YUMMMMMMM!!! Ok, now that I have that out of my system.....let me tell you about Bruno's! Flat-out great service, the owner came out and visited every table, music wasn't loud, real tablecloths, decent decor. Bread was good, salads were good, the fried artichokes appetizer with lemon ailoli -very good. I had the spaghetti and meatballs which were very moist and tender and the red sauce was nice and spicy (i was getting full so I asked for a box and now I can enjoy the leftovers. The hubs had the linguini with scallops and shrimp which he loved, he had no leftovers! We finished with the chocolate gelato and the limoncello marscapone cake....oh my! Outstanding! Nothing bad to say about Bruno's....it was all good....no...it was GREAT!
Review Source:Strip Mall Italian!! I shall never doubt again! Â This place is in my hood and Adam F. and I enjoyed a lovely date night. Once you walk in and sit down, you forget you're in a strip mall. The service was great and the owner was walking around greeting everyone, always reminds me of how local and supportive I am being! The menu is limited and serves fairly standard Italian fair. I ordered the chicken picatta, which I was told it was a favorite, if you like lemon and chicken picatta. It was really good, there were two chicken breasts on it cooked perfectly and had enough for leftovers. Salads were good. Bruno you done good!
Review Source:Was searching for a nice Italian restaurant for my sister's birthday and family in town, came across Bruno's (thank you yelp). Â What a wonderful experience. The owner actually waited on us and gave us excellent service and recommendations. I had shrimp ravioli with a gorgonzola sauce, my sister doesn't particularly like ravioli so they made shrimp over pasta with gorgonzola sauce for her, both of course were excellent. Â Other sister had cioppino which was also very good and my niece had a chicken dish with artichokes and roasted red peppers which she said was wonderful. Most of these were the special of the day. Â Came with a very good salad and hot crispy bread with a great dipping sauce with sliced olives, fresh garlic and roasted peppers in olive oil. Overall experience was great and definitely will be back. Yes, the surrounding strip mall is nothing to look at, but you forget about it as soon as you walk in the door.
Review Source:I have lived in Denver for almost 6 years now and Burno's Italian Bistro is the place I have been looking for. Â Hands down the best Italian food I have found in this area. The Bistro is in a strip mall, not a big sign in front, you would never know it was there, but what a find. Very tastefully furnished, nothing flashy or anything that overtly looks Italian or ethnic in any way, just tasteful. The wait staff is dressed in black. There is a small, nice bar in the back, a small place probably seats 50. Â Not a big menu but a nice array of dishes, veal, shrimp, pasta, pizza, salad, appetizers and specials, plus a nice wine list. Â Started off with a plate of mozzarella, peppers and tomatoes with fresh basil and a vinaigrette, simple dish but everything was very tasty and just enough to get things ready for the main course. Â I had the Baked ziti with peppers, sausage and sage, topped with melted cheese. Â Absolutely fantastic, the sauce was flavorful and spicy (as requested) the pasta was cooked perfectly, cheese melted perfectly, topped with a little shredded Parmesan and black pepper. Every bite a delight. Â I could tell that the person who put this together knew what they were doing and cared about the product they were putting out to customers. The dish was a real treat and I would not have changed a thing about it. I could have eaten it all, but I decided to take a bit home so I could have that wonderful taste again tomorrow. Â I will most definitely return to Bruno's often to sample the other dishes and plan to take friends there for a great dining adventure. Some may think it is pricey but paying for good food, cooked with care and love is worth every penny. Dinner for two without wine and a hefty tip was $50.
Review Source:i had a $10 voucher for takeout & delivery courtesy of livingsocial. Â this place was fairly close to where i live and was fairly highly rated, so i placed an online order for takeout.
i had the four seasons pizza (prosciutto, artichokes, olives, and mushrooms). Â it smelled yummy on my drive home, but it wasn't as tasty as i had anticipated. Â i hate to be this harsh, but i honestly think it tasted like a frozen pizza from the grocery store. Â i was not a fan of the pizza dough, and the crust was not as thin as i had expected. Â i do have to note that i was somewhat misled by the menu on livingsocial, as they had listed it as a thin crust pizza. Â and after going to the business's website, and seeing that it is not specified as thin crust, this is where the discrepancy comes from. Â
another thing i wanted to mention was that i went through half the individual pizza before i came across a piece of prosciutto. Â can't really complain though because i was ultimately only responsible for tax and tip.
