Broomfield Restaurant Reviews

The concept of Bagali’s is very enticing to me.  I really, really wanted to like this place.  But after two visits, I just don’t think I’ll go back.

First off, Bagali’s is “New Orleans Inspired Italian” which sounds like an interesting concept to me.  And after visiting the oldest pizza restaurant on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain a couple weeks ago, it’s not as strange as you might thing.  The idea, as the manager explained to me on our first visit, is mixing traditional Italian food (like pasta and tomato sauce) with traditional New Orleans food (like blackened catfish).  So if you’re wondering where to go to get blackened catfish spaghetti, Bagali’s is the place.  In reality, though, the restaurant (or at least their patrons) seem to be most interested in their fairly ordinary pizza.

Our first visit was marred by spotty service.  It was just a bunch of little things, like the waiter taking away my one fork with my salad plate and then not bringing me another.  And the way he mis-pronounced items from the menu (“cannelloni” became “cantelloni”).  But the manager came by and Beth and I talked to him for a long time.  He seemed genuinely interested in our opinions and concerned about making his restaurant the best it could be.  I gave him tons of free advice, and then went back about a month later.

Sadly, that visit also was marred by spotty service.  Again, it was little stuff, like the waiter telling me they don’t serve Limonata when they do (he later apologized and gave me a can to take with me as we were on our way out the door, after the dishwasher told him where they’re kept).  But on that second visit, I came to realize the quality of the food just wasn’t good enough to make up for the so-so service.  And that means there’s just no real compelling reason for me to want to go back.

If you’ve had better (or worse) experiences at Bagali’s please leave a comment!

Bagali’s
570 Zang St.
Broomfield, CO 80021
(303) 465-9463

Broomfield now has our own Protos.  If you’ve never been, Protos is a local chain of pizzerias.  I’ve visited the one on Platte in Denver and the one in Lafayette, and so Beth and I decided to try the new Broomfield location on their opening week.

Protos does what they call “Napoletana Style Pizza” which I guess means thin crust.  I liked their pizza at the other two locations, and the Broomfield location has the same good stuff.  We ordered “The Proto Pie” which has mozarella, tomato sauce, fresh basil, and Italian sausage.  Yum.

I also had a Caesar Salad which was fine; my strongest memory of that was that I didn’t like their anchovies.  Lots of folks don’t like anchovies at all, but if you find a place that has good ones they’re a nice addition to a salad.

There’s not much else to say about the food.  It’s good, and reasonably priced.  So let me talk about the location.  Proto’s is in the Arista village, just down the road from the Broomfield Event Center.  As far as I know, it’s the first restaurant in that area, not counting the food stands inside the event center (and no, I’m not going to bother to write anything on the Broomfield Restaurant Reviews site about those).  The area is still under heavy construction.  There’s a set of apartment buildings that are open now, but most of the lofts and other commercial spaces were unfinished when we visited.

I have high hopes for Arista, which was “sold” as a work/live community centered around a local public transit hub.  So far, it’s not even possible to get there by RTD, so they’ve got a long way to do to turn it into a transit hub.  If they can attract good businesses and move the Park-N-Ride over there, it would be an awesome place to live, I think.  But on the other hand, this is Broomfield, and I have yet to see anything but talk and grand plans regarding modern city planning.  But I do hope they’re able to pull it off, and I hope other good restaurants and shopping outlets come in alongside Proto’s.

Proto’s Pizzeria Napoletana
8001 Arista Place
Broomfield, CO 80021
303-466-2112

Open daily at 11

I had to get the oil changed in our truck the other day, and it was around lunchtime, so I stopped at Oscar’s for a sandwich to take with me to the auto repair shop.  Oscars is a tiny little building that’s about a block down Vance from 120th.  If you don’t know it’s there and don’t pay attention as you speed down 120th, you might never even see the place.  But it’s at 119th Place and Vance, “between Grease Monkey and Meineke” as the to-go menu says.

Oscars serves pizza and sandwiches, and so I decided to have the “Beef Cheddar Mushroom” sandwich.  They were out of cheddar cheese, said the proprietress in her eastern European accent.  So I had mozzarella instead.  The sandwich was just those three things on a very nicely toasted submarine roll.  It was very tasty, especially after I added a little bit of yellow mustard (from a packet I took from the concession stand at the baseball park).  The sandwich probably could’ve used some tomatoes and onions, but was still very good as-is. With a can of pop and a bag of chips, it was $6.75.

In addition to a variety of pizzas – including take ‘n’ bake pizza – and the hot and cold subs, Oscars also has fresh baklava for $2.99, a few salads, calzones, and gyros.  In fact, the Oscar’s to-go menu brags that they are “Broomfield’s Only Gyros Restaurant”.  That’s not really true, since the Mediterranean Cafe at FlatIron Crossing also serves gyros, but it’s enough of a statement that I think I should try their gyros next.  I’m pretty sure it’s of the variety that comes out of a box as thin slices of meat that you grill, as opposed to the big spit of rotating meat to be sliced off.

Oscar’s takes cash and credit cards, but no checks.  They’re open 11 to 6 Monday through Friday, 11 to 5 on Saturday, and closed on Sunday.  They have seating indoors and out.

Oscar’s
11890 Vance Street
Broomfield, CO 80020
303-404-3434

Yesterday, I had a few friends over.  I didn’t feel like cooking for them, and wasn’t too excited about the usual fast-food or carry-out options.  So we settled on ordering some pizza for delivery.  I’d just gotten a flier from Pudge Bros. Pizza, so we decided to give it a try.

We ordered two pizzas, a 14″ Hawaiian and a 14″ with half sausage and half pepperoni.  Delivery was reasonably prompt and courteous, but the pizza was unanimously blah.  Of the four of us, nobody was really excited about the two pizzas we got.  The crust was just so-so at best.  The cheese was pretty sparse.  And the toppings tasted like they were made by the lowest bidder, which is probably true.  In fact, I think the pepperoni was the blandest I’ve ever had.  I think they left out the “pepper” and just gave us the “oni” whatever that means.  I was hoping their “original zesty” sauce would liven things up, but it didn’t.

So, I told my friends that if I’m in the mood for pizza ever again in the future, don’t let me order from Pudge Bros. Pizza.  It’s tough to get a great pizza by delivery out here in the suburbs, but I think I’d rather just get something from the Taco Bell drive-through than eat this stuff again.

Pudge Bros. Pizza  (“Home of the Monster”)
1070 E 10th Avenue
Broomfield, CO 80020
303-404-35555