Gaetano’s Cucina in North Denver not only has character, it is a character, an integral part of Denver’s rich history. Much like the city itself, Gaetano’s has matured from its rough and rumble past to modern respectability — but it still makes fine Italian dining an offer you can’t refuse. Capisce?

The Smaldone family opened an Italian cafe in the 1930s, but it was better known during Prohibition — for moonshine. As the restaurant grew, the family’s three sons — Eugene, Clyde and Chauncey — were developing into Denver’s most notorious gangsters. When the brothers took over in 1947, Clyde moved the restaurant a few blocks to 38th and Tejon and renamed the place using his Italian nickname. When the most recent generation decided to sell the restaurant to the Breckenridge and Wynkoop restaurant family, a new era for Gaetano’s was born. With it came a complete renovation of the building, the menu and the cocktails.

Kyle West, Gaetano’s bar manager, has done a retro update of the bar’s cocktail menu with seasonal ingredients that provide summery flavors, but there's still a nod to the restaurant’s mobster past — all the drinks are named after famous mobsters. The drinks themselves are fashioned for a modern palate, but with inspiration from the classic cocktail era. West points out that classic cocktails were heavy on liquor and contained little else, but modern imbibers usually search for more complex flavors, with the alcohol in the background instead of the foreground.

Cocktails such as the Quiet Dom will get your evening going. A refreshing blend of Sailor Jerry, Colorado’s own Leopold Tart Cherry, Dom Benedictine, lemon juice, and lavender-rose simple syrup, this bold botanical cocktail will make Denver’s 300 days of sunshine even brighter. Patrons can ease into the evening with The Tall Guy, a tea-based cocktail with a herbal scent and buttery texture. For a tropical flavor, try the Punchy with rum, Leopold Blackberry, coconut water, lime juice, agave and mint. Other cocktails include Little Rabbit with carrot and cucumber juice, Herby “Italian Marg” and The Reluctant Prince with gin, St. Germain, simple syrup, mint, cucumber and soda.

Even with the remodel, the restaurant oozes Denver history. Smaldone family photos cover the walls and a real Denver Most Wanted poster hangs in the restrooms — in fact, West says there have been many occasions when patrons use the restroom and return saying they saw a cousin or an uncle’s photo on that wall. Another cool part of the renovation: all booths now face the same way, so no one has to sit with their back to the door. Along with cocktails, look for Breckenridge and Wynkoop beers on tap as well prosecco on tap — the only restaurant in Denver that serves bubbly this way.

Gaetano’s is located at 3760 Tejon Street on the northern edge of the Highlands and is open for lunch 11 AM–3 PM, Monday–Saturday and for dinner 3–10 PM, Monday–Thursday, 3–11 PM, Friday–Saturday and 2–9 PM on Sunday.

Photos by Carrie Dow