Pasta Primavera Restaurant & Bar

Excellent service. The waiter was prompt and courteous.

Sad to report that it’s no longer open.
Hamid and his family had a good run in San Mateo-​only wished I’d found it less than a year before they shuttered the place.
A treasure that won’t soon be replaced, I’m sure.
Farewell.

Worst Experience ever. Ordered Veg pasta and they first gave pasta with chicken. After telling them they just removed the chicken and served it. Also charged for the order after we denied to eat it. Not Recommended at all.

Not a good experience at all. We went around 8:15PM on a Friday night (first Friday after Christmas). Part of our order was made to order vegetarian pasta. We had stressed on making the entire meal vegetarian since most of the people in our group were vegetarian. When we were served the pasta, we saw chunks of chicken in it. We asked the server to replace our pasta with vegetarian ones. Within 5 minutes he served us the newly prepared pasta. We felt something was fishy because there is no way they could’ve made the pasta in 5 minutes. Upon checking we still found some chunks of chicken in it. Turns out they just removed the chicken from the first order and served it to us ! We called the server and told him we were not going to eat any food on the table and ordered the check. He argued saying that most of the chicken is removed so it should be ok (That is one of the most dumbest things I’ve ever heard) ! We insisted on just getting the check and didn’t feel like eating anything there. When we saw the check, we were charged for both of those pastas ! We paid the bill and told the server to not add the dish to the bill if something like this happens to someone else.
The service was awful too. They took forever to bring out glasses of water as well. This was by far the worst restaurant I’ve been here in the area.

Our first visit to this place was okish and so, we thought we’d give it another try. (it was also the nearest Italian place available)
Worst. Mistake. Ever.
The food was totally crap. We ordered vegetarian pizza which had more onions and tomatoes than cheese on it! Dry as bone.
We’d also ordered pasta which was also supposed to be vegetarian but for some reason it was cooked and served with chicken. We asked the server to check the order and have it replaced. All good, mistakes happen, no problem till now.
But then he brings us the same dish just with the chicken picked out rather than having cooked it again!
And it wasn’t even picked out cleanly, there were pieces of chicken still in the dish.
This is when the we confronted the server and told him that this wasn’t what we expected. He was arguing back instead of acknowledging the blunder and making it right. No manners at all. He keeps asking us to have the dish remade, but at this point we couldn’t trust any food that was served to us was actually vegetarian at all. So, infuriated and still hungry, we decided to just get the check and leave the place.
When we got the bill, we were charged for both the dishes of pasta. The least they could’ve done was not charge us for what we didn’t even touch. But, we just paid and left.
Never ever going to this place again. Even if it’s the only place open.

From the outside, Pasta Primavera is the unimpressive Italian restaurant where you go on a first date when you’re, say, in high school. It’s a little cheesy looking – one of the walls is a mirror so the restaurant looks twice as big as it is – and not too expensive but not so cheap as to embarrass yourself. To my surprise, however, PP checked all of the boxes when it comes to unoffensive dining. The meal began with warm bread and a delicious tomato-​based spread. I ordered the carbonara, which came with a choice of soup or salad. I chose salad, which was a rather mediocre plain salad, but as a starving recent college grad, I’m not too picky about how I get my veggies.
The carbonara was huge and heavy. Carbonara is always heavy, but the bacon pieces in this rendition were a bit too large, and in general too plentiful, for my liking. I found myself picking around the bacon pieces (gasp!). I was very sad when eating my leftovers the next day – the bacon to pasta ratio was terrible.
Overall, the carbonara was fine. Nothing to write home about. In fact, that lukewarm approval applies to this restaurant as a whole.

I really wanted to enjoy my experience here but we went with a large group and I’m not sure if they were understaffed or not but our service was not good. Our orders were taken but when our meals came out it was mass confusion and everyone got a different thing than they ordered and they forgot about mine so I had to wait a bit. All that being said, I thought that the meal was really good. I had the veal parm and there was so much that I had leftovers that filled me up on my second meal.
I’d give this place a try if you’re looking for some good Italian food but just make sure you go with a small group to avoid any confusions.

I am a huge fan of this restaurant and have been for quite some time. The restaurant is in a great location close to shops and has outside seating if you are looking for evening sun. The restaurant is light and airy because of the picture windows and the huge mirrors are a plus.
They serve very good Italian food at excellent prices and the service is excellent. On this visit I tried the mixed seafood linguine, bruschetta and minestrone soup. All were excellent. I have also tried the fettuccini alfredo with shrimp and it has always been excellent. This is just a nice place to have an inexpensive Italian meal.

My family was always a big fan of Pasta Primavera when we lived in the East Bay. Now that I’m in San Mateo, I went back to see if it was still as good as I remembered. Answer: YEP. Definitely not super fancy Italian if that’s what you’re going for, but more on the comfort food side — which I prefer.
Tonight, BF and I split the rigatoni (ordered spicy) and sun-​dried pasta dishes. Both were quite amazing. I’ve had their steak salad in the past as well, and it’s hearty as heck. I might have dreams about their bread and dip… sad to say.
Prices are affordable, love the location in downtown and generally love the staff. I selected the moderate price range, but you can probably leave there sub-​$ 10. We just like wine.
I’d go here multiple times a week if my budget allowed it.

