Yes, the pizza bar - think a sushi bar but with pizza, centered around their fancy wood-fired oven.

The owners certainly channeled a southern European feel in their restaurant, but that may just be because everything is so small.  The space itself is small, the tables are small, the water glasses are small (with no ice, of course). 

Service was very good.  The waiter suggested that pies were "personal" sized, but we opted to split two - the Diavola and the Quattro Formaggi - between the three of us. 

The Diavola came with marina sauce, a very light spread of mozzarella cheese, basil leaves, and a spicy salami.  The Quattro Formaggi was, as expected, much heavier on the cheese, containing mozzarella, Parmesan, ovin sardo, and fontina.  While not health food, this pizza really isn't the calorie bomb most of us are used to.  If you're expecting something like an Uno Chicago Deep Dish Pizza to come out of the oven, you may not recognize what's on your plate.

I'm no Neapolitan pizza connoisseur, but the authenticity of their pies seems legit.  The crust is light, delicate and chewy.  In fact, it becomes so flimsy in the center that you probably want to eat your slice with a fork and knife.  Cheeses, sauces, and toppings were very flavorful and fresh, despite their long trek from Italy to our table. Splitting the two pizzas between the three of us was the perfect amount of food.

We finished off dinner with a biscotti, which was pleasantly soft and not too sweet. 

Overall, this pizza was decent but not too remarkable. However, for the totally reasonable prices - $9-$18 per pizza - it's certainly worth a visit.

Casual Dining
(7 of 10)

Pros:

Good service, high quality ingredients

Cons:

Good luck getting a table, but there are a dozen more restaurants nearby with a similar concept and menu

Website:

http://www.pizzerialocale.com/