Raul Alderete, Optometrist

I have never had such quality, one on one, attention from a Doctor ever before. Dr. Alderete truly cares about his patients and will make himself available to help in any way possible. Dr. Alderete has a very well rounded background in eye health and has been doing it for over 30 years. He also works within prisons to help inmates with their eye health. I find this very admirable because that is not a population that most people want to work with. He is very patient and caring.
The only downside is the parking. Street parking is a nightmare and the parking garage next door is super expensive. Once I called when I was 2 blocks away and Dr. Alderete met me at the curb to personally hand me my contacts. He will go above and beyond like that when he can.

Dr. Raul was such a pleasure to work with! He takes the time to learn about all your needs and I left feeling like I got the best treatment in town. I believe he actually cares about getting you the right pair of glasses as opposed to just wanting your money. I would definitely recommend him!

I went to see Dr. Alderete for the first time and had a great experience. He was very personable, spending a lot of time with me that he didn’t necessarily have to spend. I was convinced my eye sight had gotten a lot worse than it actually had, and after the exam he told me I could continue to use my old glasses because the difference in my vision was so slight! Most eye doctors make you get new glasses no matter what just to make more money, and he is definitely not that guy. So many doctors take advantage of patients just to make a buck, was really happy to see Dr. Alderete is not one of those people. I highly recommend him!

Wow! The other reviewers sure do run the gamut. They either love him or hate him.
I agree that Dr. Alderete is a bit hyper, and he is a tenacious stickler for accuracy. But, he measures for the most perfect prescription of any dispensing optician I’ve experienced in many years.
I have a very difficult prescription to put into a pair of eyeglasses and I have been disappointed by poorly made glasses from the chains (America’s Best was the worst). This guy measures, and re-​measures. When I put on my new glasses, my vision was crystal clear the first time.
His office handled all the insurance paperwork and was right up front with my total expense. I will always recommend Dr. Alderete.
WARNING… Don’t show up without calling ahead. This isn’t a walk-​in showroom like in a strip mall or at the mall. He is quite popular and equally busy.
(BTW — He volunteers his services and expertise at facilities for battered women — women who often have eye damage afflicted by their abusers.)

It might be the best scam I was ever convince of falling for. I have had contacts for 10 years and I have never once had a doctor do a «contact fitting.» Well the only reason he got away with this was because he said my right eye needs to be «special» ordered, it took more than a week to get it in and then when I went in to get my «fitting» it was, conviently, the wrong prescription. He then did the exam AGAIN and found that he HAD the right prescription in his office the whole time! He says to me, «see, that is why we like to do fittings.» My insurance would have given me a 25 dollar co-​pay but instead, he made me pay 25 for the exam and 30 for the «fitting.» Need less to say, he got away with 30 extra dollars and I will never go back, he lost a life long client.

Went in for a simple contact lense prescription to correct a minor astigmatism. His instruments were apparently resulting in differing readings which somehow complicated things. Even though I brought in my previous prescription he kept saying he only knew my prescription for one of my eyes since I only brought in one old boxes of contacts (I have different powers in each eye). But the prescription clearly had both eyes. Then it took 14 days to get my first trial pair of contacts, and they never called back on the second pair that was supposed to be forthcoming. I proceeded to go another great doctor (the Bent Lense, who is great) and I never heard from Alderete until a bill showed up 6 months later.
Bottom line, the doc is nice but scatter brained, unorganized, and the office was not able to bring in simple trail lenses.

I was referred to Dr. Alderete by a friend of mine. He greeted me at the door and chatted with me while I was filling out my intake form. Dr. Alderete was incredibly thorough in explaining every process. When I asked about online eyeglass boutiques, he did not try to stray me from considering purchasing my glasses from there as a way to save some money. I felt like he had my best interest in mind throughout the appointment. He was friendly and courteous and I plan to recommend him to anyone who is interested in finding an optometrist in the Denver area. As I work downtown he is also a good choice because he is so close to my office.

Absolutely LOVE Dr. Alderete. He took the time to make sure that my prescription was right. Other doctors have rushed me through the eye exam and I don’t feel like they ever got it right. I left his office feeling like I could see the world in HD. I am so happy with my glasses and will continue to go to him and recommend him to my friends.

