For years, the in-flux population of Pasta Express locations have offered the same sauces, noodles, rolls and house salads at a fervent pace. Today there are just a couple locations left – though Pasta Pronto boasts an identical menu, style and cost. We went to the restaurant on East Battlefield, which is in new hands – B.J. Lowrance finalized his purchase last week – but it was no surprise to find everything the same as before. It’s nestled into the strip mall surrounded by an assortment of nail salons, cell phone shops and a grocer. When you walk in, you see straight into the kitchen. There’s a row of booths to the left and a large dining room to the right. The service is quick and the food is shuttled to your table even quicker.
The baked pepperoni (left) is closely related to the baked mostaccioli. Good, not great.
One comforting thing about Pasta Express is you always know what you’ll be getting. If you’ve just got a 5-dollar bill you can get a plate of spaghetti or mostaccioli for $4.09. Otherwise the daily lunch specials start at $6.99 – that’s right, start at $6.99. I went for the baked pepperoni (baked mostaccioli with pepperoni instead of beef). It was the day’s featured item and with a salad cost $7.49. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it left me wishing I had ordered a $4 plate of spaghetti, which would have happened if I could have seen the food getting prepared.
There are positives and negatives to being able to see the kitchen while you order – such as a cook pulling noodles out of the pot of spaghetti biting into them and returning the uneaten halves … into the pot. I’m sure the water was warm enough to end any sort of germ action, but it wasn’t on a burner, and I just recently recovered from a vicious bout with the flu. It’s probably not a big deal, but I will never eat spaghetti at Pasta Express again.
The restaurant offers free wireless Internet which is an added 21st Century bonus. From what I could tell, the mostaccioli noodles were bite free and cost less than a five spot – if they aren’t baked or covered in pepperoni.
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