Pastaria

My butternut squash lasagna was very tasty and the risotto balls were divine. The service was good and I liked the décor. The only negative was that the seating is a bit tight.

I’d give this 10 stars if it was possible. Pastaria is by far the best restaurant I’ve eaten at in St. Louis. I can only hope that they’ll open a branch in DC.
Food: the food here is amazing. Seriously. I was speechless for a good chunk of my meal — and for someone who talks a lot, that’s saying something. I took the advice of other reviewers and started off with the risotto balls. I don’t know how to word this strongly enough: ORDER THE RISOTTO BALLS. I then ate a huge chunk of their literally steaming hot and delicious bread. My friend and I split the pasta pomodoro, which was superb. It is a simple dish that is done beautifully. The pasta is the best pasta I have ever had. We finished with a small scoop of the salted caramel gelato — it was the best part of the meal. There are no words to express how good it was.
Service: the service here is amazing. John, our server, was great! I’d probably request him next time if I could.
Eat here. Just do it. You’re welcome.

My favorite restaurant in STL. Everything is so fresh and tasty! Best pomodoro in the city. The risotto balls are also delicious. Their cocktails are also great and worth trying. I have had the pizza before and it is good, but stick to the pasta!

Always great — try the fried risotto balls they are great!
The wait is definitely worth it! Try eating by the bar — cool experience and you’ll get seated sooner.
Always excited to come here!

My client and his wife recommended this place, so we all took a night off from work for dinner. The layout was a huge, open space with both communal tables and private tables. This place is popular, so even though the place is big, it’s packed, with very little room to move around. However, the server was wonderful and extremely helpful deciding what to order. My suggestion… ask questions about the dishes. I had a wonderful noodle with pork and granny smith apples. It was delicious, but with the pork and the apple combined a little sweeter than I like my pasta. However, the noodles were cooked fresh and everything was cooked perfectly. Portions are not heafty, but they are extremely filling. I didn’t even have a salad to start, and I could only finish half of my pasta. My drink was simple, but nothing amazing. Next time I’ll try the wine list. Overall, a good dinner, and I’ll have to come back to try more of the in house pastas.

Pastaria makes the best pasta I have ever eaten. Forget those restaurants over on the hill. The may deliver huge portions for a lower price, but the flavor doesn’t even compare.
Bread — amazing! I always ask for some balsamic vinegar to mix with the nice olive oil on the table. That makes for a perfect flavor combination.
Appetizers — Risotto Balls! Fried to order, the plate of 6 will literally melt in your mouth. These are practically arancini.
Pasta — The pistachio ravioli is delectable. Though the portion is small, the flavor does not disappoint. If you like cream sauces and pepper, don’t miss the Canestri Cacio e Pepe. The sauce is a rich, peppery sauce that perfectly coats the al dente canestri. Other favorites include the pappardelle, garganelli, and lasagna.
Pizza — Oh my. This pizza is fantastic. I didn’t get it until after I was seated at the bar in front of the pizza oven and prep station. Here I observed the extremely high quality of all the ingredients and was sold. I have tried the Roman and Hawaiian pizzas, both of which were phenomenal. The thick cut bacon pieces on the Roman exuded flavor. The fresh pineapple on the Hawaiian was the best pineapple I have ever had on a pizza.
Gelato — Wow. I have had so many different flavors of excellent gelato here. Watermelon Lime, Rosemary, Coffee, Castaway, a flavor with beer, and others are ones I have had the privelege of tasting. Even if you can’t eat a whole bowl, at least try the flavors!
Notes– With bread an an appetizer, one pizza is plenty to share with two people. Then you may actually have enough room to order gelato or dessert! The pastas vary in size. The pastas with fewer ingredients tend to have larger portions. The lasagna and pistachio rav have the smallest portions, but still enough to satisfy and make me happy with the price.

We’ve been here twice now. The first time I ordered the margarita pizza– amazing. BUT my husband ordered pasta and I cannot even remember what was in it but it was incredible. There are few things better than home made pasta. Such a treat.
We went back and I ordered pasta this time and it was incredible. We ordered tiramisu for dessert and it was the absolute best!
Great place, great atmosphere. They validate your parking at the garage by the restaurant so it’s super convenient. We will definitely be back!!!

