Pasta Fresca Italian Grill

This place is closed. Looks like something else may be opening soon.

quaint little spot, I didn’t realize this place existed until I found it on Unilocal.it’s quiet but nice and relaxing. had the chicken Alfredo and grilled chicken caesar salad. both yummy

Funny façade in the front that fooled me at first glance. Was pleased with my fresh juice, disappointed in my cheese enchiladas. Waxy cheese was like glue in my mouth. My friend found her fettuccine Alfredo bland but my other friend loved her chile rellanos. Spelling? Too bad, I really wanted to love this place. Hole in the wall discoveries are awesome, this was not one. :(

I’m not sure what is going on but my food is definitely not Italian. Chicken Marsala is one of the easiest dishes to prepare… and it doesn’t involve any chopped chicken or tomato sauce, or green peppers. Google it.

Overall, this place is a nice little edition to the HIghland Park neighborhood. It definitely has that «mom & pop» feel.
PROS:
1. Service has been great every time I’ve been here. The 2 women that run the joint are really sweet. This is my favorite part about this place.
2. Meals come with tasty garlic twists and salad or soup = good value.
3. They take credit cards!
4. Menu has decent variety, from pasta to omelets.
5. Inside is clean.
6. Food-​wise: Spaghetti + meat sauce is not the best I’ve ever had, but decent. It gets the job done for takeout when I don’t feel like cooking and just want some comfort food. Love their split pea soup though! It’s not as thick as traditional split pea, but very tasty. I’ve also had an omelet before — not the best I’ve ever had, but gets the job done when I want local takeout that’s not Mexican or fast food.
CONS:
1. Hours are unreliable. I’ve driven here a little before 8 and it’s been pitch black. I’d definitely call ahead if you’re thinking of making the trip out.
2. Parking on Figueroa is hit or miss depending on time of day.

I have been wanting to try this quirky looking restaurant for a long time and I’m glad I finally did! The starter salads are delicious, I had the ceasar salad and the green salad and they were both tasty. The garlic bread was amazing and so were the pasta dishes. We had the Fettuccine in pink sauce with shrimp and the Penne pesto with shrimp… AWESOME!

Food is ok. For that I should give it a 2.25 star ranking. I’ve had worse but I’ve had better. The pizza is comparable to any cheap pizza place like pizza loca. No better, no worse. It will not win any awards. It’s ok. On my second trip I tried the pasta and it is again … Ok. Under seasoned but pretty much the same as any cheap delivery Italian place. The garlic bread had zero flavor. Now I’m back for my third try and I park out in front. I ask the young lady behind the counter if I can park there and WOW … What’s up with the attitude and stink eye? … she just replies with a shrug of the shoulder and says «up to you. I dunno.» And looks at me with a blank stare. Awkward silence ensues and I ask if she can recommend anything from the Mexican part of the menu. She replies again with a shrug of the shoulders and «I dunno» and another blank stare. So I decide on a breakfast burrito because the place before (la roca) had aaaaamazing breakfast burritos. Got it to go. It took foooooooorever to get my food. I understand making it to order but 30 minutes is a bit much. Already late I paid quickly. Left an underserved tip and hopped in my car. By the time I got home I realized the she didn’t give me any salsa. What a perfect ending to a crap establishment. I’m giving 2 stars overall (should be 1.5) and the only reason why it’s not a 1 star is because I have actually had worse. That said, I will never return to this restaurant and I’m sure we will soon see the doors close of this very weak establishment. Note to the owners: get your staff in order. Take some pride in customer service. We don’t have to come here. You should take it as an honor and compliment to serve food to the community and not make people feel like they are unwelcome. Take some customer service classes if you have any pride. Out.

Delivery was fast and affordable. The food itself had no flavor. There were pepper and onions in the potatoes but you couldn’t even taste them. Bland and starchy.

My co-​worker and i stopped by this place after work today. And i was not disapointed i had the california chicken panini and lentil soup both were great. You can taste that the soup and ingredients in the panini were fresh. My only complaints are they went a tad bit overboard with the mayo and i feel the price was a little higher then id have liked it to be. My buddy said the fettucine alfredo was really good and so was their green salad. I liked the set up they have there it has a nice vibe i like the mural and liquor bottle lights. luckily we were the only people there and could grab the remote and put on a movie. They have wi-​fi and netflix! Wich is a plus.

