This review encompasses two visits. I'll be honest, I would normally have made this a 3 star review, but today's visit bumped it up and I would feel remiss to not give it a better rating.
Honestly, my first visit was not great, so I almost didn't come back. I live right across from this spot so I was excited that a pasta joint had opened up nearby (i die for noodles) and my neighbor raved that it was worth visiting because the portions are "SO BIG". She did also get free desserts apparently.
Well, maybe I hit growing pains, but my main negative experience was from the service the first time. They had a young girl working the cashier and my god. I almost wanted to jump the counter and ring myself up for her because I think it was the most arduous ordering experience I've had in my life. I ordered two custom pastas and she had me repeat every single customizable bit to her, sometimes even repeating it 3x. She struggled to find buttons to press. I asked her to make it to go, and she said yes, then they tried to give us the pasta... not to go. The owner had to go back and make it to go for us (Im assuming the guy that looks sorta like a Hispanic George Clooney lmao is the owner?)
And even after repeating the order so many times to the girl, they still gave me two pennes instead of two fettucine. It was even printed "fettucine" on the receipt. And to make it worse, the pennes in both pastas were overcooked and falling apart into soggy pasta pieces. No bueno. They were weird about how i wanted to custom two sauces together (Im paying extra so why can't I?) And honestly also the red sauce on its own is just incredibly bland, like... Ragu from a jar.
Long story short, as we sat there eating our overcooked penne which we didn't ask for, and feeling like it was awfully bland, we decided we probably weren't going back. It was like a 2 star experience at best (and we didn't get a free dessert, just scratch off cards that give you 10% off your next visit).
I will say, what they did positively last time was the portions ARE big. Like you can eat a bowl across 3 meals, easily. For $23 average custom bowl (with meatballs etc) that's...acceptable. But the quality of the pasta isn't Mother Wolf or even true Italian... it's really like eating a good college dorm pasta where you buy the box and jars and some toppings from Safeway and make it yourself at 10 pm. It's like... fine, but it ain't gourmet.
I went back this time to use my 10% off scratch card and decided I wanted pasta bad enough to give them a second chance. This time, service was better. The guy wasn't exactly friendly or beaming, but for a fast casual restaurant, I dont expect crazy service. At least he got my order right without repeating anything! Huzzah! And it was to-go like I asked! Huzzah! My bar for local LB restaurants is kinda low tbh.
And this time my fettuccine and ravioli were cooked okay! Nothing was overcooked! Huzzah! Taste is still gourmet dorm, but thats ok! Sometimes you just wanna eat pasta that tastes like something you can... cook yourself. And tbh when i tried the cheese sauce... smothering pasta in what looks like nachos cheese sauce is probably a war crime to Italy, but idgaf. It was actually tasty!
I recommend mixing red sauce with garlic and truffle sauce to give it more depth and flavor when you order! Or getting the cheese sauce with garlic and truffle oil! On their own the sauces aren't enough of a punch, but if you mix it up it's not that bad?
Also the owner came out again and this is what convinced me to raise the rating. He is friendly and I can tell he's just a dude trying to make this spot work. This spot is cursed cuz all the last few restaurants in here have all closed down; its honestly a great location but not easy to run a restaurant without alcohol in.
I dont want to give him a hard time. He offered my pups pup cups (v sweet), he has a cute dog corner set up on the patio, and he told me some a-hole is going around leaving only 1 star reviews. So I'm here to give an honest 4 stars. I enjoyed my food this time (and again I have plenty of leftovers from the large portions), the service was an improvement, and the owner seems like a good guy.
The store is clean and modern (they kept a similar layout to Ubuntu Cafe, which was here before).
My advice to them - sell alcohol and hang up TVs. Idk. People on the Promenade want spots they can hang at, not just a quick service pasta joint. Customer flow looks slow and I think ubuntu failed for the same reason (and also unfortunately their food was nothing to rave about). But they were nice people too.
Ps. You guys need to update your store hours correctly. It says open to 930 pm on yelp, but I stopped by at 910 pm the night before, and everything was already dark and closed.
So here's to stores run by nice owners surviving. Please give them a try if you want fast casual pasta that will last you. I'll probably be back again with another 10% off coupon. read more