We found out about Bruno's via Yelp, and were impressed by the great reviews. I think we must have gone on an "off" night, however. The bread is something that was praised in the other reviews to the high heavens. It was basically just a roll, overcooked and dry. The "sauce" that came with it was great, though. Our entrees were very tasty, though very, very rich. My wife had the Veal Parmigiana and I had the Carbonara. Both very good, hot and served promptly. The dinner salad was basically almost a honeymoon salad --- just lettuce alone. It really needed some inspiration, and some more veggies, though the balsamic vinegar dressing was very good. We ordered the chocolate mousse cake and cappuccino for desert. The mousse cake was pretty uninspired, though OK. The waitress had raved about it. Again...OK, nothing to get too excited about. "the cappuccino I left...it was terrible. There was no foam on it, the espresso was incredibly bitter (almost tasted very old) and the only good thing to say about the cappuccino is that it was served hot. The waitress tried to re-make it, but it was just as bad. Cappuccino isn't rocket science, and we do quite well with our maker at home.
The service was very good. The waitress was pretty attentive, but didn't bug us.
The restroom stank and needed attention. And when you enter the front door, the place smells a bit of chlorine cleaner. That was a little off-putting.
I'm always leery of eating out on Sunday night, as restaurants put on their "B" team. We'll try it again on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday. But I don't think it quite lived up to the Yelp hype it got. After the build-up, I was a bit disappointed in them, though it was an OK to good Italian dinner.
When I want really good Italian food, there are only two restaurants that pop into my head: Â Cafe Jordano in Lakewood and Bruno's Bistro in East Denver.
Bruno's is unfortunately located in a dying shopping center in a - shall we say interesting? - part of town, but it is at least fairly easy to get to from wherever you are coming from and parking is ample. Â The restaurant doesn't look like much from outside, but step through the doors and you'll be impressed by the surprising warm and elegant decor complete with a gorgeous bar and waterfall feature.
I have never, ever seen Bruno's packed which is nice for us since we are not really the reservation type. Â I would like to see it pick up a little though because I fear this is one of those too well-kept secrets about Denver dining.
The wine selection is very good. Â The bread always comes out hot and the olives and garlic in the oil are a really nice touch. Â As far as appetizers go, you can't go wrong with the risotto: it is lick-the-plate-clean good! Â For an entree I highly recommend the veal saltimbocca with spinach gnocchi cream sauce. Â It's so rich you can easily take half of it home for a second meal. Â The pricing is not cheap but neither is it overpriced. Â This is the kind of place you'd take friends to that you haven't seen in a long time or a romantic night out so you can enjoy good food, good wine, and quiet, friendly service.
We were attending a class in the area and found Bruno's on Yelp, always looking for someplace differnet and was not close to home. What a suprize to end up at a NOT SO NICE strip mall and find this very nice Italian Bistro, I thought it might of been another pizza joint but to our suprise it is very very nice. We ordered Chicken Marsala, and Clams in a pesto sauce both were just delicious!!!! Â Warm toasty bread, a fresh salad with house made dressing. We are thrilled to of found a yummy new place that we will drive the extra 5 miles. Strongly suggest you check it out..Ignore the Dollar store next door.
Review Source:OK, what to say......
Interior - nice colors, easy to move around in.
Food - the pasta is good. We had the spaghetti, and the eggplant parmesan. Both were very good. I ordered the eggplant parmesan. My husband ordered the spaghetti with meatballs. We each had 1/2 of the others. I liked the eggplant, but must admit that I LOVED the spaghetti with the meatballs. The sauce was one of the best sauces I have ever tasted. The blend of spices was incredible! The meatballs were also very good.
We ordered a pizza to go. We were disappointed. It looked good, but when we tried it, not so good. It seemed like one of those pizzas that you finish baking at home, nothing special about it, very disappointing.
Parking - private parking lot, so no problem there.
