Dirty Martini Bucatini is fun to say and delicious.
Hard Knoch PR
Giant mozzarella sticks, the best charcuterie board in the city, Dirty Martini Bucatini and a cannoli-inspired Mai Tai await.
We’ve been hungry for a taste of Boombots, a pasta shop from the owners of Odie B’s, that big hit in Sunnyside, since the project was announced in October 2024. Over a year later, it’s finally set to debut at 2647 West 38th Avenue on Saturday, November 8 — and we recently got a sneak peek during its friends-and-family test runs.
“That’s what we do, we do fun, different shit,” says Cliff Blauvelt, who now owns two Odie’s B’s locations as well as Boombots with his wife, Cara. And this new menu is definitely fun — and definitely different than a typical Italian joint.
The Northside was once a haven for Italian restaurants; today, a few old-school favorites like Gaetano’s and Lechuga’s still remain. Blauvelt grew up in the neighborhood where he now owns a pasta shop of his own, and he’s focused on getting things right from the start. That’s why Boombots held a series of pop-ups while the restaurant was being built — to perfect recipes and land on the ideal lineup for the opening.
It’s starting with “a little more concise menu that we know we can nail,” Blauvelt notes. That includes five pasta dishes, five small plates and three desserts.
The space was designed by Regular Architecture.
What We Saw
The space, which was formerly an art gallery, has been completely transformed by the go-to firm for buzzy new restaurants these days, Kevin Nguyen’s Regular Architecture. “Cliff told us to look at Lil Wayne, Supreme, Pharrell and Louis Vuitton for design inspiration,” Nguyen notes. We knew we were going to have fun and end up with something fresh in the Denver restaurant scene. We’ve been talking about it as the cool older sibling with luxury taste compared to Odie B’s — it’s going to have a bit of an elevated feel but still feel welcoming.”
The branding was done by Paper Laundry. “When you’re presented with a name like Boombots, you know it’s going to be an amazing ride,” says the studio’s owner, Cara Moyle. “Cliff and Cara are so skilled at helping us see the vision they have in their minds so that we’re able to produce a killer brand that welcomes guests in — while ensuring everything they do stands out.”
The result is a spot that’s equal parts cool and chic, balancing dark hues with light wood and olive green accents in a space that’s bursting with energy when the seats are filled without feeling overcrowded. What we didn’t see (oops!) is the open-air patio, which can seat 25.
One of the five cocktails on offer is a pasta water martini.
The Drinks
“We went hard in on the wines, just some fun, funky stuff,” Blauvelt says — and smartly priced, too, spanning from $12-$15 a glass while all bottles are under $50. There’s sake, beer and cider on offer as well, plus four N/A cocktails, but the boozy beverages (also $12-$15) are particularly notable.
We started with the martini, which is made with pasta water-infused vodka, gin and thyme olive oil. It’s a creative spin on the classic that has a nice body and an herbaceous kick.
The Gucci Gang is an easy sipper that balances blanco tequila with grapefruit soda and gochujang simple syrup with sweet tamarind. Our favorite, though, was the Love Mai Nonna, a cannoli-inspired spin on a Mai Tai made with ricotta-washed rum, pistachio orgeat, citrus and cocoa.
Everything seasoned cavatelli stroganoff.
The Pasta
The team, which includes executive chef Connor Gushen, is obviously channeling plenty of playfulness in the five pasta dishes on the menu now. We also love that all the pastas are available in either a “single” ($16-$18) or “mingle” size ($30-$34), making it more affordable to order a few smaller portions to share.
The furthest flavor profile from traditional pasta is the samosa agnolotti, a potato and pea-filled curry pasta with spiced carrot, pickled cauliflower, crispy chickpeas and cilantro mint yogurt.
We started with the Dirty Martini Bucatini, which was the first dish Baluvelt told us about way back when he initially described the idea for the restaurant. We’ve been dreaming of it ever since, and it delivered, with thick olive noodles (all the pastas are made in-house) mingling with a pretty traditional vodka sauce punched up with charred Gibson onions and Castelvetrano olives plus Pecorino cheese and some very mild blue cheese crumbles.
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Smoked duck and green Chile lumache.
The smoked duck and green chile lumache was a comforting play on mac and cheese, with smoked cheddar and duck fat breadcrumbs, though we did wish that a bit more of that signature roasty green chile flavor had come through.
Another hit was the everything-seasoned stroganoff with hearty porcini cavatelli and super-tender braised beef coated in everything seasoning. Pearl onion agrodolce gave the dish some sweetness (maybe a little too much, which Blauvelt says he may adjust), while pickled mustard seeds add a nice contrast.
The lineup also includes a red chile and butternut squash risotto with tequila-orange roasted beets, chorizo-spiced pepitas, queso fresco and cilantro cream.
The signature meat and cheese spread is a must-order.
What Surprised Us
That we loved the small plates just as much as the pasta — particularly the meat and cheese board ($34).
Chef Gushen is a Vesta alum and helped the late chef Brandon Foster develop its charcuterie program, which was one of that long-gone spot’s signatures. Now, he’s curing meats for Boombots, and the results are damn delicious.
The board comes with three of those meats and three types of fromage. There’s hot coppa, salami cotto with roasted habanda peppers, and crispy duck rillete with saba syrup alongside Primadonna, a Dutch gouda-style cheese; the very mild Glacier Penta Creme Bleu Cheese from Wisconsin; and First Snow, a gorgeous goat cheese with vegetable ash and a bloomy rind from one of our favorite local makers, Colorado Farmhouse Cheese Company.
The spread also includes garlic dill pickles, sweet peppers, dilly nuts, pickled mustard seeds and fig cider syrup. It’s a perfect mix of flavors and textures that sets the meal off to a very strong start.
The Big Ass Mozz Stix are sure to be a star on social media.
Of course, the starter that will probably be all over social media very soon is the aptly dubbed Big Ass Mozz Stix ($14), which are indeed large and cheesy with a slight kick from the Calabrian red sauce that’s both inside and served on the side. Two come in an order, and that’s enough to share for a party of four. Expect plenty of cheese pull action.
Other small plates includes East and West Coast oysters ($4 each, $22 for a half dozen, $43 for a dozen); a charred root vegetable salad ($14) with fig cider syrup, smoked almond ricotta and rye crumbs; and the house salad ($14) with a pepperoncini dressing that gives Olive Garden in the best possible way.
Pumpkin coconut cake is on the opening dessert menu.
We also enjoyed the pumpkin coconut cake ($10) with chile caramel, spiced anglaise and coconut “krispies” for dessert. Other options to end the meal include an apple tart with brown butter pecan ice cream ($10) and fig gelato with poached pears and granola ($6).
Up next: the addition of happy hour.
This year has already brought a lot of new restaurants to be excited about, and Boombots has now been added to that list with a strong first impression. If the evolution of Odie B’s is any indication, it’s only going to get stronger as it settles in.
Boombots is located at 2647 West 38th Avenue and will be open from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. For more information, follow it @boombots_pastashop on Instagram or visit boombotspasta.com.
Dining and Cooking