I came here a few days ago with some coworkers. Thought I’d try a new Italian place in the area, since I had a gift certificate from
anyways.
I’d have to say I really enjoyed their bread and sauce. I couldn’t stop eating it, even though I knew I had more food coming. I ordered off their lunch special menu, which I got the meat and cheese lasagna. I was really tempted to try their manicotti or what was raved by Unilocal reviewers, the pesto gorgonzola pasta (on their regular menu). But I opted to stick to the lunch menu to save some money. For $ 10, I got a choice of soup or salad with the entrée. My coworker really enjoyed their minestone soup, while I went for their salad. My lasagna was pretty big and I enjoyed it. They give you a lot for the price, BUT I did notice that the prices on the menu are slightly higher than what is currently on their website, just FYI. My coworkers got the meatball sandwich and the eggplant chicken parmesan. I tried a little of the eggplant chicken parmesan and I enjoyed it as well. It’s placed on top of some noodles so the portion was pretty big.
Service was friendly, but a little slow at certain moments. The food came out hot and fresh. Overall, decent place for Italian for the lunch special prices.

I don’t know why my parents love coming to this place once in awhile. First of all, they take forever to even acknowledge you and give you a menu. A family of 3 took off because they were tired of waiting. The soup wasn’t bad. The pasta was OK. I forget what I had, therefore it was a pretty forgettable experience. I wouldn’t take anyone here.

I love their pastas and have loved them since I was a little girl.
Call me biased, but I love the Spaghetti with Meatballs and the Mixed Seafood pastas. I always get them whenever I come. They also do take-​out so if you’re ever feeling like italian but too lazy to cook at home, give them ago. They will also pack their delightful bread and dipping sauce (OMG I love the sauce they give you with the bread. The flavor is wonderful!
Minestrone soup is also great on a cold day.
My one qualm:
Recently, I got a Passport card from Intel. Online it was advertised that passport members get 1 entrée free if they purchase 1 entrée. When we finished eating, they told us that they don’t honor Passport cards and «it was a mistake.» They did end up taking 20% off our bill, but still. I’ll take one star off for that experience because it is really misleading and an uncalled for marketing ploy.

Coming here was a compromise between the kids and the parents (they wanted a kid’s menu and we wanted «real» food). We found this on Unilocal and were nearby.
We were all quite impressed. The dishes were tasteful, the atmosphere was nice and casual (not stuffy at all) and the service was great — everyone was super friendly. We noticed other families already there with little kids so this made us feel very comfortable with our two energetic kids.
I liked the minestrone soup appetizer — yum! Hubby liked the clam chowder. For lunch I had the chicken linguine with walnuts, sun-​dried tomatoes and broccoli. I found this surprisingly tasty.
The kids enjoyed cheese pizza and macaroni and cheese from the kid’s menu (which also included tortellini!). Upon sitting us down, the kids were given something to color and a couple of crayons.
I should also mention that hubby bought a sandwich at a nearby place and brought it in and they were very nice about it. Hubby liked his sandwich but ended up eating quite a good portion of my linguine! LOL
The place feels a tad bit fancy when you first walk in but the waiters and owner make you feel quite comfortable and all smile in a very genuine way. I’d say this place is a good place for a family to have a nice lunch and still keep the kids happy with a decent kid’s menu. ;)

Crappy crappy place.
1. I ordered the lunch special spaghetti with meatballs. The waiter asks whether I want soup or salad. I get the soup. After the meal he charges me the non-​lunch special price saying that it’s because I ordered the soup, which apparently doesn’t come with the special. Crazy how he slyly asks whether I want the soup or salad as if it’s included in the lunch special. (Isn’t it common for lunch specials to include soup or salad anyway? Such tricksters.). He also says the non-​special includes three meatballs (which I got) while the special only has one. The lunch special menu says «Spaghetti with MeatballS». A tad of the shady?
2. Spaghetti was too greasy. Meatballs were tasteless. The soup was wet cardboard.
3. Waiter forgot to bring water. Half way into my meal I asked for water and he looked annoyed as if I was bothering him. He didn’t even recognize the fact that I didn’t have a glass of water. Didn’t even bother asking what I wanted to drink when I was ordering.
4. When I questioned about the lunch special confusion, he looked visibly irritated.
In summary, bad service and borderline trickery. Crappy place. I don’t recommend this place.

They ticked off «Yes» on Unilocal for Delivery. I called and asked if they deliver, and I was haughtily informed they don’t deliver for orders less than $ 100. Just the tone of their voice made me feel like if I had called on a lazy Monday night they would have delivered, but on a Friday night I need to make it worth their while.
Disingenuous much?