This place is super chill, I love the environment. I don’t understand why it was so empty when I got there! Had the chicken Alfredo pasta and a large pepperoni and mushroom, both were full of flavor! Plus the ladies helping us were extremely nice :) def come back again and try their breakfast

Revisited this place for breakfast, very dissapointing bacon was rock hard, eggs were good cooked to order, but my side of country style potatoes seemed like they were from days ago. Disgusting over all only ate my toast and 1 egg and the coffee was the highlight of that meal. Its sad that the bacon strips were so old and lady still have the nerve to serve me days old bacon and potatoes. Shameful! Will not be going there again, this place needs to pick up on their standards or else it will suffer the same fate as the others before

I live close by and so have eaten there a few times. First time I had the pesto pasta with chicken. Was very surprised at how good it was for this little place on Figueroa. And how nice the plate looked. Pasta wasn’t over coked and the chicken was nicely julienned over the pasta. Quite good. Garlic sticks were tasty as well. Next time I tried it, it was still okay. Last week I picked up the same dish I described above and it was honestly barely edible. Opened the container and it looked like a bomb had gone off. The pasta was super over cooked and ragged looking. Didn’t see any chicken at first them found little rocks of chicken in the dish. Hard, overcooked, rubbery, mis-​shapen and tasted horribly. Inedible. I tried to just eat the overcooked pasta but it was very greasy. The garlic sticks were so overcooked and old that they just crumbled upon my teeth making contact. Worse meal I had in as long as I can remember. I did notice the cook looked new and not quite ready for prime time and so maybe that was the problem. But I just won’t give them another chance. I think the meal was 12 bucks and it was absolutely throwing away the money as I had to find something else to eat for dinner.

I would almost give it 1 star, but the girl working there was nice enough and I’ve had worse food before.
I ordered a BLT which was nothing special… but it’s really hard to mess up a BLT. It’s such a standard item that you would think they could improve upon it or make it their own but nope. It wasn’t even cut in half. Just two cheap peices of bread and bacon lettuce and tomato. The bread on top was toasted, but it was cold bread which I thought was odd.
My one friend ordered fettuccine alfredo, the sauce was pretty runny. But he said it wasn’t bad.
Here’s where it goes way downhill, the burger wasn’t even a patty… it was like random pieces of ground beef that were falling out of the bun. The bun wasn’t a bun, it was like ciabatta bread… but they didn’t advertise that. It’s almost like they were doing it to save on having to buy hamburger buns, or a good brioche roll. The tomatoes on the side looked odd to me. He maybe had two bites of it and then left it.
When you order a soda, they just bring you a can… no glass. No fountain soda. Not a good sign of a restaurant that’s trying.
The interior was okay, but kind of bad taste. They were trying to be quirky with diagonal windows and bright colors, but it just looks unfinished and sort of tacky to me. Like the diagonal
I hate to give it a bad review, because it wasn’t expensive food. Around 5 bucks for the burger and the BLT. But still, I’ve eaten for around 5 dollars many times in my life and it’s way better than this place. We could have expected it to be below mediocre… I wasn’t that shocked. But still, that’s the review.

Like noms! All right, I’m giving myself an intervention. I’ve had their Penne Pesto 3 days this week. So I need to stop. Seriously undervalued little joint. I was so amazed at how fresh the pasta was! They definitely use quality fresh ingredients and it shows. Mind you, I’ve only had one dish out of the menu since discovering it. It’s just so light and tasty. Best of all, it isn’t over salted like the other crap you find out there! So if you are a chills/​TGIF/​BJ’s type of person, this isn’t the place for you. You might confuse bland for fresh. HA
But seriously, all they need is some music jamming and front tables to draw a crowd. Great pasta and the tiramisu wasn’t shabby either! Finally a great little place near MT. Washington for my pasta needs. Now when can we get a Juice bar and a Trader Joes?

Very cute and clean place with friendly service. Everything was fresh and tasty!

Noticed it when I was driving by out of the corner of my eye and am glade I checked it out ! It’s a nice little set up with friendly service. I ordered the meat lasagna and chicken Marsala for my wife with the side Caesar salad and a bowl of sausage kale soup for under $ 30 bucks ! It was very tasty and I recommend them highly !

Yay! Pasta Fresca is yet another Good Eats spot in the Cypress Highland area. Soups are tasty, try the veggie soup or the Pea soup. Love their Ciabatta and Pannini sandwiches. The Flan is definitely Legit. Lots of healthy eating and nothing over salted. The atmosphere is a little quiet. They could play some music for a little ambiance.

Can’t wait to go back! Had the lasagna with a side of kale soup. Thrilled this place has popped up in the neighborhood. Will be going back.

This place is actually really good… so far no businesses have been successful at making this place a hit. I believe Pasta Fresca has a good shot… their service is fast and food is decent (I am a strong food critic) Their restaurant is well kept and décor is on point. I tried the Fettuccine Alfredo… ill be back for the spaghetti next! It’s nice to see something different in the area.

I am very impressed by the fast and delicious food served here at reasonable prices. I’m not sure why the place is always empty? The décor is much nicer than you’d think as is the presentation of food. So far everything I’ve tried has been great. I hope they make it!