Location - in a strip mall, with very few other businesses there. It does seem rather desolate.
Prices - Â not bad.
Service - good
Will we go back, most likely not anytime soon. The pasta was good, but the pizza, not so good. All in all, OK.
I know it is in a strip mall, but give Bruno's a chance. Â The food is so good that you will ignore the fact that it is next to the Family Dollar. I am serious.
I have tried a few different dishes, but I always come back to the chicken marsala. I am a marsala fiend, and Bruno's does it right.
The staff is friendly, and the wine is tasty as well. I have nothing bad to say about this place.
Go there. Do it.
I've given Brunos two tries, but it's just pretty bad Italian food. We got mussels as an appetizer and half were still frozen. Then the pizza I got was burned on the bottom. The place is nice on the inside, but the food is just nothing great, and wayyyy to expensive for what is offered. Too bad, I had high hopes :-(
Review Source:I'm a fan of Bruno's. Â The food is consistently good, and the service has always been great. Â I used to go here once a month (when they were open for lunch), and I still go once a quarter. Â The location is less-than-beautiful (which has been discussed plenty on Yelp) but once you're inside the door, I actually find the place kind of cozy and charming. Â Give it a try if you're in the neighborhood.
Review Source:This is some good food right here.
Yes, Bruno's is in a strip mall. So if you eat out on the patio you have a lovely view of..... a Family Dollar store. But don't let that discourage you. The food is delicious. I probably would not recommend this as a special occasion destination only because of the atmosphere. But it would be a great place to go if you've got family in town and you want good food in a relaxing environment. The staff is friendly too.
This place is totally nicer than it looks... the place is tucked in a shopping mall plaza, if i remember correctly next to a dollar store haha. Â But when we got inside the decor was very nice and they were setting our table up. Â We were seated and greeted my our waitress, she took our drink orders and we ordered the steamed clams in white wine sauce. Â The bread the give you is freshly baked and is awesome to dip in the white wine sauce! Â I ordered the chicken marsala with angel hair pasta, my friends ordered the lasagna and the special of the day which was chicken and sausage in a creamy marinara sauce. Â My marsala sauce was watery then other places I've tried before, the mushroom flavor was there though. Â I tried the lasagna and it was pretty good as well and but the special of the day was my favorite out of our three main entrees. Â The only reason I give this place a 3 star was the wait for our entree was much longer than we expected, they were a bit backed up but we didnt really mind. Â I still have to say this italian restaurant was pretty good!
Review Source:Live in the neighborhood and used to frequent Bruno's years ago when it was owned by Bruno. It was OK, and the atmosphere meh. They closed and it sat empty for 3 years, but miraculously re-opened about 18 mos ago. Went with the fam on Sunday and wow...it's a whole new Bruno's! Excellent food and excellent value. Wifey had a clams vongole, the boy had a mixed seafood pasta special, the daughter snagged the baked ziti and I treated myself to veal parm. All of it was fantastic, as was the calimari and brushetta appetizers. Decent wine list too. Check it out.
Review Source:Wow, where do I start.
I wanted to take my girlfriend out to a nice Italian dinner. I have a couple of places I usually go, but I said lets give Brunos a try.
As we walked in I saw what to be a very small and kind of cheasy dining atmosphere. We got sat and somebody broght us a water and bread with some olive oil to dip. There were 2 waitresses on and only 4 people in the whole place(including us). Our waitress finally made her way over to us and quickely ran down their specials for the night. I asked her about the steak with shrimps , she couldnt tell me what steak it was, how many oz. or how many "shrimps" came with it, so she leaned over my shoulder and read it off the menu description, but she somehow knew "it's very delicious". Don't lie to me, just tell me you arent sure and go check with the chef and let me know.
So I did get the braised pork shank. Delicious. However was rather dissapointed in the accompanying veggies. Spinach was fresh but the mushrooms and red peppers were both from a can. So all I ate was the Pork Shank. My girlfriend got the Veal parm, she said it was ok.
 So to sum up the evening I decide to get the "freshly made chocolate gelato". 3 tiny tiny scoops, not fresh. Unless they add chunks of freezer burnt ice chips for flavor, the hershey syrup was a nice touch as well.