I’ve been to Pastaria a couple times and each time, I’ve been greeted with a pleasant experience and delicious food. These guys did it right by traveling to Italy and learning everything they could before bringing back their newfound knowledge to the states.
The ambiance is akin to a noisy cafeteria, as the dining area is very open with a bunch of tables quite close to one another, but it’s not too bad. Overall, the personality is upscale-​ish but still casual (jeans and a nice shirt are acceptable). The décor is simple, with a wall of pictures (presumably from their trip to Italy to learn their craft), and straightforward furniture. You have a nice view of the kitchen if you care to watch the chefs hard at work in their white clothes and matching hats/​kerchiefs. The wait staff and hosts have always been hospitable and very knowledgeable about their pastas. (And you should have questions! Don’t be afraid to ask them!) There is also outside seating when the weather is nice.
The beverage list is varied, with wine available by the glass and the bottle. Beers vary from the standard to more adventurous. Their menu is mainly pastas and pizzas, both of which have been very good in my experience. They change their menu maybe once a year I believe, so keep checking in with them. Nothing I’ve had here has been bad.
This is an excellent and dependable standby that is continually delicious, so I definitely recommend them. It doesn’t hurt that they also validate parking! Will be returning.

Al dente hand-​made pasta, pizza charred to perfection, and fabulous service, this spot’s sure to keep everyone happy.
My Hotlist:
— Bread — Freshly baked and served table-​side. I like to dip it in chili oil, salt and pepper.
— Risotto Balls — You simply must.
— Cacio e pepe — Grown-​up mac ‘n cheese, yes please.
— Strozzapreti (Pastaria’s bolognese) — An elevated classic.
— Pomodoro — Perfectly simple. Sub grana padano for fresh mozz.
— Brussels sprouts — I ask for them ‘extra crispy’ and they don’t disappoint.
— Gelato — Take a stop at the gelato bar when you’re finished. With seasonally rotating specials, sampling is welcomed. The salty caramel never disappoints.
— Birthday Cake — An ‘off the menu’ treat. Funfetti cake-​ball topping reminiscent of Momofuku milk-bar’s balls. Ask your waiter to bring out a slice for a special occasion.

I’d been wanting to try this place out for a while before I finally had the chance to do it! We came on a Sunday night, it was pretty busy, there was about a 20 minute wait. We sat at the bar while waiting for a table and enjoyed some vino.
Once our table was ready, we were so hungry that we devoured the delicious freshly baked italian bread that we were served and even asked for more while we were deciding what to order. I didn’t realize that each add in to your pasta was an extra $ 2.50, seemed a bit much but I got 3 so my pasta ended up being really expensive (and I only got vegetables, seemed too pricey for the amount of veggies that were actually in my pasta). Other than that, I won’t complain much. Everything else was great and the service was fine. Not sure if I’ll go back again or not, but overall a decent experience.

We love the place. Décor is homey and the smell is delicious. Service is outstanding and super friendly. Parking is on the street. Child friendly. Definitely going back for their pizza!
Food:
Bread — is absolutely one of the most delicious/​fresh bread I ever had in an Italian restaurant
Risotto ball — outstanding! Very rich and moist. Love the flavor and the texture
Chitarra and clam white wine sauce — very good and strong citrusy flavor. Definitely recommend
Pistachio ravioli — very exotic. Nice Flavors if you really like pistachio.

From a financial perspective, I suppose a pasta restaurant is a relatively good risk. As people pay relatively high markup for pizza, which is basically flour, tomato sauce, cheese, and a few toppings, so I imagine they’ll do the same for pasta, which usually is a different manifestation of the same basic ingredients. Artfully prepared, served on beautiful white plates, accompanied by a glass of wine, the combination is so satisfying.
It took me a while to try Pastaria because parking is a big deal for me. I associate Clayton with circling the block searching for a space, and, just thinking about it, I’m unhappy. So I was delighted to discover you can park in the garage next to Pastaria, and have your ticket validated when you settle up. After that, everything else was easy.
Christian was our fine server. I’m not sure how many tables he had, but the room was full, and he was there for us at the key moments. He knew the menu, and was completely comfortable explaining the gluten-​free options, which seems remarkable for a pasta restaurant.
Our meal:
*Aged Negroni for TH
*Mezzo Litro House Red Wine for me
*Mixed Greens for TH (red wine vinaigrette, pears, walnuts, goat cheese)
*Crispy Risotto Balls for me (mozzarella + Grana Padano, + herb aioli + marinara = more delicious calories than I deserved)
*Garganelli for TH — Gluten-​Free — (braised beef, olives, gremolata, Grana Padano)
*Pappardelle for me (smoked pork, mascarpone, apples)
*BASIL GELATO! It was so, so good, like add-​a-​fifth-​star good. Like daydreaming-​how-​to-​make-​a-​living-​making-​basil-​gelato good.
When we left, my gas-​guzzling SUV was right next door, ready to take us home to the suburbs.