Optometrist visit was like a trip to the fun house.
Dr. Alderete is in short, a trip. He is smart, made me laugh during my exam and we definitely ran the gamut of conversation beyond just vision. That being said, he seemed to have a way of saying the same thing three times in slightly different ways. After a while, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone and was having an out of body experience due to the predictability of his speech habits. As an optometrist however, he is competent and I walked out of my visit w/​prescription in hand. He also didn’t try to up-​sell me on contacts, suggesting instead that they are usually cheaper online.
His assistant… also a trip. Perhaps it just a flat affect and I’m misinterpreting what seems like a power trip behind the desk. I’ll leave it at that.
Parking = nightmare x 10. This fact alone would keep me from going back.
This review actually pains me because I really like to focus on positives and there just weren’t any for me in this experience.
Sad panda. :{

Just the facts as to what happened when I visited Dr. Raul Alderete, Optometrist, in Denver, Colorado:
* Dr. Raul Alderete, Optometrist, actually yelled at me in his office while I was getting my eyes examined! Telling me he «didn’t care!» whether I wanted to decline a pupil dilation procedure or not, that it would be done «one way or another!» My wife said she could hear this outburst in the lobby and was scared. This outburst, I have to admit, made me feel like there was something psychological going on here in this cat’s head.
* Dr. Raul Alderete, Optometrist, Denver, Colorado– said he did not know of any way for me to try on contact lenses of different colors and/​or brands without actually buying them first.
(Somehow other optometrists I have been to for the last 20 plus years were able to let me try on contacts of varying color and brand without having to pay for each pair first; but Dr. Raul Alderete was not able to figure out any way to allow for it. The prescription I eventually got from him about a month after the eye exam, was for the exact same pair of contacts I had previously but with only a slightly different prescription.)
*After my eye exam Dr. Raul Alderete said he could not issue a prescription for me without first seeing the eye exam from the previous optometrist I had seen years ago… and «getting» this previous prescription apparently took several weeks.
Afterward, I called several other local area eye care professionals who expressed confusion to me as to why Dr. Raul Alderete had this requirement, and it certainly slowed the process of acquiring the prescription that I had already paid for. So, I paid for an eye exam and could not get an actual prescription for about a month afterward – and I was unable to try on any different colors or brands because he said he just could not do it without me having to buy them first.

Best eye doctor I’ve ever been to. Not joking. It is rare that a doctor in any field will spend over 20 minutes with a patient. Dr. Alderete spent nearly 2 hours with me discussing vision, vision concerns, doing the eye exam, explaining why my eyes hurt, looking at my current glasses/​prescription, dilating my eyes… I could go on all day. He is amazing as is his assistant! He does have the largest selection of glasses, but he has all the hottest new styles and the classics, and a fair amount of sunglasses. I picked out a nerdy black rim pair (exactly what I was looking for), and will hopefully be rocking them next week.
Convenient location for all the downtown worker bees, as he’s right at 17^th and California in the garden level of the bank building. He is kind, thorough, listens to every single thing, asks lots of questions and helps you understand what your eyes do (besides just see), and gave me a great amount of eye drop samples!
I love him. I will be back! I recommend if you work downtown, you go to him for all your eye care needs.

I can’t remember the last time I went to the doctor — any doctor — and felt something other than 1. dread (dentist) 2. annoyance (migraine doctor) 3. like I’d rather be getting every hair on my body simultaneously plucked (lady doctor.) I think my visit to Dr. Raul was the first time it didn’t bother me hanging out for a few hours with a doc.
Dr. Raul is awesome. He’s super friendly, funny, has like 30 years experience as an eye doctor, and for some reason makes getting your eyes checked as entertaining as it can get. Also, I’m on one of those VSP vision plans, so it’s not like he’s getting a ton of bucks out of me. I paid a $ 20 copay on my first visit only, and had a follow up visit a week later to make sure the lenses fit at no charge, and another visit about a month later to pick up my lenses and get my eyes dilated at no charge. Oh, and 4 boxes of contacts. It almost makes me feel ill to think how much I’ve spent at places like LensCrafters over the years on other vision plans.
A few notes: Unless you’re desperate, don’t park in the garage right next to the Steele Street building. They charge $ 4/​hour. Ouch.
Also, it took about a month for me to get my contact lens order in, so if you need lenses quickly you might want to ask about expedited service.
Funny tip: Having trouble parallel parking? Let Dr. Raul teach you. While I was waiting for my eyes to dilate, I had a very interesting session with contact lens solution boxes and learned out to park properly. Mmhhmm.