Pasta Pomodoro

As a huge pasta lover it’s really hard for me to be disappointed. Considering all the reviews I had low expectations but after my experience I don’t see why.
Location: It’s a corner shop down college past Rockridge bart. It’s college and they don’t haev a parking lot so it’s mainly street parking. It’s near a residential neighborhood so it’s not too hard.
Ambiance/​service: They have tons of seating indoors/​outdoors. We were seated right away when we got in and then our waiter brought us water immediately and took our orders. Great service!
Food: My go to is the penne portobello or gemelli. Both times i’ve been greeted with hot and delicious pasta! Obviously not the best pasta i’ve ever had but it got the job done!

Unacceptable experience! I ordered delivery from Pasta Pomodoro for a friend’s very important party yesterday. Upon opening the purchased bruschetta party platter, there were only slices of cheap quality baguette and NO toppings. They threw in a half pint of chopped tomatoes on the side (no basil, cheese or other seasoning even). I paid $ 75 for this item. Next, there were the polenta appetizers abt $ 45 for a few blobs that look like day old scrambled eggs w a piece of spinach and chopped tomatoes on top. They were so gross we had to make an emergency order from elsewhere. I called and spoke w the employee who said they just give the sliced cheap bread (about a half loaf of wonder bread quality) and side of tomatoes for bruschetta. For $ 75? Really? Unacceptable and do NOT waste your appetite or money on this place

Had a fantastic experience at the Bay St. location. Great food, fresh, flavorful. Got delivery here today at 3 and have been sick since. Don’t get the shrimp if you’re ordering out! :(

Instead of hitting up nearby Boston Market or having the usual pizza, me and my lady opted for something light but delicious. So we decided on Pasta or Raviolli, and so we ended up at Pasta Pomedero.
We sat outside in the outdoor area because it was a nice spring day. It was lunch time so it was nit crowded. Or waitress approached us and she was nice and down to earth feeling. She recommend the smoked Raviolli for me while my lady chose shrimp and lobster Raviolli. We shared and the two meals were very good. The Italian bread was good. It was overall a very good and feeling meal. Would defintly return.

Stopped by for dessert late on a Sunday evening. Staff was excellently attentive (which was nice, after having just had an unfortunate dinner experience down the street), the desserts were big and very good, the prices were good, and even the ambiance was good (given the physical constraints of the building). Yay!

Nice patio with heaters – dog friendly, good service, good atmosphere, decent prices, decent food, good wine. Would be better if more parking, more variety in the menu and more gluten free options. Also, they close early, but that’s common around here unfortunately. I hope they continue the 20% off coupons.

Not sure why this place only has 2 ½ stars because I thought it was absolutely fabulous sat outside on the patio had some of the best minestrone soup I’ve ever had in my life. Great place for date night just to get some quick food or a glass of wine

I have eaten here alot. Love that they have outdoor seating. Yummy desserts, all food is a tad expensive, but staff is friendly. I love the butternut squash ravioli with shrimp added and Roberto’s chicken. Size of plates is not too big, but I can’t eat a lot at once anyways.

Completely bland, uninventive food. The bowl of minestrone someone at our table got was wildly over spiced and mostly just made everyone cough and stop breathing from overwhelming herbage. My pasta tasted like nothing. Bread was fresh and warm but again overly spiced. I like flavor, but these were overwhelming amounts of herbs and spices everywhere — everything either tasted like nothing or tasted too much like pure spice oils.
Blegh. Will not be back.

Came here again for my free birthday entrée and the service is always friendly. I ordered my favorite which is now called the seafood pasta (formerly the frutti di mare. What’s not to like? Join the birthday club!

Even though I just have the chicken broth of their soup, it is great. The service is pretty good. They are very helpful. The price is right.

I had some stuff to take care of in Rockridge, and a friend and I decided to stop in here for the first time, since we were in the neighborhood.
The service is excellent — lovely outdoor seats on a nice afternoon.
They do a bottomless pasta plate on Mondays and Thursdays.
Let me say this — they hand make every dish that’s served. The sausages I had were fresh and as hot as if they had just come from the barbecue.
Fresh slightly crunchy bread to start.
And the most delectable plate of angel hair and pesto that I have had in years.
It was all you can eat — but I had just two plates — they really give you a lot on your plate.
The icing on the cake was getting a brief complimentary visit from the owner, who was very nice to us!
Definitely recommend this to anyone who wants delicious Italian without having to trek all the way to Jack London to throw down.

