A basket of garlic knots and marinara is a fine way to settle into a meal at Virgilio's. The knots have a buttery, well-seasoned character, and they are substantial enough to keep a table happily occupied while everyone studies the pizzas, pasta dishes and calzones.
Virgilio's has the comfortable rhythm of a neighborhood Italian restaurant: couples sharing lunch, families gathering around larger tables, familiar faces taking seats at the bar and solo diners making a meal of it. The room includes indoor tables, booths and a bar area, with an easygoing atmosphere that leaves room for both a quick bite and a longer dinner.
Thin Crust Pizza With Plenty Going On
The pizzas start with a thin, crisp crust, giving the menu a good counterpoint to the richer sauces, cheeses and toppings elsewhere on the table. It is a style that works nicely when a group wants to share a pie before moving on to pasta or dessert, but it also holds its own as lunch with a glass of wine.
One particularly full-flavored option is the Frank Sinatra, built on a creamy ricotta base with sausage, bacon, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. It is not shy about ingredients, yet the crisp crust keeps the slice from turning into a fork-and-knife project.
Chianti makes a natural companion for pizza here, especially with something as savory as the Frank Sinatra. The bar gives the meal another lane entirely: a place for a casual wine stop, a plate of knots and marinara, or dinner without the formality of a big occasion.
Pasta That Goes Beyond the Familiar
The Italian menu reaches well beyond pizza, and pasta is where Virgilio's gets especially interesting. Fiocchi has been a recurring favorite, while portobello ravioli offers another reason to look past the standard spaghetti-and-meatballs order.
Bison ravioli is an unexpected entry on an Italian restaurant menu and brings a smoother, more distinctive character to the meal. It is the sort of dish that can change a table's ordering strategy: one person gets the bison ravioli, another tries fiocchi, and suddenly there are several plates worth sampling.
Zucchini pesto pasta with braised beef provides a heartier route, combining a green, herb-forward sauce with slow-cooked meat. Penne vodka is another reliable comfort-food choice, with a vodka sauce that has drawn particular attention; it also pairs easily with chicken parmigiana if the table is in the mood for a classic red-sauce dinner.
Eggplant parmigiana, salads and chicken parmigiana round out the more familiar side of the menu. A solo meal can still be pleasantly varied here: a Verde Salad, a pasta dish and perhaps a starter make for a lunch that does not have to follow the usual single-entree script.
Calzones, Mussels and Italian Egg Rolls
Calzones come in several varieties and suit the sort of group meal where everyone lands on a different craving. Their presence also helps make Virgilio's flexible for mixed company; not every pizza night has to be only pizza.
Mussels arrive with a sauce worth lingering over, a welcome choice for diners who want to begin with seafood rather than bread. Italian egg rolls add another playful appetizer option, sitting comfortably beside the garlic knots without trying to turn the meal into a one-note red-sauce affair.
Leave Room for the Dessert Case
The dessert case is not an afterthought. Tiramisu, pistachio cake, limoncello cake, cannoli and almond cookies offer several directions for a sweet finish, from creamy and coffee-toned to bright citrus or old-school pastry-counter fare.
There is also a rich chocolate dessert for diners who want to end more decisively. With this many possibilities, dessert can be a shared-table event rather than a polite final question after the check has already arrived.
A Place to Settle In
Service at Virgilio's is attentive and personable without disturbing the relaxed pace. The bar, in particular, has a conversational quality, and the welcome extends from casual midday stops to family meals and larger dinners.
A party of eight has fit comfortably into the flow, ordering across the menu with calzones, pizza, mussels and multiple desserts. That range says something useful about the place: a table does not need to agree on one narrow definition of Italian food to eat well together.
The restaurant has also worked for takeout, including a meal packed up for Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and as a worthwhile stop on a longer drive. For dining in, waits can vary with the crowd; a busy room has meant about 20 minutes for a table, while shorter waits have also occurred.
A Few Practical Notes
Parking reports vary. There is a free lot, and free street parking has also been noted, though the ease of finding a space appears to depend on timing.
Gluten-free selections have included bread, spaghetti, almond cookies and a chocolate dessert, along with gluten-free pasta served with sweet potato Alfredo and either shrimp or sausage. The current breadth of those choices, and any cross-contact practices, are best confirmed directly with the restaurant.