Pasta Pomodoro

I’m not surprised to see they’re out of business. I should have known, based on my last visit.

Not the greatest… there was so much basil on my chicken parmigiana (with a side of penne pasta) that I took off as much as I could — - and, it still covered half of the bread plate! The sauce was still tasteless even with all of that basil. The pasta was overcooked too.
The portion was substantial and the service was friendly but I wish the food was better.
I’m sure it wasn’t pre-​made ahead of time but, it sure tasted like it.

Stopped by tonight for my free birthday dinner. Yep you get a free dinner on your birthday if you are part of their eclub. Not many places do this anymore.
Service was friendly and accommodating. Melvin, our server, was great. He was efficient and really nice.
Food was good. Bread was piping hot, and the dipping sauce was great. My mainstay soup– zuppa minestrone was really thick and yummy. Even my son commented on how delish it was. The Caesar salad was nice, although the croutons were a bit soggy.
Our entrees were the salmon and seafood pasta (frutti de mare). Both dishes was very good. The salmon was soft and buttery. My only critique with the dish is that the beans on the bottom made the dish a little heavy; needs a little acidity for balance. The pasta was the right consistency and the seafood was not overdone. The shrimp were plumb and juicy and the clams were nice.
Overall a nice meal for my birthday and I appreciated Melvin offering my son a little dessert at the end. Great family place to dine, enjoy some good food and relax.

Stopped by because it wasn’t busy for lunch. There service was fast and friendly and my food was delightful! Our drinks were topped off right before they were all gone and we didn’t even ask!
My boyfriend ordered hicken parmigan and i ordered a cesar salad with sautéed shrimp! Yum!

First all, I have to say, we haven’t been to Pomodoro for about 6 months, since I got pregnant with our second child. For many reasons, we haven’t been back, or simply haven’t been dining out often. So this review can only say our experiences with this restaurant prior to January 2014.
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This is our go-​to restaurant with our 2-​year old on a night when we don’t want to cook or run out of leftovers. It’s a proven success with our child. We like to sit outdoors or in the bench area indoors, both provide a lot of distractions for a toddler. The food is decent and not pricey at all. Our toddler absolutely LOVES their pasta and bread, and so do we.

Italian food can be dangerous for a gluten-​free gal, but I was hopeful when I saw that Pasta Pomodoro had a gluten free menu available.
Looking through the options I noticed that the offered gluten free pasta with select sauces and decided to try the Bruschetta sauce option with the gluten free option. When my waiter came back carrying a plate laden with slices of bread I was confused. I asked him if the bread was gluten free and he gave me a strange look and said no. So then I explained that I was gluten-​free and couldn’t eat the bread and had thought I order gluten free pasta with a bruschetta sauce pointing to the option on the menu. He proceeded to tell me that the bruschetta was not gluten free and was not a dish with pasta.
At this point I was starting to get annoyed because the menu clearly said that the bruschetta sauce — labeled, might I add, under the sauces on the gluten-​free menu — was available with gluten-​free pasta but he insisted that the bruschetta was not a sauce. We argued for a couple of minutes before I just gave up trying to explain why this made no sense on the menu and ordered gluten-​free pasta with plain red sauce.
As the waiter left the man at the table next to me leaned over and told me that he agreed that the menu clearly stated that there was a bruschetta sauce option for gluten-​free pasta and that the menu was flawed.
What my waiter brought me was a large mass of overcooked penne noodles that were disintegrating in a sauce that had multiple chunks of sausage despite its label as vegetarian.
Needless to say I will not be returning to Pasta Pomodoro.

C’mon — since when does the McPasta think they can charge $ 18 for a lunch pasta entrée?! The food isnt terrible (more ‘tolerable’). My noe valley kids were raised on regular pasta pom dishes, and adult fare was always passable… at $ 8 maybe. There are financial district and norht beach italian places that dont charge that, and the quality is inifintely better. And you thought the housing prices in Noe were exorbitant. Adjust your prices to the quality of your food so it meets expectations. Otherwise, I suggest you drop your money on Lupa, La Ciccia, or Bacco nearby.