Decently priced and good tasting Italian food with open air seating? Dog friendly and good people watching? Yeah, this place is pretty good.
What really helps is that the customer service is outstanding. We recently sat down for a dinner, and the waitress accidentally put an order in for a dish different than what I’d ordered. The incorrect dish was very similar to what I ordered, so definitely an understandable mistake.
The waitress felt badly and got the correct order put in right away. Also, the manager came to our table immediately after and discounted our meal without even us asking. Both were very friendly and just the right amount of non-​intrusive occasional checking in.
I’d recommend. It’s not super fancy, but we got better tasting food AND service than even the fanciest places in North Beach.

Honestly, I have no idea why they’ve received such poor reviews. I’ve been to this location a number of times, and always had a great experience.
The meal gets off to a great start with warm bread and dipping sauce. Don’t be afraid to ask for more, because it’s just as good as any of the entrees. My personal favorite main dish is the Penne Portobello; give it a shot, and I’m willing to bet you’ll walk away satisfied. By far, however, the most important reason to come here is the double chocolate soufflé. You’ve GOT to get this dessert! It was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had.
The one negative remark I have about this restaurant is that the service was adequate at best. Both times I’ve come have been close to closing time (about 45 minutes before), which might partially explain it, but it did take a while for our server to come by considering we were one of only two parties in the place. That being said, it wasn’t anything overly unacceptable, and I tend to be pretty forgiving of lax service in the face of good food.
In summary, try not to let the lukewarm reviews put you off, and give this Pasta Pomodoro a shot!

This was my first time eating here. It was ok. I got chicken and noodles. It was very dry. I will try it again. I’m hoping it was just a bad night.

Long time PP patron. Something has changed for the worse. I have had many good meals in the past at this PP and others.
The place has a ghost town feel. Food took a while. No longer do they simply have olive oil for dipping bread. Now it’s some green slur I can only guess was pesto (?). Food took a while to come out. I ordered my staple which is the squash ravioli in sage butter. It used to be an enjoyable dish. Now it is terrible. Unevenly cooked ravioli, extremely oily buttery sauce. We had brussel sprouts as a side and it was basically dripping in oil. I have indigestion 5 hours later.
On top of all that, the prices are not that good anymore for the quality (or lack thereof) of the food.
It used to be a good value. It was never superior italian food. Now that the prices have gone up and the quality has gone down, I can’t imagine they’ll last unless something significant changes.

The service is good and the atmosphere is great. I wasn’t impressed with the food; it was decent, but definitely not worth the price. I thought Pasta Pomodoro to be on the lower price range, but the price of dishes, although generous, I pretty high given the quality of the food.

Just curious as to why they only gets two and a half stars. My experiences here were much more pleasant. Food was as expected for its price, customer service was good, and cleanliness is up there. They have «all you can eat pasta» every Monday to Thursday and kids eat Free on Tuesday. Can’t expect a $ 10 dollar pasta to taste like a $ 32 pasta plate. So I am happy and am giving them a three and a half stars.

8÷17÷14. Lunch
I’m surprised at the mediocre ratings of Pasta Pomodoro because the two pastas we had here were tasty and generous in portion. We stopped by on Sunday past lunch hour so the restaurant was almost empty. We opted for a table outside under the umbrella. Service is friendly and swift. I was deliberating over their huge menu over a glass of Marc West Pinot ($ 7.25), their summer special red.
Rigatoni Bolognese ($ 12) was a rich affair with beef, pork and porcini mushroom sauce topped with shaved pecorino. Rigonti has a good al-​dente texture. The bolognese is perfect such that the rigatoni has just enough sauce. I do not like my pasta drenched in sauce.
Ravioli di Zucca ($ 12) actually puts many Italian restaurants to shame. The butter squash filling is plenty, and the brown butter sauce is not too rich and sweet. It’s good for rivioli lovers who don’t like a lot of cheese.
Overall the food is above par. I realize the critique mostly concerns their non-​pasta mains so from our experience, you can go wrong with their pasta dishes. It’s a great place to stop by for lunch if you’re in the Rockridge area. Plenty of patio tables and soak up the sun.

Where else can a group of 14 sit comfortably during peak weekend lunch hour? Probably because of the poor reviews, the large restaurant was pretty empty. The restaurant was warm so I’d recommend dining out on the large patio. Our server did an excellent job keeping track of everyone’s order and our waters were refilled often. The dishes had calories next to them if you are counting calories. Each entrée is a healthy-​sized portion at a reasonable price.
I had the salmon salad sans the additional dressing. The plain salad was dressed with a healthy portion of balsamic vinegar, which gave it plenty of acid so no additional dressing is necessary. The other dishes were okay, not memorable. The meatballs were dry and pretty much inedible.
Overall, a great place for a large group. The food is average and there is something to please everyone.