PaPa J’s Italian Restaurant

Ate there last night, it was dead. The food was bland, eggplant tasted weird like it was reheated or something, didn’t taste anything like eggplant unlike other places I’ve been to. Waiter was cool but disappeared after the check was dropped off, had to get someone else to run the card like 20min later. Id’ give it a 1 star but it tasted like the leftovers and I like leftovers. especially now that I added some seasoning to it, The place used to be good like 20 years ago. there is no life to it. It needs a Gordon Ramsey intervention.

Excellent! Seafood fettuccine, and mussels fettuccine so delicious. Atmosphere is lovely. Service is great. We were personally served but Ray, the owner.

I came here to see if PaPa J’s was still in business, it was that bad for me.
I was once «a regular» at PaPa J’s for 15 years and always treated everyone fairly and respectfully. My last and final day here, I ordered the 16″ Deluxe Pizza (as was custom for me to do three or four times a month) and specified «three times» to the new waitress that «I wanted extra sauce, or as much as they could put onto the pizza» understanding the extra charge for the added sauce. My pizza arrived with «NO SAUCE» at all — dry as cardboard!
The blonde (whom I believe is a manager or co-​owner) said «she was having a hard time, and tough day» and that «she didn’t want to throw my pizza away.» Her solution, was to bring a cup of «cold pizza sauce» from the kitchen for me to spread out over the (now cooler) pizza and just improvise that way instead of redoing, or re-​prepping the pizza correctly out of the oven (with extra sauce). I then proceeded to walk out, and have not returned since.
It’s been, or what seems like approximately «3 years» today.
See what they do to 15 year regulars, imagine what kind of service «first timers» might receive.
Read the reviews, and «save your time and money!»

I really vacillated on whether to assign one or two stars to Papa J’s and ultimately decided on giving them 2 stars = «meh, I’ve experienced better». It’s been a while since we visited because, even though the food has usually been decent, I have to agree with the many other Unilocal reviewers that the service is lacking. Sadly we have found that almost without exception, the service has been slow, inattentive, abrupt and sometimes I’ve felt as though I was intruding on the server’s time, rather than a paying customer. A few times I’ve wondered if this restaurant operation might be being run as some sort of tax write off because, even if the servers are family members of the owner, I can’t seriously believe any owner would willingly hire or retain servers who don’t consistently provide top notch, pleasant service.
As to the food, it’s basic Italian style fare which has usually tasted good and the portion sizes are usually filling, and we never had anything that tasted like frozen food service meals such as other reviewers suggested. Some of the menu items seem a bit overpriced, but their food was really the only reason we kept going back. But, with many other restaurants in the metro area offering a similar menu, I doubt we’ll go back — when we get the chance to go out, the hope is to step away from our hectic lives and enjoy a pleasant, tasty meal, not to subject ourselves to surly wait staff who apparently would prefer to work in some other industry. It’s sad because 30 odd years ago this was a pretty good place to dine.

Horrible. My chicken Parmesan was still frozen in the middle. They took it back and nuked it. Then it was too tough to eat. You could barley cut it. We were a party of 12. Everyone was disappointed. Never again.

Had dinner there tonight — ordered Italian chicken, first time I’ve tried it.
It was GREAT — even the salad was the freshest I’ve had anywhere in town.
Service was great

I ate here for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered the lunch spaghetti with meatball and salad and it was only $ 5.99 It was delicious. I loved the fountain and our waitress was wonderful. Will definitely come back

If you know you are having sewer issues, don’t seat people next to the bathroom. The combination of cooking smells and sewage was very unpleasant. The food was not bad, but nothing special about it for the price. While the staff was not rude, they were not exactly friendly or attentive. It took ten minutes just to get our credit card processed, even though there was no one else having theirs done at the time.

I’m only giving one star because I have to give a star to write a review. Apprehensively brought my 4 year old daughter here for spaghetti. A friday night at prime dinner hour and we were 2 of 6 people dining here (4 of these people were going to Prom and I felt sorry for the girls whose dates brought them!) First of all, it STINKS. I really kept thinking my kid had had an accident. Nope. Just the smell of the restaurant. I decided to be «safe» and order soup and salad. The soup tasted like it was their «homemade» (from a jar) spaghetti sauce thinned out with water and had some veggies and soggy pasta thrown in, and the chicken on my salad was definitely of the frozen variety. Asked for milk for my daughter and was told «we ain’t got no milk, how about sprite, that’s caffeine free.» Took my daughter to the bathroom and it stunk even worse, the toilets were clogged and dirty. The sausage was terrible, just tasted like a meatball that had been shaped into sausage shape. Service was sloooooowwwwww. Thank goodness we only paid $ 20 and went for ice cram after to make up for it. NEVER AGAIN.