A year ago there used to be lovely staff at Pasta Pomodoro and the food was so much different. I don’t know what happened but suddenly this place is no longer the same. The ambiance and overall cleanliness. I would overall suggest that you stay away unless you want food poisoning and to contract some serious disease.
They fired all the good servers. The manager that was there quit.
There used to be a waiting list but now there isn’t. Well, it’s not much of a surprise with how much this place has drastically changed.
I’ve lived in the neighborhood for quite some time now and this used to be a neighborhood staple where you could bring the kids, meet with a friend, have a nice family dinner but no longer does that seem to be the case.
The new waitstaff don’t speak English well and are hard to understand.
The new manager is an ASSHOLE and the most unprofessional that I have ever seen.
Who the hell hired the guy? He should go back to running a McDonalds!
Everything else on the menu has drastically changed and no longer has any flavor.
Waste of money. Waste of time. Bottom line – I suggest that you do NOT I repeat DO NOT eat here.
You’re better off eating at a real Italian place in the neighborhood or just going to North Beach for quality Italian food.

So when you look for pasta outside of north beach section of San Francisco, its a rare find, almost like trying to find a brothel that openly promotes itself ever since the city govt started playing hardball with aspects of the red light district.
Granted when you think of parking in north beach, it a bloody nightmare, even without the nosy and ignorant tourists that expect you to move out of their way even if they see you coming OR if you’re a 4’3 little kid trying to find mom, one of these days i might just give him a shove into the meter for good measure if they think they can just walk through me cause i’m asian.
They’re already in the city, that doesn’t mean they don’t have to have a standard of ethics, especially non English speaking french people.
Pasta pomodoro here in Noe Valley is a little more lenient with parking if you get lucky up castro hill, but in terms of quality, well don’t look too far up from IHOP.
Let me explain.
A)Gemelli– Mushrooms cooked properly, smoked chicken was cooked but on the dry side after being smoked, and the cream well, its more like gravy.
Result: FAIL — It seriously does look like something someone pulled out of an expired Marie Calendars box about a decade ago. The sauce isn’t exactly creamy, but its more like something very watery, as if someone overcooked the gravy you would expect from mashed potatoes or pot roast, sadly enough from the presentation of the food at both this location as well as el cerritos location, this is not the thing to order any time, whether you’re by yourself or on a date, cause what comes out of your mouth might just match what you see on your plate.
Issues
Presentation:Gives the appearance of curbside refuge pile.
Cooking:Smoked chicken may be going too far with this dish.
Gravy:It does somewhat help the dryness of the chicken, but it lacks any flavor, i’ve gotten more flavor out of whipped cream on vanilla ice cream.
B)Frutti Di Mare
Short and simple, ask your chef to actually check the mussel shells so we’re not served someone else’s used covers, cause if a customer finds the shell empty, guess who blame first if the dish just got to the table? Maybe its just me, but i’m beginning to think that soggy/​souped calamari just doesnt always work for some dishes, not the fault of the restaurant necessarily i would guess, but still, its like chewing on rubber.
Result: FAIL.
C)Pasta Pomodoro’s Fetticini Alfredo.
Result FAIL.
Issues: The Alredo sauce is very heavy and the noodles are thick.
It’s filling in a food way but they really need some accomodating options that give this dish something worth eating. Adding chicken doesnt always help. Maybe swtich to angel hair pasta isntead to make use of the sauce? Cause as far as i can tell its like throwing a dry mop into a huge puddle of crude oil nothing to enjoy but only to clean up. This dish is something they can change to make themselves stand out.
Still though Pasta Pomodoro … FAIL…

Out of convenience we (mistakenly) decided to give Pasta Pomodoro another try. I’ve eaten at this location maybe twice before and after this very last time, I decided we are never coming back. My husband who is a bit more forgiving than I, agreed.
The food here was pretty bad on this particular visit. I rarely ever use salt on food but both my husband and I reached for the salt shaker twice! Our orders had absolutely NO flavors and I immediately experienced the I-​could-​have-​whipped-​up-​something-​much-​better-​from-​home feeling.
The annoying part was that the dishes were in the $ ¹⁵⁄₁₆ range. Oh and this wasn’t even dinner time.
Service wasn’t great either. They completely forgot our drinks and I had to ask them to remove it off the bill when it arrived. Funny, because the restaurant was not busy.
Sorry, not even their 19.94% off coupon will bring me back.