My wife and I went here on a double date with another couple after hearing really great things about Pastaria. We went on a Friday night just after seven and Pastaria does not accept reservations.
The estimate was an hour for a table – but we had to wait an hour and forty-​five minutes to get a table.
Believing the wait would be worth it, we hopped over to Laredo Cantina Clayton for a few drinks while we waited.
Once we were seated, the evening was lovely. The setting is bright, clean, and retro-​style with wall tile and an open kitchen. A separate bar with gelato was available.
We ordered a side of crispy risotto balls to start and they were heavenly. I ordered the Chitarra with clams, with butter and white wine, and my wife ordered the Chitarra al Pomodoro, which came in a marinara.
The fresh pasta was a delight! Each slice was a perfect dumpling in savory sauce. I can’t say enough praise for the wonderful food here.
Will I go again? Maybe. I’m not sure its worth the wait. Five stars are definitely earned here. The only way Pastaria could improve would be by taking reservations, even if they are a month out at a time.
But here is the sweet spot: Pastaria offers take out. And I guarantee we will be ordering fresh pasta ahead in the very near future. It was delicious.

A wonderful experience! They automatically addressed one of the things I hate about coming to Clayton: parking. There is free parking in the garage right next door to the restaurant.
The service was impeccable, I came in right at 10am saturday for brunch. They have a small, but impressive menu. Grace, our server, took care of everything, was nearby for refills, and checked in on us quite a bit.
I’m not one to really notice it, but the décor was also really nice, pictures everywhere, tons of natural light, a good amount of space between tables.
I had the house made donut and the frittata — eggplant, spaghetti noodles (in the eggs) and veggies. Definitely interesting, really creative idea by the chef. Eggplant was soft, eggs were fluffy, the crust was delicate, and it came with a side salad. The bf ordered crispy potatoes (man, were they crispy!) and the breakfast cake and pork belly. Yum! The breakfast cake was not super sweet, but like the consistency of focaccia, not too doughy, not too airy, just right, and had fresh berries throughout.
What a great experience — hope to be back to try out dinner.

Pastaria never disappoints! Great for groups, although the big space does fill up quickly. They don’t take reservations but I’ve only waited 20 – 30 minutes max (NoWait!) and usually spend it at the bar drinking a delicious cocktail. The Bravissimo and the Sicilian are well-​crafted. They also have a large wine/​beer selection for those inclined.
Get the Arancini Balls. Do it. These sinful, ooey-​gooey rounds of perfection are the best way to start your meal. We got the Eggplant Bruschetta as well, which was pretty good.
They offer one type of gluten-​free pasta and are apparently trying to get a gluten-​free crust soon. Plenty of vegetarian options as well. The Brussels Sprouts pizza was my favorite dish. We also shared the Butternut Squash ravioli with pistachios (yumm) and the Lasagna. The side of marinara sauce we requested definitely helped the pasta dishes, but that could also just be our preference.
Didn’t get dessert, but will try some next time!

My last dinner in St Louis/​Clayton and it did not disappoint. My supervisor ordered the risotto balls. Now, I’m a big fan an arancini; not all are created equal. These balls were good. Not my fav, but a solid appetizer to start with.
I ordered the cacio e pepe. I’m such a lover of all things pasta and this dish right here is so simple to make, it tasted divine. Divine, I say.
I wish I could take this restaurant back to DC with me. There were so many entrees I wanted to try. Alas, I bid adieu. Thanks for a tasty experience.

Yes it’s that good! This is pasta, pure, fresh, with incredible flavors! It is simple yet complex. It’s pasta like the Italians make it-​the real deal. A celebration of ingredients perfected into a dish that makes my palette rejoice!!! qww
It doesn’t stop there-​pizza, salads and hands down, the best gelato outside gof Italy-​all prepared with great pride!

