Hello Pasta

I didn’t know that pasta could taste so bad.
I decided to give this place a shot… I got the simplest thing on the menu which was supposed to be a sort of Mac and Cheese. The pasta was very over-​cooked and watery. The cheese was just a melted goop, not a sauce. Maybe they forgot to add some other sauce. The staff was friendly and offered to explain the menu, but it took them a long time to prepare my terrible pasta.
I am usually pretty forgiving with over-​cooked pasta, but I struggled to finish my meal. Somehow, despite simple ingredients, it was disgusting. Maybe this was an off day and maybe some of the other options on the menu come out alright, but I won’t be returning to try any of them.
I periodically go to Nooi on Lexington between 40^th and 41^st… they have a very similar menu, but are cheaper and the food is much much better.
Go to Nooi instead, seriously.

My meal was unpleasant. My salad was not fresh. The vegetables were dry, turning white and cracked. The dressing tasted like band aids smell. Not good.
The pasta was better but not great. While the sauce tasted good it was only on the pasta at the bottom of the container and the pasta itself was very very heavy and doughy tasting. I don’t think I will eat here again unless they add something really good to the menu.

I was pretty impressed with the pasta here, especially for the price. If you’re looking to save some money, you can get a great deal here if you keep it basic. I had penne carbonara with chicken. The carbonara wasn’t as thick as it normally is, but i kinda liked it since it didn’t stuff me. Not the best pasta i’ve ever had, but I’d definitely come back if i was looking for a quick dinner, light dinner.

Wow, some pretty harsh reviews here!
I got the macaroni and cheese. It was pretty good. Ok, I’ve had better, but it was GOOD. There’s a lot of organic stuff here which is cool. I found that the staff I spoke to were incredibly nice. I’ll definitely go again, explore a little. Seemed like there were some good options.

Meh I’ve experienced better indeed.
Today I had some leftover pasta that I intended to bring to work for lunch. I forgot it at home like a dummy, and needed to scratch that pasta itch all the same. Hello Pasta is literally downstairs from my office. It’s like it was meant to be.
The staff was super nice and friendly here, but all the nice in the world won’t help when your product is, well, to be on the nice side, only just ok. I ordered the penne with vodka sauce, but they didn’t have any penne today so I switched for a bow-​tie. Asked for some parmesean on top as well. Simple, right?
The pasta was kind of overcooked and the sauce seemed watered down. Vodka sauce, in my experience, tends towards rich and on the thicker side, even when it’s classico or what have you, so what gives?
Anyhow, portions are pretty big and it’s not an unpleasent experience, but I hope they learn not to shy away from flavor in the future.

For lunch, I had the bowtie pasta with the mushroom type sauce. I skipped getting any meat added, but did ask for cheese (a distressingly small portion of mozzarella). All that plus a Coke, $ 11. The pasta was cooked to the right consistency, but the flavor level in the sauce was seriously lacking. Underwhelmed by my experience. Next stop for noodles in Midtown East is Dee Daa (
).

First thing I noticed and liked about this place was the décor.
Ordered the large portion (one of 2 size options), and it was enough to fill me up for lunch and dinner later that day. The whole wheat and gluten-​free options are nice.
I mean… the place is pretty self-​explanatory. Pick a pasta, pick a sauce, pick a protein for an extra dollar or two (shrimp, chicken, etc). Nothing to rave about, but for the area the price is decent and the process is speedy.
Didn’t get dessert, but they looked pretty yummy.

A little steep price wise, but it’s convenient, quick and filling for a lunch on the go. I’ve always enjoyed my basic noodles and marinara, and I frequent the convenient location on 3^rd.

I really like this concept of a «pasta bar» where you can pick your kind of pasta (everything from wheat to gluten– free), sauce (chicken Tuscan, veggie, mushroom, etc, etc), and protein (shrimp, chicken…). The menu items are healthy — they list the health facts and all th good-​for-​you info. I ordered the large portion (hello heifer) of wheat pasta with the chicken Tuscan sauce. It was pretty decent. I little powder-​y taste like some of the other reviews thought, but still a hearty lunch. I would like to go back and try the mushroom sauce option. The prices are easy on the wallet, too, always a plus for a NYC joint.

