Three Sons

User Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Honestly, a terrible, overpriced, and overrated experience. I grew up in Denver going to the original Three Sons when it was actually located in Denver, but now they've shut down the beautiful old buidling and moved to a yuppie spot out in the burbs. My cousin and I ate there several weeks ago: service was slow, and the food was sub-par, not to mention overpriced. My poor cousin ordered Chicken Marsala, which was served on a tiny plate. It was also cold, and mysteriously was paired with spaghetti marinara on the side that was undercooked. The shrimp scampi was tolerable, but how can you mess up shrimp, noodles, and butter? Again, this place is overpriced; I don't understand why people are still eating there.

When I visited the old place back in March, we had an incredible experience. We had a wonderful server and the food was very good and priced fairly. The new place is a joke!

Instead of Three Sons I suggest Mama Saninos, also located in Arvada, or Parisi Trattoria, located in Northwest Denver/Highlands. Pagliacci is also very good (33rd and Zuni.)

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User Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The new 3 Sons, on Indiana Street is NOT the same ownership which made the restaurant a family favorite as I was growing up! Having moved to Arvada several years ago, we were looking forward to the new place opening as there is a dearth of decent restaurants in the area.

We were really excited about going, once we heard it was open and went there, last night (6/27/09). The hostess was somewhat peculiar in her greeting but seated us promptly and the waiter greeted us right away with bread (more on that, later).

Since it was our anniversary, we ordered the $36 bottle of Chianti, which was very pedestrian and probably about $6 at Applejacks--subpar at best. I noticed lipstick on my wineglass and asked for another one which was also dirty...the third was the charm. The calamari, when it finally arrived, was very good...alas, it was at least 15 minutes in the making and, being hungry, came after several rolls had been consumed. Next, came the salads...the plates must have been washed recently as they were HOT and the salads arrived with scant hint of any gorganzola cheese and were not chilled, as one would expect.

As the waiter cleared our plates, he told us our entrees were on the way and they were--in another 15 minutes! Before they arrived, he returned--with another basket of rolls--saying the kitchen was backed up but that we'd be served as soon as possible (he was VERY good).

By the time the entrees arrived, I'd pretty much filled up on bread, which wasn't a bad thing considering what was presented to us. I had the veal marsala, which was served with a side plate of what they call spaghetti. The veal was over-cooked and the sauce was the consistency of used 50 weight motor oil. Instead of being tender, it was dry and tough. The spaghetti was an ungarnished, unappetizing glob of pasta plopped on a small dish and was lukewarm to boot. The sauce, as is the case for so many Italian restaurants, tasted like it came from a can with some extra Italian seasoning tossed in for "flavor." Calling it unexceptional is being kind. My wife's rigatoni pomadoro was little more than overcooked rigatoni in a creamy sauce reminiscent of Campbells tomato soup with a little sausage mixed in...the pasta, supposed to be tubular, lay flat and broken in the bottom of a big bowl, ungarnished and none too appetizing. Someone ought to clue the kitchen into the concept of el dente!!

We normally split a dessert but were so full from all the bread, we passed (I used to love their desserts, growing up). Had we not spent almost an hour and a half waiting for each course, the majority of the wine would not have been consumed...it tasted like what a house wine at Pizza Hut would serve, if they even serve wine.

Here are the highlights...our waiter was very good--pleasant, knowlegible and attentive; and the calamari was really good. The waiter's attentiveness couldn't make up for the kitchen, however. The food just wasn't good and very overpriced and the wait was interminable. We spent about $90 (the waiter got his 20%--he couldn't be blamed for the food) for a meal memorable only for being so forgettable.

It's too bad such a beautiful facility (it's nicely decorated and has many cute touches) serves such mediocre, overpriced food. I suspect, once the shine of a badly-needed new restaurant in this area wears off, it will be all-too easy to sit anywhere one wants to at 3 Sons. A pity....

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User Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Nice family atmosphere.
The waiter described the Saturday night special which was a stuffed chicken breast. Sounded fantastic and had me salivating. He came back 10 minutes later to tell me they were out (at 7PM on a Saturday night?)
The rest of the menu was standard Italian classics. Nothing extrodinary. Slightly overpriced for the fare.

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