The Kitchen Upstairs
The name translates simply: "the restaurant upstairs." It is an unassuming way to describe what Chef Franco Pisani has built above his first restaurant, Paravicini's, in Old Colorado City. Di Sopra opened in 2017 as the more ambitious counterpoint to the casual Italian on the ground floor, which continues to thrive. It is the Pisani kitchen operating in a more deliberate register: an expanded menu, with a room and a wine list calibrated for a slower, more serious evening.
The dining room is modern Italian in the best sense. Walnut tables, low linen lamps, open sight lines to the exhibition kitchen at the back of the room. A long bar runs the length of one wall and is a reliable perch for a solo meal or a couple arriving early. The second-story patio, when weather allows, turns the whole restaurant into something different: a slate table under the pine trees with Pikes Peak rising out of the western horizon. Few rooms in Colorado Springs stage a view this well.
What to Order
Start with the braised beef bruschetta, the signature starter that has followed Chef Pisani from Paravicini's into the upstairs menu. The carpaccio, the burrata with seasonal fruit, and the rotating antipasto board are all honest versions of what they claim to be. The pasta list is where the restaurant earns its reputation: handmade daily, sauced with discipline, and plated without unnecessary ornament. The pappardelle with braised short rib and the ricotta gnocchi are the tables' most frequent orders, and neither has a weak night.
Mains lean toward the northern Italian vocabulary the chef clearly prefers: chicken cacciatore with polenta, shrimp scampi with real butter and real garlic, veal treated with respect. The wine list runs to over 100 bottles, fairly priced, heavy on Piedmont and Tuscany with a smart American section, and it is one of the more navigable Italian lists in the city. Ask the floor for a recommendation and they will deliver.
The Atmosphere
Di Sopra is often called the Springs' most romantic dining room, and the description holds up. The lighting is warm and low, the tables are spaced far enough that conversations do not leak, and the staff have the right timing, neither hovering nor absent. They understand that a first date or an anniversary requires a different pace than a table of four friends. The bar is a room of its own, serving classic cocktails with a northern Italian bent; the Negroni program is particular, the amaro list worth investigating.
For value, di Sopra is one of the clearest winners on any Colorado Springs list. The pricing sits firmly below the resort and corner-office tier, and the cooking compares favourably with restaurants at twice the check. Serious cooking, unserious pricing, and a romantic room: it is why the restaurant has become a first-choice reservation for anyone in the Springs who takes Italian seriously.