Gemelli's - Denver

Here’s a city secret for you. Areas of the old “Elitch” neighborhood in North Denver have become homes for interesting and diverse shopping, and, in particular, dining. Beginning with “Parisi” on 44th and Tennyson, past “Swing Thai” one block south and going all the way up to “Sabor Latino” on 35th and Tennyson, the “Tennyson Strip” boasts four of North Denver’s great dining experiences. The fourth is “Gemelli’s at 4363 Tennyson Street, and I recently had the opportunity to sample their product. Gemelli’s is the easiest to drive by without noticing. While the other restaurants are on the corners or near the sidewalk, Gemelli’s, built in a former residential address, is in the middle of the block and set back further off the street. Especially during the winter season when there is little color and little green, it would be easy to drive by and not know the restaurant exists. People, however, are noticing and, after 14 months in business, Gemelli’s is establishing a regular clientele. Personally, I did not even know the restaurant existed until I parked across the street to visit neighboring “Swing Thai”. On my return to my vehicle, I noticed the small, Italian restaurant and put it on my list for a return visit. I am happy I did. Although the restaurant looks small from the front, it extends far back into the lot and is actually very good size. Inside, we found a nicely decorated and modern restaurant with plenty of room. Best of all, we found many, good vegetarian options, including pizza, pasta and eggplant, all available for take-out. On this visit, we sampled the “Gemelli Primavera” and the “Linguine Caprese”, both nicely priced at $11.95 each. The entrees are served traditionally with bread and a choice of either soup or salad. The bread is not plain, white bread. It is a nice, herb bread with good texture and flavor served with a garlic butter spread that is very tempting. The soup was a good, vegetarian minestrone and reminded me of DiCicco’s in Arvada. The salad was abundantly stacked arugula with garbanzos, cucumber and tomato. The homemade balsamic dressing was excellent. When the entrees arrived, it was difficult to choose a favorite. Both were light, tasty and just as expected. The mozzarella on the linguine was special, and the mixture of flavors in the primavera kept me wanting more, even though both entrees were of adequate size. Since we are observing Lent, we did not have wine, but we did sample the San Pellegrino and an Italian soda. With good food and specials like “Two for One Pasta Entrees” on Sunday, “All You Can Eat Spaghetti” on Monday, and a “12’ pizza and a beer” for $9.95 on Tuesday, Gemelli’s is a neighborhood restaurant you will want to remember both for fine Italian dining and to help stretch your dining dollars. And, with four, outstanding dining options within blocks of each other, the “Tennyson Strip” is a neighborhood you will also want to remember while it still is a “City Secret”.