Meh. I’ve experienced better. A Lot Better.
My coworker and I just got back from lunch from this place. We arrived at 12pm and it was pretty much empty. We were the only ones there. After taking a look at the menu, we found out why: it was kind of pricey.
We both ordered the Lasagna and the Minestrone soup.
Minestrone– was too liquidy. not even a hint of pasta of any kind inside. Maybe I was expecting too much since I had great tasting soups at other restaurants.
Lasagna– came out hot, but when cut in half for easier consumption, it was cold. It was so cold that I thought I dropped an ice cube accidentally into the plate while drinking earlier. Alas, it was not. Asked them to heat it up since I wasn’t that into eating cold pasta and meat sauce. They brought it back without the vegetables on the side. So we got them to-​go and left.
I wouldn’t recommend this place or come back here any time soon.

we chose this restaurant on account of finding a Unilocal deal, so i went ahead and purchased the deal and drove to the restaurant to meet my friend.
upon being seated and given menus, we let the waiter know that we wished to use a Unilocal deal that we just purchased. he checked with his manager and told us that we had to wait at least 24 hours before redeeming the voucher. this was not listed in the fine print of the voucher so i asked him to pls doublecheck and clarify b/​c i assumed that i’d be able to use it right away. he gladly obliged, but unfortunately, the management would not accept a voucher that was purchased less than 24 hours ago.
our waiter was very nice, so we let it go, and decided that we’d just have to come back for another lunch date and try other things on the menu. while we perused the menu, our waiter brought out some delicious house bread with contadina, italian for sundried tomatoes. the bread was soft and warm and paired perfectly with the pureed sundried tomatoes which were mixed with olive oil. delicious!
for my main, i ordered the rigatoni salmon special which was a nice portion of tube pasta with chunks of fresh salmon, mushrooms, spinach, and sundried tomatoes. so many of my favourites things, tossed and served onto a single plate. the pasta was delicious, and even though i had only planned to eat half (and save the rest for dinner), i ended up eating every last bite and cleaned off my plate! need to get the recipe for this one ‘cuz i wanna make it for myself at home!
although my friend and i were completely stuffed after polishing off our plates, our waiter had a surprise in store for us. he felt badly about not being able to accept our Unilocal voucher so he gave us a tiramisu on the house! even though we were full, we could not pass up this treat, esp since it looked so good and was just staring us in the face, as if to say «EAT ME, EAT ME!» so we caved in, loosened our pants a bit, and dug into this sweet, creamy dessert. in a matter of minutes, we had devoured the tiramisu and every last morsel of ladyfingers, every last dollop of mascarpone, and every last bit of cocoa was in our stomachs, our ever expanding stomachs.
service was generally good, although there were times we had to wait a bit since there was just the one waiter working the lunch shift. this was a little surprising considering it was around noon on a weekday and quite a few patrons filled the front part of the restaurant.
even though we were unable to use our voucher, we will definitely make a return trip to use it since the food was delicious and our waiter was very warm and generous.

Food: great.
Their homemade bread is so moist and fresh and warm. Loved it. The dipping sauce is good too.
We got the spinach gorgonzola chicken and the special, eggplant chicken parmesan. The chicken in the spinach gorgonzola chicken was SO good and juicy. I think it must have been poached. The sauce was a bit salty, but very good. The gorgonzola was surprisingly mild in flavor. The eggplant chicken was ok, but I enjoyed the ricotta on it. The pasta was a little overcooked I feel.
I would definitely get the spinach gorgonzola chicken again. The special was ok, but I don’t think i’d get it again. Looking forward to try the other items on their menu. The portion sizes are good so I didn’t have room for dessert, unfortunately. They have russian tea cakes and other desserts that I’d definitely try next time.
Service: they were a little slow to obtain our order, but they did refill our water several times.

I’m giving this place three stars based on the service. The food was definitely just whatever, but man the service was amazing. Our server worked extremely hard to try to make our mediocre meal better. After seeing how dissatisfied my dad was with his food, he offered to bring him something different. When my dad told him it was okay, when the server returned with our bill, he not only took my dad’s meal off the bill, he also gave us a gift card for our next meal.
As for the food, I’ve seen better. I ordered the pasta with clams and there were maybe 5 «fresh» clams in the shell, with literally an entire can of canned clams dumped on top of it. The sauce was very watery and bland. I felt like there was way more clams than pasta, which I guess could be seen as a good thing, but by the end of the meal I wished there had been more pasta so it could have been more filling.
I don’t really know what else to say about this place. The service would probably be the only reason I’d come back.

Had dinner here the other night because our Groupon was expiring! I had never even heard of this place but I love Italian food so happy to give it a try :)
The menu is FULL of yummy sounding dishes. I had a hard time making a decision but finally settled on the Chicken Pesto Gorgonzola. Wow. Serious Yum. And the portions are HUGE!
You also get soup or salad to start with your entrée. Normally I would have wanted a salad but the soup of the day was a tomato bisque that looked so yummy at another table. And it was very good.
The service was OK. The waiter seemed like a grumpy Italian guy. Which I guess goes with ambiance. I actually sat with my back towards the wall so I could see the door ;)
The place is pretty big and the tables are nicely spaced so you feel like you could hold a conversation without having someone overhear you or listen to them.
I definitely want to go back as there were so many other dishes I want to try. So many.