I don’t know why there are some negative reviews. I am a fan of this place. Great concept and good food!

Everyone has pretty much said it so far-​this is a really good idea but the product does not follow up with the good idea. I had a groupon (and to fellow grouponers I would suggest to go between 5 – 10 pm when they have the $ 8.99 deal (unless the fine print is you cannot use your groupon for that) You will get more bang for your buck although that is not saying much.
I think one of the issues here is that everything is pre-​made. Especially with something like pesto you can’t have that going on. I wasn’t bothered by the chinese take out like containers. The staff were friendly but the food is just ick.

The concept of this chain from France is simple. Choose a pasta type, choose a sauce, and then choose a cheese and viola within a few short minutes, your pasta is ready to be consumed. This assembly line process should be familiar to anyone that have eaten at other fast food places such as Chipotle and Subway.
I’m no pasta expert but, um… this place pretty much suck at making them. Little Italy have nothing to worry about for now. My whole wheat fusilli with tuna provencal sauce was pretty bland. It kind of reminds me of Tuna Helper that you could buy at the supermarket but a little less tasty because of how little sauce they mixed in with the pasta. This also resulted in the pasta being a bit on the dry side. The price of this pasta was also pretty pricey for what they give. In their normal sized Chinese take out container, which is pretty small, this order costs $ 8.75.
Yeah. You read right. They put the pastas in those little square take out containers usually reserved for fried rice and such. Don’t have a clue why they did that.
From 5:30 PM to 10 PM they have a special going on where you could get any regular sized pasta, with a drink, and a dessert for only $ 8.99. What they don’t tell you on print is that the «desert» is any selection of these snack sized little things such as a brownie or a rice cake that is about 1.5 inch squared. Ummm… could you wait a second while I get a magnifier to eat it? For the drink selection, they let you choose a can of Coke, diet Coke, or a bottled water. For some strange reason, a can of Coke Zero is not allowed as part of the selection. WTF? It’s the same price point and same can size. What gives? Maybe that decision was decided by the same person that thought Chinese food containers makes sense for a Italian styled pasta chain.
After this experience, I’m saying bye bye pasta to Hello Pasta which is kind of sad because the workers there were pretty nice.

Novel concept, poor execution.
I echo the sentiments of my fellow Unilocal’ers when it comes to Hello Pasta. Just an overall poor restaurant. Overpriced and undercooked are just two of the many pejoratives I could hand out to this establishment.
My friend and I went to grab a quick lunch here. Our initial attraction to the restaurant was its design — simple and clean, along with an awesome logo, that we just couldn’t resist but enter. Upon entrance, the whole concept was confusing. Even though the steps are divided into three easy pieces, but why all the fluff? Just give it to us straight. Those that visit will know what I’m talking about. The menus are riddled with extraneous information; if the concept of the restaurant is simplicity and minimalism, then dedicate the restaurant to it, including the menu.
We ordered two pre-​configured pastas (shells with bolognese, bow-​tie with salmon tarragone). Neither worked. The pastas are cooked with what seems like a deep fryer with boiling water. Each basket is submerged in the water and everything is done automatically. There are only two baskets for non-​gluten-​free and two baskets for GF. The whole process is a bit slow and I worry about wait times during lunch peak hours — then again, with this restaurant, there probably aren’t many patrons during lunch. Oh yeah, we also ordered a roasted corn.
Yes that was a random tack-​on to the end, the cashier thought so too. Our first try at paying yielded us a tab of $ 23. That’s fine — two orders, a soup and a soda. Unfortunately, that’s not what we paid for. Apparently the $ 23 didn’t include the soup. Look, I’m not the type to argue, I’ll just post my anger on the price on Unilocal.In total, this cost about $ 28 and honestly, I would probably only pay $ 15. There was nothing exciting about the pastas, even when you go for a more aggressive sauce such as the salmon tarragone.
The presentation didn’t work for me either. Chinese takeout boxes with circular bottoms? That’s just crazy… and uncomfortable to eat bowtie pasta with. It certainly works with spaghetti (similar to asian noodles), but that’s the extent of it. In the end, this pasta shop plays to a niche market: gluten-​free, organic, or another healthy type of customer. If you fall into one of those categories and are willing to pay a premium for subpar pasta, then be my guest and venture here. Otherwise, avoid.