I often eat out alone. I’m perfectly comfortable doing so but sometimes it makes restauranteur’s uncomfortable. But I’m not used to being completely ignored. I was seated promptly and the hostess took my drink order which she messed up (asked for pinot noir, got pinot grigio) I wished I’d timed it but I finished my soup, ate all the bread in the basket and still sat waiting for my order of lasagna. I know they weren’t making it from scratch. And then watched my server clear empty tables until I had to ask her to bring me a box for my leftovers and the check. So disrespectful of a paying customer. Took an hour and 30 minutes for my simple dinner for one. Not like it was a social situation. To add insult to injury the hostess ignored me when I stood at the counter to pay my bill and continued to work on some paper work at the front desk. I walked out without paying

Gag the food was probably some of the worst I’ve ever had chicken Alfredo oh man I bet money the chicken came out of a can same as the sauce place was gross with bad service, every time the front door wide open it would freeze out the restaurant

We’ve been coming here for well over 25 years, and am stunned by the 2 ½ stars. The family moved to the current location several years ago, and have had some sewer problems. That should truly be the only reason to knock off a star! The food is FABULOUS!!! For the longest time I only ate the Seafood Fettuccini, because since I was little was not a fan of marinara sauce with pasta. I gradually changed it up with a chicken Alfredo dish. More recently I’ve included the calzone with meatball and green chile. Surprisingly, I’ve even begun eating the rigatoni and baked rigatoni. Oh my gosh… The baked rigatoni is Amazing!
When our daughter got married, to an Italian by the way, he and his family too were won over by the food and it was served for their reception.
While I definitely do not want to be waiting in any long line to eat, Papa J’s deserves to have a minimum of 4 stars!

I’ve been here twice. I would rate it a little under Olive Garden. Both the food and atmosphere aren’t bad, but there are better choices.

I’m having a hard time giving this place even 1 star. Papa J’s has to be one of the worst restaurants I’ve ever been to. My family and I were visiting from out of town and went to Papa J’s for dinner. The restaurant had a sewer smell, so my husband told the waiter, after we complained about it, the cook came by our table and flipped us off, when we complained to the owner he brought the cook to our table so we could identify him, and when we did they asked us to leave. The food isn’t that great either. So why bother to go to a restaurant that smells horrible when there are so many other restaurants who know how to treat their customers.

Heard great reviews about this place so thought we would try it. After a couple visits we couldn’t find the appeal. A sewer smell first kills the appetite and the food just wasn’t very good. The portions were huge but you really didn’t want to finish them or take the food home.

Struggling to get two stars.
The good: looks like an Italian Family Restaurant. Lots of bad quality (i.e. unrecognizable) sketches of personalities, implying they’ve eaten there. I don’t believe it. I’m a Nu Yawker, always on the lookout for a restaurant like this with good food. So far, no dice. Well, there’s working WI-​fi. And my girlfriend is saying «be nice».
The rest:
Service — the service was slooow. Not that many people there, came at 7pm on Friday night, not exactly a slow time at a going restaurant. Fortunately, the wi-​fi kept my impatient female occupied. However, when the meal came, and I discovered I had no spoon, the waitress kept ‘forgetting’ to bring me one and by the time she remembered, we were half-​way through the meal. Had to wait in line to cash out.
We were one of several couples using a groupon for the meal. Groupons will not save this place.
The food —
I asked about Veal Parmesan. The waitress said she hadn’t seen veal there since she started working.
I thought about ordering the pricey «Chicken Franchesca», but as this was a first visit, thought better of it. I ordered «Chicken Alfredo» which was described in the menu as a «chicken breast [on] Fettuccine Alfredo». What I got was diced chicken, some of which was gristly, mixed in with the Fettuccine Alfredo which was slightly over-​cooked. The dish was served warm, not hot. The sauce was OK, bit a bit acidic, which came back to haunt me later. I had a salad with it, which was OK, but mostly iceberg lettuce.
My pardner ordered a New York strip steak with spaghetti on the side. She said she ordered rare but received medium-​well (just a tad of pink showing). The spaghetti was «OK; average». The noodles were well past al dente. Her plate was not hot either.
Other reviewers have stated that this is a bar, first, with owner/​bartender who likes to drink with the regulars. Although I didn’t see that (it was relatively early), it would go a long way toward explaining our experience. I did not see the kitchen. Probably better to not know what I was missing.