My husband had severe food poisoning here a week ago. He notified them that it occurred. The staff and manager did not seem to care. Hopefully they don’t get anyone else sick.

Wow. This place used to be good consistently and we had been going there for at least 20 years. This used to be a Noe Valley family restaraunt staple.
The new owners raised the prices, eviscerated the food quality, smaller portions, cheaper wine, fired all the good staff and it is no longer a good place to go. Avoid.
You would be better off buying sushi at a gas station.
The owner should go back to running Burger Kings.
This place is awful now. No surpise there is no waiting anymore…
:(

I went on a Saturday afternoon and really liked the atmosphere. The food was great. The bread and pesto were better than what’s expected at the usual Italian place. When the couple next to me got cold they jumped right onto making them comfortable.
My only qualm was with the hostess. She was very friendly and bubbly. Loved her, very sweet. But, when people came in she would happily say «sit where ever you would like» which is nice but caused the 4 couples a saw walk in to get a little confused. Maybe ask indoor? Outdoor? Widow side? Private? And then give people options. It just made me feel like a hostess wasn’t necessary if customers had to look for their own table. Not her fault, she was wry lovely other than that

Pasta Pomodoro used to be that quaint neighborhood restaurant with a great casual ambiance, friendly servers, and reasonable food. And while the first thing listed may still hold true, Pasta Pomodoro truly fails to deliver on the latter.
We walked into the restaurant at around 6pm on a Saturday and were seated immediately. The atmosphere was nice. A dimly lit dining room with large windows (great for people watching) and comfy bench seats. Our waiter came by to take our drink order right away and that was that.
I was surprised to see that the prices at Pasta Pomodoro have risen so dramatically. Prior to many of the old locations closing, I remember pasta dishes costing around $ 8 – 10. Now it’s hard to find one under $ 12. Since that’s the case, I would much rather go to a true Italian eatery and grab an equivalent pasta for about the same price. But we were there so I went with an old favorite: Penne Portobello.
After ordering, we waiting – patiently – for our tried and true focaccia to be delivered. After about 10 minutes, we hadn’t received our food (which didn’t surprise me), but we also hadn’t received any bread – despite the tables surrounding us receiving refills on theirs. My companion politely asked a waiter if we could get some and the waiter said OK. 5 minutes and no bread later, I asked the hostess, as the waiter who had helped us previously (different from the waiter who had taken our order) was nowhere to be found. She quite curtly told me the order had been placed and walked away. Normally I wouldn’t be so finicky over bread, but (a) I was starving, (b) when I go to a Pasta Pomodoro I go because I also really like their bread, and © I did not appreciate the rudeness I got for something that comes standard.
The bread arrived WITH our meal. The food was pretty standard Pasta Pomodoro. Flavorful and hot, as expected. In my opinion, not worth the $ 3-​$ 4 increase from a couple years back, but I had a coupon for $ 8 off $ 25 so I guess that made that work it (?). If you go, definitely sign up for their emails beforehand because they’ll send you an email with a coupon and periodically after that they’ll keep sending you a ton of offers, which are actually pretty decent (and also probably compensating for higher prices and lower standards of service).

Went here for lunch on Boxing Day. I ordered the lunch special — pesce sano. The salmon was cooked to perfection, which the tomato sauce was pretty delicious. However, their bread is outstanding — it’s served warm with olive oil on the side
Service is friendly, but not super quick.