Hello Pasta. Arrivederci Al Dente.
I hate to give such a negative review based on a single visit, but the pasta was just horrendous. I ordered the Handfull Arrabiatta Conchiglie pasta for $ 11. The sauce was passable with a hint of flavor and spice. However, the pasta was so overcooked my bowl looked like a thick minestrone soup. The sauce seemed to be holding the pasta together. Properly cooking pasta is a skill any dining establishment should master after boiling water. I appreciate restaurants offering organic and local ingredients, but inedible food is just a waste of quality ingredients.
Instead of Hello Pasta, my recommendation is to visit the nearest corner store, pick up some Chef Boyardee Microwave Cups, and save some of your hard earned money.
As for Hello Pasta, I’m gonna leave them hanging.

I ordered wheat pasta with bolognese. It tasted like wheat pasta with bolognese. My pasta was a bit overcooked.
A quick and easy place to get pasta, so if you’re just craving a quick fix… this is fine.

My God, they suck. The pasta is overcooked and the sauce all had this weird powdered pasta mix taste to it, like one of those awful Lipton pasta side dish things. There also wasn’t enough of it to actually sauce the pasta, so it ended up being this dry, gummy, garlicky, Lipton disgusting mess. I am speaking towards the mushroom sauce and the carbonara. I think that the next time I have a pasta craving in this neighborhood, I’ll go elsewhere.

I went here on the day it opened and was less then impressed. The fusilli with al funghi sauce was filling, but that’s about it; if there had been more of the sauce, as in enough to actually coat my pasta with some to spare, it probably would have been pretty good.
Not wanting to make a harsh judgment after only one try, I gave it another go. After all, it stands to reason that a restaurant will have a few kinks to work out on their first day; kinks which should be more or less resolved after a week or two, right?
I think they were actually better prepared on opening day, as this time it was almost painful to watch the employees slowly assemble pasta dishes as the line piled up… how hard is it to mix two ingredients together and throw some cheese on there? I thought I’d try a sauce with meat in the hopes that it would feel more substantial, but the sausage and peas sauce had maybe 1 oz of minutely ground sausage and about 6 peas in the whole container. Still not enough sauce, the container was only ²⁄₃ full, and the price of $ 8.25 is way too much for the amount and quality of what you get.
Sorry Hello Pasta; you have a good idea, but if you’re going to do simple, you have to do it well.

Hello Pasta’s new 3^rd Ave. location has been open an entire week, and has yet to be reviewed. A week! Why back in my day, Unilocalers would be lined up around the block just to be the first in.
Harumpf.
But I digress…
Hello Pasta is taking what is becoming known as the «Chipotle Model» and applying it to pasta. Basically, choose a pasta shape, choose a sauce, choose a size. Enjoy your meal. Pretty easy to understand, even if Chipotle didn’t come up with it.
I got the CONCHIGLIE (wannabe fancy for shells) with SAUSAGE & PEAS (wannabe fancy for watery marinara-​esque sauce with bland chunks). Kind of disappointing… I was expecting the sauce to be creamier, and the sausage and peas to have flavor.
The texture of the pasta was pretty decent though, despite the fact that it was pre-​cooked. I also found it interesting that they have two sizes, and both are measured by ounces. I never really gave much thought to how many ounces of food I consume, but 14 wasn’t enough. Sounds like it should be, but it wasn’t. And for $ 8.98, I better be full by the end of it.
The place is nice enough. Tries to be modern and clean, which it is. Getting a free Vitamin Water with the meal was a nice bonus. But paying nine bucks for marginal sauce and not being full isn’t a recipe to get me back in the future.