Had a chance to sample a few more things, this time from the lunch menu. My favorite items are the pasta, granola, and donuts.
The staff is super nice. From the hostess to the bartender to the carryout team.
Note I did carryout so my assessment was written keeping that in mind.
Pasta. Chitarra al pomodoro. Spaghetti with tomatoes, garlic, basil, cheese. The flavor was delicious. Not too acidic or sweet. Nice tomato and garlic flavor.
Granola. I didn’t take a pic of the sign but I think it said olive oil. I think I also saw cherries, oats, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds. This was the FRESHEST granola I’ve had. It’s not too sweet and very tasty. I would go back just for the granola! Checkout bannerroad if you like granola.
Donuts. I had the glazed the the lemon custard. Both were delicious. The lemon custard was very generous with the filling. The lemon flavor was there and it wasn’t too sweet. It was one of the best donuts, but I did like the grape jelly more. The regular glazed was enormous and very tasty. If you like glazed donuts you have to try it here! Now this is a donut!
Pizza. I had the margherita and it was tasty. Plenty of basil. I also had the roman with bacon and chili. It was very flavorful. The pizza was very good but the crust is thin and there are parts that are black from the oven. I liked the pasta more than the pizza but of someone bought me a pizza I would gladly eat it. It was not oily or greasy at all and I’m sure I will try more in the future.
Chopped salad. It had chickpeas, olives, pistachio, pepperoni with red wine vinaigrette. It was good but I may try another one next time.
Risotto balls. Very light and crispy. Not oily at all. It was good but it had a lot of cheese. My preference is more rice, but for those that like cheese, get it! It came with red sauce and a white sauce.
Askinosie Dark Chocolate Gelato. Very tasty. I will get vanilla bean next time. I got to try basil and it was interesting.
It was a great meal!

On a recent trip to St. Louis, we decided to only eat in restaurants we hadn’t eaten in before. We were staying in the Overland area, so we were looking for restaurants more centrally located, not downtown. After reading several reviews, we settled on Pastaria in Clayton. We arrived there around 6:30 on a Sunday evening and found street parking easily. When we walked in, we realized that it was packed! I was still on Tennessee time and so that felt like 7:30 to me and I was starving, so we grabbed the last two seats at the counter. Kind of awkward and right on the end, but we loved it. We had a great view of their wood fired oven and the stoves. Watching the chef’s work was fascinating. I’m so glad that we didn’t sit somewhere out in the restaurant!
Our waitress, Tiffany, was excellent. She answered all of our questions and took our order quickly. My husband ordered the Wood Oven Roasted Chicken. I ordered the Italian Ramen. We split a mixed green salad. They split the salad for us and it was perfect. A nice spring greens mix with pears, walnuts and goat cheese.
It did take a while for us to get our food, but we didn’t really mind. We were watching the chef’s work, the pizzas being made and of the goings on behind the counter. We kept trying to guess which chicken in the oven was going to be my husbands. When the food came, it was more than worth the wait. My husband’s chicken was fantastic. It was a large chicken breast with part of the wing. It was smokey with crisp skin, but still moist inside. It was served with a bread salad of toasted bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and pickled red onions.
My Italian Ramen was incredible. I could eat this every day for the rest of my life. The broth was insanely rich and flavorful and almost thick from the grana padano cheese. The ramen noodles, perfectly chewy and the chicken, smoky and tender. Topped with a perfectly cooked soft egg and fresh basil. I was going to try and get the runny egg yolk food porn shot, but I knew that once I put my spoon it it, I was going to be all about the eating, and not about the photos. I want to try and make this at home. It was like chicken noodle soup kicked up several hundred notches.
Next time we go to St. Louis, it’s going to be hard to stick to our only new restaurant rule, because this ramen is going to be calling to me.

Ah Pastaria, we meet again and this time better than ever. I was reached out to by a manager here apologizing for my past experiences and to me, that is enough to give this place another shot. It’s the middle of the week and there is a wait, they’re always packed. They absolutely are not short on business but the management cares enough about my experience to apologize and want to make things right… And really, that’s incredible and the way things should be. I’m impressed, Pastaria.
So I brought my best friend back with me. She actually has already been, and if you read my previous review, she was one of the friends that I suggested Pastaria to and had a bad experience. This time was completely different for us both. Our server, Justin, was incredible. He answered questions, kept our water glasses full, wine flowing, made suggestions… All around wonderful in every way.
To start we had the Risotto Balls… You have to get them, there isn’t an option. Just do it and you’ll have no regrets.
My friend had the Lasagna Bianca consisting of béchamel, roasted mushrooms, fontina, brown butter. I stole a bite and it was AMAZING! Incredibly rich, but oh so good. I had the Chitarra al Pomodoro consisting of tomatoes, garlic, basil, Grana Padano. I also added fresh mozzarella! It was so good. And a very big serving.
To end our meal we, of course, ended with Gelato. You can’t go wrong here. Of course if you read my previous reviews you’d know I am absolutely obsessed with the Caramel gelato. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever ate, ever.
I’m so glad I came back. Hopefully every time after this is like how this previous time was! From the host staff, to the servers, to the manager coming around to check on us… We were very impressed and will absolutely be back!