Papa Mazzotti’s

This place is a classic. A true Thornton staple, nestled the sweet little town of Eastlake. Everything is fresh, you can’t beat the homemade spaghetti, and the service is great. Anyone who says it’s not legit, simply doesn’t know Italian and should probably stick to Pizza Hut or Olive Garden if they think they’re in the mood for Italian food.

We have had not so great service here in the past, but last night was the worst. At 5:50 pm I placed an order by phone and was told it would be ready in 30 minutes. I arrived at the restaurant at 6:25 pm. My presence was finally acknowledged at 6:35. They brought my bill and took my payment right away. At 6:55 my food was brought out, I said it didn’t look correct because I didn’t think everything I ordered was there. Someone else came to ask me what the problem was, we went thru everything and not only was I missing an entrée but the other two entrees were both wrong. One order was supposed to have the sauce on the side and it was covered in sauce. The other wrong order was supposed to be fettuccine Alfredo with chicken, no chicken. They took everything to the back to make it right. I finally got my order at 7:25. When we finally got home and ate our dinner it wasn’t very good. It was pretty obvious that rather than make fresh meals they simply salvaged what they could from the original dishes and added to them. The spinach dip and salads had obviously been sitting around for over an hour. The restaurant said sorry about the wait, but they didn’t even offer any compensation for the inconvenience. If I hadn’t already paid, and was unable to even get someone’s attention to ask for my money back, I would have walked out. We have patronized this restaurant in the past, the service has not always been the fastest and the food is usually good, however it is very unlikely that we will ever go back again.

This great little restaurant is nestled in a neighborhood. From The wait staff to cook everybody there was polite and just made it an enjoyable meal. The food was incredible from the salad all the way through to the desert it was all great and you can just taste the homemade flavors. This is one of those hidden gems you only come across every once in awhile I definitely would recommend it to anybody in the area

This restaurant has been around quite a while at a location nearby, but more recently opened in a former house located in Eastlake, Colorado (just East of I-​25 & 128^th Ave). The lasagna and spaghetti are delicious. The restaurant is a bit small and tables somewhat close together so not a great intimate feeling. But, the service is always good, food is delicious, and the wine selection is always pleasing. Give this place a try, you will not be disappointed.

I normally love this location. We’ve been here a number of times. Tonight 03÷18÷16 we had some of the worst service we have ever had. We called and a made a reservation ahead of time because we had 7 adults and 2 babies. We arrived a little before our reservation time and our table was not ready for another 30 minutes. (They don’t normally do reservations so this was understandable). Once we ordered it literally took longer than an hour to get our food out to us. It was our daughters first birthday we arrived around six and did not get out of there until 8:30 pm. Total bummer to have to wait so long especially with two little ones. We could audibly hear people yelling in the kitchen, like they were understaffed or something. I felt bad for all the other people in the restaurant everyone was waiting over an hour for their food, some people even left. One group requested a complete refund.

Waited 20 minutes for a table. Waited about an hour for our entrée. Food came out cold. Charged us for stuff we didn’t order. Entrees were missing servings. Had to flag down waitress for refills. Don’t recommend. Too bad.

If you like Traditional Pastas and Italian sauces…
You would be doing yourself a disservice not to give this mom and pop a shot!
I love the Dive feel of this place. Reminds me of Little Italy in NY City in the 90’s.
Deliciouso!!!

Clean, friendly staff, looped music (that’s ok), bread– from Wal-​Mart, salad– bagged king soopers. Lasagna– a large manicotti came out of the fridge, speckled with sausage, reheated in the microwave (a pool of water inside the casserole dish is telling) smothered in sauce. No gooey mozzarella at all. The sauce yes homemade, overloaded with red wine then burned. If you’ve ever put meatballs & sauce in a pan & turned the heat up until it stuck to the bottom… that was it. I grew up in an Italian neighborhood & I can tell you No self respecting Nonni would eat here nor would they admit they ate here unless they were trying a «sauce intervention» with the cook or to beat the cook with thier scuffie so they could take over the kitchen

MMMMM! fresh, homestyle Italian food, I loved it– friendly staff and best meal I’ve had in a long time, thank you!

One of the worst meals I’ve ever eaten in my life. You start your $ 20 a plate meal with a wonderful, fresh out of the Walmart bagged salad with a ‘homemade’ Italian dressing that I can only assume is canola oil, a healthy dose of white vinegar, and dried Italian seasoning from the dollar store. Yum. Don’t forget to look to the center of the table for your deliciously untoasted Italian white bread fresh from the local King Soopers with a few pats of butter on the side.
While you wait a lifetime for your entrée to be prepared, feel free to gaze around at the stunning dollar-​store picnic tablecloths and mismatched chairs that came out of Grandma’s basement.
Once your meal is finally ready, you’re treated to a deliciously rancid, sickly sweet marinara sauce atop of their fresh pasta, cooked a few minutes past its prime. The sausage and peppers crowning it are wonderful as well, adding a nice pool of grease to the bottom of your plate to ensure easy evacuation for this sorry excuse of a meal the next day. See another Unilocaler’s photo for what to expect there; I had the same experience.
Sarcasm aside, I wanted to find a good local place for good Italian food. Unfortunately, the owners should be ashamed of this garbage; it’s no wonder Olive Garden has a line out the door in this zip code. Shame we can’t get any decent non-​chains in the area with competent chefs. As it stands, I’d rather have a $ 2 frozen box of Texas Toast, a $ 1 pack of spaghetti, a $ 2 bottle of ragu and a salad mix for $ 2 — totaling $ 7 for two people — than this $ 40+ for two garbage.
This is the Perkins of Italian cuisine; it’s for the elderly locals with no taste buds left who enjoy paying inflated prices for junk.

