There are two ways to my heart.

(1) Coffee. That’s a given.

(2) Italian food.

(3) A second cup of coffee.

(4) Now that I’m thinking about it, sushi is pretty darn good, too.

(5) Ooh — Chinese!

The point, folks, is this…last night we went to Pagliacci’s in Denver for a double date with my mom and her fiance. And it was delicious. The end.

But to expand on that point, Pagliacci’s is the oldest Italian restaurant in the Denver area. Sadly, after 66 years of serving up authentic, traditional and fine food, they are closing their doors to get some much needed R&R. Before the final curtain call however, we decided we had to give it a try and a snappy salute.

The one negative part of the evening was that we couldn’t order the entire menu. But we created a pretty extensive tasting menu for ourselves from appetizers and entrees and desserts, discussed photographers nearly being eaten by bears (you know, the usual), and ended up closing the place down.

Pagliacci’s will only be open through the end of this weekend, but if there’s any way for you to do so, definitely get down there and give a tip of your hat to the joint. A place like that deserves a proper send off. And probably an extra — very worth it — hole in your belt.