Um… do you like to party with Italian food like I do? Then Papa J’s is the place for you! I stumbled into this family owned and operated restaurant on a Tuesday night and found an empty seat at the bar. The owners daughter, who is ridiculously nice, was my bartender. She recommended the calzone, and sweet Mary, Mother of God, did I win. This massive, meat filled delight, was the best I have ever had. She also recommended I try their Malbec with the calzone, and I double won. Family Italian restaurant + great service + ridiculously good food/​wine + great price = I have died and gone to foodie heaven. I can’t wait to come back and if there was a higher rating than 5 stars, I would definitely award Papa J’s top marks.

Papa J’s…not to be confused with Papa John’s, has been serving good ‘ol authentic home made Italian food since, well Elvis was still alive.
It’s so authentic you’d expect to see a table with the likes of Frankie «Bag a Doughnuts» Cellini, Johnny «The Sausage» Barbato, Al «Scarface» Capone… but you won’t, they’re all dead too.
I like this place, not overwhelming, not trendy, great friendly staff who paces your meal just right. It’s a great Ma & Pa restaurant with delicious homemade Italian food.
This night we strolled in, and had the pie… pizza pie. Although I prefer my sausage a little more spicy, this sausage was damn good. Give it a shot (bad choice of words), and you don’t have to worry about sitting with you back against a wall.

I started this review many times, but just felt bad writing it. Both of the times that I ate there, I left with the same feeling — Gordon Ramsay Please Help!!!
This place and the people running it have the makings of a perfect Kitchen Nightmares episode — large restaurant that they cannot fill, poor quality food that they are proud of, _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​ (because I cannot and do not want to see what goes on in the kitchen), and a forgetful owner who drinks on the job.
The good.
I see a loving father who provides a place for his wife and 2 daughters to work. If you are lucky, you will catch one of the daughters singing while you eat. She sang when we visited near Christmas, and it was a nice touch. However, all the singing in the world cannot make up for the bad food and absence of customers.
The rest.
Where do I start? Well, the restaurant is usually never near capacity, and it is a pretty large place. On the other hand, the bar is always full, but it is not that big of a bar to begin with.
The owner is the bartender, and drinks and takes shots all night. If he is paying attention, you may be able to order food. Other than that, he is slugging beers and doing shots with the regulars. Normally, I do not have a problem with an owner that drinks so long as it does not affect me. It does here. It affects the service, food quality standards, and quality control.
We tried to sample as much as possible during our visits including salads, wedding soup and minestrone soup, appetizers (fried ravioli), pasta (stuffed shells and baked ziti) with meatballs and sausage, and finally, we tried the pizza. Together, these items provided us with a fair representation of the classic (Americanized) Italian menu.
The prices were all over the place and did not make sense, as some were seemingly high and some inexpensive. If I remember correctly, the fried ravioli was somewhere in the $ 8 range and definitely not worth the price. The veges and pasta in the soups were mushy and overcooked, either because they are canned or because they are cooked all day long.
The pizza was on the inexpensive side, as it should be, because the crust was horrible. It tasted like the my homemade crust experiments, and I expect more from an Italian restaurant. We had leftover slices and threw them away when we got home.
The pasta specialties were disappointing and seemed like heat and serve items purchased from Sysco or some other food service provider. If I give Papa J’s the benefit of the doubt and assume the the items are homemade, they were likely reheated from frozen when ordered. Either way, both times I left feeling that I had been ripped off and served low quality food.
I hardly ever comment on décor and ambiance, but this place is just plain weird. Is it an Italian restaurant or Mexican? When was it last updated, if ever?
I teeter-​tottered between one and two stars. I gave it two shots, and this place did not do it for me. However, it does seem to have a small group of regulars at the bar. Since they come back, it appeals to some people.

This restaurant has been a Denver landmark for over 35 years. That seems like a very long time, for a place that’s ok.
Menu — typical Italian food, nothing fancy.
Prices — good for some items, a bit pricey for other items, for food that just doesn’t stand out.
Parking — private lot, so that’s one plus, but that’s about it.
Service — ok, no fabulous.
Sorry, that’s about all. As the 2 stars say, «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»