"Castle Pines, the wait is over!" That was the announcement from the family behind Farro Italian Restaurant when Castello Italiano opened at 361 Village Square Lane, Suite 130. The space had been dark for about two years. It held a soft opening on Monday, Aug. 31 and opened for good on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
A new restaurant is welcome news on its own. Where this one sits matters more. Village Square already holds most of the town's civic life. City offices are at 7437 Village Square Drive, Suite 200. The Castle Pines Chamber of Commerce and The Castle Pines Connection share that address. The Douglas County Libraries branch is across the street at 360 Village Square Lane. The City's fall festival takes over the whole square this month. The center was already busy by day. Its biggest dinner room was the piece that went missing, and it reopened just before the busiest civic stretch of the year.
What 361 Village Square Lane Serves Now
Castello comes from the family behind Farro Italian Restaurant in Centennial, and it is that family's first expansion. Co-owners Petrit and Erion told DougCo Social that Petrit plans to be there every day. They want the restaurant to grow gradually rather than all at once. In the same interview, the owners said the name is simply Italian for "castle."
The restaurant's own site describes handcrafted pasta and wood-fired specialties. The opening menu has the familiar dishes: chicken piccata, spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna. The pasta list is where it stands out from a standard Italian menu.
- White bolognese with pappardelle, $27
- Bison short rib ravioli in vodka cream, $27
- Wild boar ragu, or cinghiale, over pappardelle, $27
- Cioppino, $33, and a 16-ounce Black Angus ribeye, $55
- Fresh or gluten-free fresh pasta for an extra $5
Those prices come from the printed menu at opening, and DougCo Social notes they may change.
The space looks different, too. Petrit told DougCo Social the renovation took about a year. The dining room seats 157, and there are TVs over the bar. At opening, hours were 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday. It's closed Mondays, with no lunch or happy hour planned for now. Walk-ins are welcome, reservations are recommended, and online orders are for scheduled pickup only. Parking out front can get tight.
Twenty-Three Years in One Storefront
The address has a longer history than most people in town may know. In order:
- 2003. The space opened as La Dolce Vita.
- 2017. Local resident Joe Sabia bought it and renamed it Pino's Italian Kitchen & Bar, as The Castle Pines Connection reported at the time.
- 2023. Pino's changed hands again.
- End of September 2024. Pino's closed, and BusinessDen reported a Chapter 7 filing on Oct. 7.
- Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 2026. Castello Italiano held its soft opening, then opened for regular service.
Through the two dark years, the rest of the center stayed open. Duke's Steakhouse is at 363 Village Square Lane. Pho 5 is at 363 Village Square Lane, Suite 130. Alta Empanada is at Suite 145. The City's business directory also lists everyday services in the same buildings. They include Castle Pines Veterinary Hospital, Castle Pines Day Spa, Brandon Linn Orthodontics and JW Kim TaeKwonDo. That directory was last updated Aug. 7, before Castello opened, so check with any business directly before you go.
With a 157-seat dinner room open again, the square now runs from morning library hours to a 9 p.m. dinner seating. During the day, the library is open until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
October Keeps Coming Back to the Same Few Blocks
Most of this month's local calendar falls within a short walk of Castello's front door, or a short drive from it. Here are the dates in order:
- Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Castle Pines library branch is set to reopen after closing for flood repairs. Douglas County Libraries says the date may change depending on the repairs.
- Tuesday, Oct. 13, 5 to 6 p.m. Junior Page Turners for grades 1 through 3 meets at the branch.
- Wednesday, Oct. 21, 7 to 9 a.m. The City holds a Comprehensive Plan pop-up at Ziggi's Coffee, 7298 Lagae Road. Residents can comment on growth, transportation, parks, housing and amenities.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Fall Festival, Trick-or-Treat Street and Pumpkin Race fill the Village Square shopping area.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 5 to 7 p.m. The New Resident Welcome Reception moves up the road to The Ridge Golf Course.
- Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m. "Haunted Histories: Ghosts of Colorado," for teens and adults, is back at the library.
Douglas County Libraries has marked some early-October events as cancelled because of the closure, so check a library listing before you go.
The festival is free and will be the busiest day on the square. The City lists Trick-or-Treat Street, a farmers market, a petting zoo and the annual Pumpkin Race at 1 p.m. This year it adds a first-ever chili cookoff. To race a pumpkin, bring it already built into a race car. Race kits from the City cost $25 and must be bought by Thursday, Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. They're picked up at the City offices, Suite 200 at 7437 Village Square Drive, by noon on Friday, Oct. 23. The office closes for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.
The chili cookoff costs $20 per entrant, and registration closes Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. Each cook brings about 2 gallons, or two full crockpots. Red, green and white chili are all allowed. Every entry needs a creative name for its tasting station, and the chili has to be hot and ready by 10 a.m. The festival ends at 2 p.m., and Castello opens at 4. On a Saturday, that makes for an easy afternoon followed by an early dinner on the same block.
Getting There While the Parkway Is Half Rebuilt
Most routes to the square use Castle Pines Parkway, and it is still under construction. The City started rebuilding the westbound lanes on June 1. The Castle Pines North Metropolitan District is replacing the waterline underneath at the same time. Crews reopened the westbound stretch from Monarch Boulevard to Deer Clover Drive on Aug. 11, which includes the section in front of Timber Trail Elementary.
The section west of Deer Clover is the part that matters this month. In July, City Council approved extra work after crews found the concrete between Forest Park Drive and the Buffalo Trail roundabout was more damaged than expected. Both directions will now be resurfaced with asphalt instead of being ground smooth. The City's Oct. 1 update lists the order of work:
- Waterline testing begins the week of Oct. 5.
- Once the new line is tested and connected, westbound paving runs from Deer Clover to just east of the Buffalo Trail roundabout.
- Eastbound paving from Buffalo Trail to Forest Park Drive follows after the westbound lanes are finished.
The City lists completion only as fall 2026, with no specific day. Inside the work zone, traffic in both directions shares the eastbound lanes, and lane shifts change as the phases move along. That is likely to be the setup on festival Saturday, so give yourself extra time.
A longer project is on the way. The Happy Canyon Road and I-25 interchange rebuild is scheduled to start in early fall 2026 and finish in mid-2028. The City expects lane shifts and occasional ramp closures.
The Rest of Town's Gathering Places, Still in Progress
Village Square is carrying so much of this fall partly because the town's other new gathering places aren't ready yet. Life Time Castle Pines, at 7373 Canyon Forge Drive in The Canyons, lists itself as "Arriving November 2026." It is a club of more than 102,000 square feet with indoor and outdoor pickleball, pools, a Kids Academy and hydrotherapy suites. Life Time hasn't named an opening day. The date has also moved earlier. When the club broke ground on Sept. 3, 2025, The Castle Pines Connection reported a target of early 2027.
Farther along the Parkway, the former Safeway at 558 Castle Pines Parkway is in Castle Pines Market Place, a separate center from Village Square. In March, the City said the owner was looking for a new tenant after a planned deal with a fitness facility called Engage: A Total Wellness Community fell through. That answer is dated March 26, 2026. The City says it will announce a tenant once one is signed.
The holiday calendar moves to The Ridge Golf Course. The Tree Lighting is Dec. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m., and it opens the City's Winter Wonderland series. Until then, the City offices, the library, the festival and a newly reopened 157-seat dining room all sit on the same few blocks of Village Square Lane and Village Square Drive.
Sherry knows Castle Pines down to which corners went quiet and which ones have come back. Whether you have questions about how changes like the Castello opening or the Life Time project affect your part of town, or you're starting to think about your own next move, Sherry Beindorff is glad to talk it through over coffee at Ziggi's or a table at Castello. When you're ready, Work With Us.