Many gluten free options but ended up eating flavorless pasta topped with sugar.
I absolutely love pasta on cold days and I’m gluten intolerant. I heard that they had a special gluten free menu so why not give it a try? When I was younger I loved the ravioli di zucca and it was absolutely delicious. So when I saw Penne do zucca I couldn’t help but feel that childhood excitement all over again. When I finally got my plate my paste had no sauce at all and was topped with a little brown sugar. It was so bland and my childhood memories were shattered.
I would come back one more time to try something else off the gluten free menu but never again am I going to get the di zucca and pay 13.00 for plain pasta.

Pasta Pomodoro is a brand that I cannot live without. On a side note, I have friends from Japan, who have only been there few times while visiting US, constantly tell me how much they miss ‘that place’ when they see me posting pictures on my personal blog and facebook.
So this time we came here on a Saturday. Mat fact, we met up so late, 830pm in Daly City. Back in the city, I really cannot think of another quality pasta place we can arrive, park and be sure that they are still open. Well Pasta Pomodoro was the first thing that came to my mind!
I am a big-​time Fettuccine lover so I ordered their Fettuccine dish under classics, with jumbo shrimps.(Honestly, I almost always order this dish) The shrimps are SO FRESH that the crispiness perfectly complements the pasta that is cooked to the impeccable tenderness. I always enjoy their white sauce. I know some might say it is a little watery but it complements my noodles with flavors that I cannot possibly resist. How can I complain?
I didn’t pay attention to what my friend ordered so I can’t comment much but my friend seemed to enjoy it a lot, so it was good. My apology for being such an imperfect food observer; I really enjoyed my plate way too much to pay attention to anything else!
Although not the best I had, their bread is definitely pretty yummy too
Another good part of them is that their qualities are pretty consistent across their locations. (I have been to their location in Sac area (i forgot the town name), Emery-​ville and of course my native San Francisco)
And for this particular location, there is another perk I like about; it is in Mission area yet parking wasn’t that bad at all, considering it was on a Saturday night. Easy parking and San Francisco on weekend are usually antonyms with each other. Luckily, it wasn’t the case for us at this Pasta Pomodoro location. I pretty much found a spot within 25 feet without looping around the block even once.
I’ll definitely frequent it with my friends and families. I love you Pasta Pomodoro!

Came here on a Wednesday night and such a great experience. Super clean and warm on the inside plus half off wine bottles, how could this possibly go wrong. The food was great, had the tomato soup special with the ravioli special both were better than expected.
The service is really what brings this place together, our waiter Jason was AWESOME so handsome and friendly. Had an answer for every question I had and I am one high maintenance bitch. So helpful in getting me some meat free goodness and making sure we alway had what we wanted. A++ will be back, so get the wine opener ready!

Ok, lose a star, because it’s Sunday night, and college girl is home for Mother’s Day. We wanted to maximize our day, and finish with dessert out… decided on delicious chocolate soufflé cake with ice cream for dessert at Pasta Pomodoro. They close at 10. So we drive over and park. It’s 9:30 when we walk in the door.
Uhm, they said couldnt eat it there, had to take it to go as they were closed. No they were not. And not scheduled to close for another half hour. Lame.
Decided to go elsewhere.

Okay I know I already wrote an update, but I had to share this with the Unilocal community.
I love my Mom, although she lives in San Francisco, we don’t see each other as much as we would like to. She came over this last weekend and during her visit and our Mother-​Daughter chick flick movie marathon, she got the idea of going out to eat. (I think it was watching Julie and Julia that made us hungry)
We went to Pasta Pomodoro because she was craving mussels. I’ve never had more than 5 – 10 in my entire life, but lately I’ve been seafood crazy. We ordered a mussels appetizer, which was cooked in a white wine and garlic sauce and served with toasted french bread. It was so good that we ordered a SECOND one! It was only $ 7.50!
We had two mussel appetizers and split a kind salmon salad. The whole meal was light and delicious and cost less than $ 30.00. That’s a hellova deal.