 I reluctantly give Brunos 2 stars. I only do that because all though the wait staff was not very in touch with their food knowledge(or drinks for that matter,she didnt know what Still water is) they were nice. For a meal I did not enjoy, the bill came to 53.00 I left her 70$. I will not be back, and I will not reccomend Brunos to anyone.
The Dude and I decided to give this (formerly unknown to us) Italian joint a try for Restaurant Week 2011. Â Appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert course PLUS glass of house red or white -- quite a deal!
I made reservations some time ago on Open Table, however, upon arrival last night they did not have my name down. Â Thankfully, a two-top was getting ready to leave, and they were apologetic for not having my name down. Â We only waited a few minutes by the (small) bar before moving to our table. Â The interior is warm; clean without being sterile and still casual enough that we saw plenty of couples come in wearing jeans (and nicer shirts). Â We received bread quickly after being sat. Â The bread was warm, crusty on the outside, and soft on the inside (yum). Â The dipping oil had kalamatas and sundried tomatoes as an added bonus.
We managed to snarf down the bread before anyone came over to greet us. Â When she finally did, she asked the ever-loaded "Has anyone been by to help you yet?". Â Luckily, I've waited tables before, and we hadn't been waiting that long. Â So it wasn't a big deal. Â Also, it gave us time to decide each course so we got our wine and food order taken all at once, and the food appeared in a timely manner from there.
We chose the fried artichokes for an appetizer (other choice was steamed mussels). Â They were artichokes battered in something similar to calamari batter, fried, served atop spinach with roasted red peppers and garlic aioli. Â It was certainly a hearty portion between the two of us, and probably what did me in when I was too full for my entree later. Â Up next we each got a cup of their minestrone. Â It wasn't the best I've ever had; I probably would not order it on its own. Â And after that came the house salads (other choice was a Caesar). Â I read a previous review that said they make their own Italian and Balsamic dressings; The Dude and I ordered one of each. Â The Balsamic was pretty standard fare, but the Italian was no good. Â It just tasted like vinegar and was pretty disappointing overall.
Then came the entrees. Â The Dude selected the Shrimp+Scallops Scampi with linguine; I chose the Eggplant Parmesan. Â Mine came with a side of spaghetti with some kind of pesto-y sauce, mushrooms, peas, and roasted red peppers. Â I like each element of the dish (the eggplant and the pasta), but I wasn't a big fan of them together. Â Next time I would request just plain pasta and more red sauce, but that's a personal preference. Â Both items were quite tasty. Â The Dude said his seafood tasted fresh, and had a nice balance of flavors. Â They were full portion sizes, so I only took a few bites of mine and had the rest boxed up for another meal. Â Bonus! Â Also, they seem to use the "parmesan cheese" from the green shaker can (looks akin to a Comet can), which I feel is kind of lowbrow for a place like this.
We selected the tiramisu for dessert (out of that, Spumoni, chocolate gelato, or cannoli). Â We thought it sounded the best, but after eating it I suspect the chocolate gelato may have been superior. Â I could be wrong, but it seemed as though their tiramisu is made with (real) whipped cream instead of marscapone. Â It didn't have a lot of flavor and it was mostly whipped cream (or whatever it was) with a single layer of not-very-espresso-soaked lady fingers. Â But the presentation was pretty and at least it came across as housemade.
I'm not sure we'd drive over to that side of town to visit again (another oddly located Italian bistro in a run-down strip mall...), but it was a great deal for Restaurant Week. Â I suspect if they participate again next year they might be a front runner for reservations. Â Let's just hope if they are and I do make reservations, they actually have me down that time...
Wow-What a wonderful surprise. Â I have had Bruno's bookmarked since 07. Â I just have always put it off for what I thought would be better. Â Shame on me. Â
We are slackers, I admit, and we didn't make reservations on Christmas Eve. Â Everywhere that was open was booked solid, for the entire evening. Â I found out that Bruno's was open and had availably for 4 through Open Table. Â Since I've had it bookmarked I thought why not? Â And I had no idea where else we would go for a decent meal.