I did not feel like cooking the other night so I called and placed an order to go. I called to place the order and I was told it would take about 20 — 25 minutes to prepare. I said that was okay because it would take me that long to get there from work. I arrived at the restaurant about 30 minutes later. After I arrived I still had to wait for about 10– 15 more minutes. That does not seem like a lot but I was barely acknowledged as I waited for our food. I wondered if they had forgotten I was there! There was only one table inside with two people. 40 minutes to prepare to spaghetti to go seems like a lot. Then, when I got it home we were disappointed. One of the spaghetti’s had just enough sauce to cover most of the noodles. The other one had very little sauce. It was like eating plain noodles. Bread was included but that’s what it was — just plain bread. No butter, nothing! They did not even throw napkins or forks in the bag.
We tried this place because we heard it was good. Maybe it’s a different experience if you eat in but the quality and service was bad enough we decided we will never eat there again.

First time here tonight and it was exactly what I needed! A comfortable home cooked Italian meal! The pasta was awesome and my daughters pizza was so cheesy and yummy! Very casual, nothing fancy, just a great meal!

Bagged iceberg lettuce for the salad, watery dressing, cold bread, burnt sauce, no flavor, and dry meat. So sad that we can’t get a quality neighborhood restaurant in the north area.

We thought we found a cool new place to get some great Italian food. They claim that everything is home made, including fresh pasta. We were excited.
Unfortunately it was one of the worst meals I’ve had in restaurant in a long time. The food was as low quality as it gets. The chicken piccata was a pile of slop with some cut-​up pre-​cooked (maybe even processed) chicken thrown on top. The kind of pre-​cooked chicken with the grill lines marked on the outside. Really a terrible dish.
My wife was treated to frozen meatballs, accompanied by a small dish of baked ziti. We didn’t see any evidence of homemade anything, including the pasta. I’m not sure if there was a B team in then kitchen? I wouldn’t be too upset if it was a super cheap meal, but we didn’t get any alcohol or apps and I think we paid close to $ 40.
Needless to say, this was a 1 and done experience. Too bad.

Small quaint Italian restaurant. Family owned & operated. The cannoli’s are perfect. The dough is perfectly golden brown. Your choice of fillings. The perfect amount of cheese inside. A generous amount of delicious marinara sauce on top. The brewed iced tea is fresh and keeps coming. The service is wonderful. The owner continuously makes the rounds to make sure customers are happy. Customers are known by name and come back often. To be safe get there early as the tables fill up fast.

This is place is a neighborhood gem!
We have tried on a few occasions to go here but have always passed by as they have been busy. But tonight my wife wanted to go here for per-​valentines dinner. I am very glad we did. This is a family ran restaurant and has about a dozen tables its big enough not to be on top of each other but small enough to feel the true family atmosphere. The food was amazing. As my 7 year old would say, I don’t like it I LOVE IT!
Really most everything was made on site and the pasta was very authentic home made. The desert was wonderful and Liz waited on us and she was very friendly and very easy to talk to and answered all of our questions.
Don’t forget to try their soups both of them were awesome!
We will be back with the family for sure!

I’m giving this two stars for the service alone. The service was the only good thing about it. I got eggplant Parmesan. It was probably the worst I’ve ever had. It was so drenched in butter that was all I could taste. They must’ve pulled my spaghetti out and put it in the plate directly because my plate was full of water. We also got shrimp fettuccine Alfredo that was not seasoned at all. Very disappointing.

Great food! I really like this place but the seating could be more intimate. It feels like you’re sitting in someone’s living room but the food really is delicious.

Hole in the wall Italian in Thornton that is a refreshing departure from all the mass-​market chain restaurants in this area. Try the «Tomato Vodka» cream sauce with penne or rigatoni — delicious!

We have been dining at Papa Mazzotti’s for close to 15 years now, starting when they were located at 104^th and Colorado. The new location in Eastlake is very homey, and the owners make you feel as if you’ve been invited to someones home for dinner.
The homemade pasta is out of this world, the sausage and peppers fantastic.
If you are in mood for chicken, you’d be hard pressed to find a better chicken piccata outside of the New York/​Jersey area.
The staff are friendly and attentive, never intrusive but always alert to your needs.
I thoroughly enjoy dining here and will continue to do so for as long as they are in business.