We knew we struck gold when they  brought us fresh toasted bread with a great oil dipping sauce.  I immediately saw crispy polenta on the menu as an appetizer and without even reading the description, ordered it.  We knew we really struck gold once it was served.  We all devoured it and literally could have licked the bowl clean of the sauce.  The polenta was fried to a crispy brown but was still smooth and silky on the inside.  It was smothered in the most fantastic sauce that consisted of mascarpone, panceta, and, roasted tomatoes, and fresh spinach. To Die For!!  It was so rich and had a sweet bite to it from the mascarpone.  When we finished the polenta we dipped our bread in the rest of the sauce.
We opted for the minestrone soup instead of salads, but they did say they make their own Italian and balsamic vinaigrette so I'm sure those are both very good. Â The minestrone was home made and the best I've had. Â The flavor was fantastic. Â There was a good amount of fresh ingredients in it, not all broth. Â
Our entrées hit the mark as well.  My friend and I each ordered linguine in a white wine sauce topped with a feast of seafood.  Calamari, scallops, shrimp, muscles AND clams, hooray!  The sauce was again, fantastic.  It complimented the seafood so well.  The pasta was cooked perfect al dente.  We both loved our dishes.  The other 2 in our party had chicken parm and spinach ravioli that looked fantastic and they both raved about.  The chicken parm was served with a side of   pasta giardino, a basic spaghetti tossed with fresh veggies in a light oil type sauce.  The portions are large, enough for leftovers the next day.
For dessert we all split a slice of home made Tiramisu. It was different than any other I've ever had. Â It was light and fluffy and had a very thin layer of lady fingers.
Our server was so nice and the owner came to our table to make sure everything was satisfactory. Â They didn't even rush us, or make us feel rushed, on Christmas Eve when we were the last people in the restaurant and I'm sure everyone wanted to get home to their families. Â
I should also add that we had 2 bottles of wine and all that food and our bill was under $200. Â Bruno's just made some new patrons I do believe. Â We were all very impressed and are looking forward to going back again and again.
I love this place! The food is incredibly delicious, and the service is outstanding. If there is something on the menu that you don't see and would like (in my case, Chicken Francese), the chef/owner will make it for you. Don't be fooled by the strip mall location-- this restaurant is fantastic!
Review Source:A friend of mine suggested that I go to Bruno's if I want to have great Italian food. So I did go there with my brother and was amazed, the food and service was really good, the decor was to nice for a neighborhood place but its really good and that's why I took my date there.
first time I had the Chicken and Sausage with Creamy Marinara which was the best, the second time with my date i wanted to be more fancy so I ordered Chicken Parm Siciliano and was amazed again. I will be going back every time I want Italian food, and I recommend it to anyone.
Tucked away in a nondescript strip mall, Bruno's has a modern interior with white table cloths, a water feature, good lighting and an overall comfortable ambiance.
As for the food, we started with the fried polenta in a bechamel sauce with pancetta, roasted tomatoes and fresh spinach. Â This was quite enjoyable. Â The polenta was perfectly prepared with the right amount of crunch on the outside and still creamy and tender on the inside.
I had the sausage lasagna and my friend had osso bucco. Â The osso bucco was a pork shank in a sauce that was not a reduction of the osso bucco pan juices, but more of a thinner broth with mushrooms, spinach and roasted red peppers. Â Though it was not a traditional osso bucco by any means, it was still quite flavorful and the portions were quite generous.
My lasagna was a straightforward rendition of the Italian classic. Â The sauce was clearly made with a high quality Italian plum tomatoes with just the right amount of garlic. Â Though the tomatoes provided a brightness of flavor, it was still very hardy and the bechamel sauce was a nice touch.
The dessert was a house made tiramisu. Â Neither of us was impressed by this effort. Â It did not taste like it had mascarpone at all, but simply whipped cream. Â Also, a higher ration of lady finger to whipped cream ration would have been good.
The wine prices are reasonable, especially by the bottle. Â My friend had a glass of Monte Antico Chianti Classico for $7.
The service was attentive, but not hovering. Â All the wait staff seemed fairly personable. Â Everyone seemed to help out when they noticed we were finished with our plates or low on water. Â The service was quite good.
Overall, Bruno's is definitely worth a visit and we will go back again.
My wife and I decided to explore and find a new (to us) Italian Restaurant in our area. I found Bruno's on Yelp and decided to give it a try. We showed up around 6 pm on a Wednesday evening and the place was nearly empty. A gentleman who I can only assume was the owner/manager welcomed us, sat us and took out drink order. He offered to extend the posted "happy hour" for us (which was nice)
In a nutshell- service was great, food was slightly  above average, and I thought the prices were a bit high for what we got. I ordered the Veal Saltimbocca with gnocchi and my wife had the chicken pasta special. My veal was nothing special, but the gnocchi and spinach cream sauce were very good. I'll go back again if the mood strikes me right.
Bruno's was the quintessential neighborhood Italian restaurant for years. It went downhill and closed and is now back under a new owner and better than ever. It is the best Italian in Denver that I know about. Expect to spend about $25/person for everything. No visit is complete without their tiramisu. For kids, you can't beat the macaroni and cheese with homemade macaroni and piles of freshly grated mozzarella cheese. In general, the standard menu is better than the specials.
Review Source:Gave another shot -- this time had the owners as waiters.
"What a difference a day makes" Â sang the HTB , who really enjoyed his lobster ravioli, however at $25.99 Â should have been made with chunks of lobster instead of a puree, and for that matter, been made on-site.
Food was out of the kitchen and served in such record speed, that it was our turn to be  home before others were served.
I really liked the wine list, and that Silver Palm for $9 a glass will have me coming back -- Â I think this is the type of place that will grow with us, and I see more stars in the future.
I come from a long line of italians who like to eat. I would recommend Bruno's to all of them and I'm rather picky about my dining experiences.
I was skeptical given the location of Bruno's but I thought I would keep an open mind - after all I was in the mood for italian. I've lived here for 4 years and have yet to be wowed by any italian eateries in Denver thus far.
With two friends who ordered the special and the chicken marsala, I explained that I, though it may portray me as 12, was going to order the spaghetti and meatballs. You'd think spaghetti and meatballs is one of those things that's easy to do - oh - no. PLENTY of places try this and screw it up. Bruno's got it exactly right -- from the start.
We were greeted promptly and had water ready for us before asking. I had a glass of the "house special" pinot noir ($7) which was much better than I was expecting for the price. Shortly thereafter hot bread appeared on the table with olive oil.
Our meals all came with salads which were decent house salads, but what was FANTASTIC was the minestrone my friend had. She graciously offered me some. I told her I would just have one spoonful. After the second spoonful I let them know that this was in fact the best minestrone I have EVER had (sorry mom).
What made the spaghetti and meatballs so good? Not one thing, but everything. The spaghetti was al dente - so many places don't cook the pasta properly - it was perfect. The hand-rolled meatballs were just great. And the sauce. I judge most italian places on their red sauce as a central element/necessity. This sauce was clearly homemade and clearly fresh. The spice balance was exact and perfect for the spaghetti and meatballs. Just thinking about it now, I want to go back.
My friends both raved about their meals as well.
The decor is simple and nice. Dressed up enough for a nice evening out, but not stuffy to make you feel uncomfortable. Our service was also excellent and attentive.
Finally, one of the owners came over to check on us and make sure everything was ok. No, it was not ok. It was excellent.
Give this place a try and see what you've been missing out on.
MANGIA!
I gave Bruno's five stars because there wasn't one tiny thing wrong with anything that we ate there. The fact that it's in a strip mall totally goes by the way side after you eat the wonderful food. My snapper with a garlic sauce and sauteed veggies was to DIE for and my husband's veal parm was absolutely tasty. Another person in our group had chicken and it was prepared to perfection. The kids had spaghetti with homemade meatballs that I couldn't keep my hands off of ...
The sauces are wonderful, the cocktails were refreshing and made well and the chocolate gelato kicked butt!! The prices are amazing for what you get a great salad with the entrees ...
Run, don't walk to Bruno's .. great place for a group and if you're lucky enough to live down the street like us, you have a new favorite neighborhood bistro to call your own!!
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
