Pasta Fresca

Takeout here is lackluster at best here. We got spaghetti and meatballs and chicken Santa fe. Usually the food is good in the restaurant but the takeout was horrible. Our salads had little to no dressing and the portions of the good were small for what we paid for. You guys should improve what you send people home with for takeout. Salad was terrible compared to what you get dining in. Will not order takeout ever again… and the spaghetti sauce was horrible.

A local favorite. Busy tonight but able to dine on patio quickly. Enjoyed my new menu favorite Pasta Bella with Greek salad and half order of garlic bread. Delicious as always! Worth the trip!

This was my first visit and the suggestion of a friend. We were looking for good and it was a little late. I ordered the crab cakes and ordered fettuccini noodles. The noodles were obviously freshly made. And the crab cakes were lovely. The spinach made for a very balanced meal. I ate half of my entrée and was full.
The service was good. My highest standard rating is usually a four. So that’s what I’m givinf Pasta Fresco. I definitely plan to return.

Went in for dinner last night, April 29, and couldn’t have been more pleased with the experience. Our server, Morgan, was an absolute gem. Even though we could tell she was busy, she treated us like we were the only table in the restaurant. We split the Seafood Santa Fe and had a Caesar salad. The food was delicious! I would definitely recommend this restaurant to my friends, and insist that they request Morgan as their server.

I have enjoyed this restaurant for a number of years. It’s been very good. However the last couple of times I’ve been there, I’ve been disappointed.
The pasta dishes I have had on those occasions have been profoundly salty and greasy. And one of these (Pasta Bella) was in the ‘light’ section of the menu.
The last time I went was with my son. His entrée came to the table so long before mine, that he was finished with it before I even started eating mine. Nobody seemed to notice this and comment on it either.
And, when bread was offered, I asked for ‘plain bread with butter’. I expected the butter to be on the side and the bread dry. What we got looked like a half of a hotdog bun that had been soaked in butter and then toasted.
This restaurant has been great for many years. I would not have written this review if I had only one less-​than-​satisfying visit, but two in a row seems to require some constructive criticism. I hope things there will soon return to their previous level of excellence!

Finally decent food and cocktails in Columbia. I got an old fashioned, and my friend and I shared the Brussels sprouts and fried ravioli at the bar. The menu looked decent and decently priced. Overall, this seems like a well-​run restaurant and the bartender did an excellent job making sure we were taken care of.

Pasta Fresca had been our favorite place to get Italian for years! Love the new location! The pasta is freshly made with a wonderful varied menu and well priced. Try the creamy marinara sauce… They have a good happy hour also with a nice décor in the new location. A Columbia gem.

I had the angel pesto pasta and I thought it was pretty good. A little oily but it was just what I was looking for. I think they prices are a little too high for the quantity of food given

I really loved this restaurant. The food took some time to come out but the food was excellent. The service was great. The interior design and décor was beautiful, very higg-​end, and welcoming. I enjoyed this place very much.

Food was terrible. Got to go, and salad had about two leaves. What a joke don’t waste your money. Go to Olive Garden 10 times better and more food.

Eh it was alright, I wasn’t too impress. I ordered the shrimp and scallop special, it was lacking flavor in my opinion; like the sauce was watered down. The chicken Alfredo had this weird taste to it, I mean you can probably make a better tasting Alfredo at home. I’m just giving a three because service was good and the place had a nice ambience. Oh and the calamari was good, I liked that but other than that, place was okay.

We tried these guys when they became part of the
lineup. I ordered their Pasta Fresca Ravioli with a creamy marinara, something I’d not heard of before. It was … ok. I will admit that anything that has cilantro in it will have a soapy taste to me, so this may have been a factor. However, it just didn’t seem to have a whole lot of flavor
My kid got the super meat-​laden spaghetti, I thought for sure that would be the winner, but she just commented that the noodles themselves tasted a little funny. Sorry, I have no translation for that.
We tried the lobster bisque, which didn’t taste like lobster at all and wasn’t very bisque-​like… in fact, it was more like the creamy marinara with some vague seafood-​like flecks in it.
I was a huge fan of the bruschetta and could have made a meal of that alone. I suppose what you market it has a lot to do with it, but I doubt I will return.

I was feeling generous and gave this 3 stars. It is great for kids if they share a meal. Otherwise it’s outrageously expensive for the atmosphere and quality of the meal, which tastes like a microwaved frozen dinner, maybe food service style.

The homemade pasta was good but the Sauce could have been a little spicier for me. The service was great but the place was very noisy. As mentioned by others the Bruchetta was different but very good.

This is by far my favorite Italian restaurant in Columbia. All there pastas are homemade and I love how they have new specials each night. The bruchetta is amazing and I always am a fan of the many ravioli dishes they have.

I had the PF Crab Cakes and they were absolutely amazing. I have been here several times and every experience has been amazing. I have never had a bad meal or service. Even the more basic dishes like ravioli are still great. The service is great and the servers are all very nice and tentative. I highly recommend this place!

Walked in to a room with people having a good time. The lighting was great as my bride and I walked to our seats. I ordered two things: bruschetta and the spinach and chicken lasagna.
The bruschetta was a large portion with fresh tomatoes. It was above average for bruschetta.
The spinach and chicken lasagna was OFF THE CHAIN! I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s the best lasagna I’ve ever eaten (including some I’ve had in Venice, Italy)! I highly recommend this dish that’s covered in a creamy marinara that reminds you of a fantastic tomato bisque.
#speechless

Pasta is always overcooked. Sauces are tired re-​treads of Prego and Ragu staples. Moreover, dishes are INSANELY over-​sauced. Bar is poorly managed, so expect lots of wine list items to be out of stock. To top it all off, the owner is a certifiable sociopath who is never in a mood to help.
There’s a Five Guys burgers across the street from this place. You’ll have much higher chances of success there. Or if it must be pasta, stay home. There’s no way you can make it worse than these guys.

Sometimes I feel like I give 5 stars too much, but Pasta Fresca wasn’t the time to not do it just because. Pasta Fresca is exactly its name great fresh pasta. They make their pastas in house so they’re always great. From the traditionals (Spag & Meatballs, Chicken Parm, etc.) to the outside of the box (sriacha pasta) it’s always great. The food is pretty moderately priced too. The wine list is great too. The food is so good that I can’t ever stop. I feel like the scene where John Lennon is the waiter on the Magical Mystery Tour Movie… I love this place, and the new location is the bees knees!

I moved to Columbia on Friday, and Pasta Fresca was my first Columbian experience. My roomie wanted to take me out for dinner and one thing you should know about me is that I don’t turn nothing down but my collar!
I like the ambiance of PF. I wished we could have sat outside, but it was cold and I’m sub-​tropical (I’m from New Orleans). We had happy hour drinks ($ 3 house liquor or wine, $ 2 beer, & some $ 5 cocktails), italian hummus, the chicken lasagna, the tortellini with creamy marinara sauce, and the chicken santa fe. One thing that I didn’t like was the upcharge for caesar salad. Don’t do it; it’s not worth it. The caesar salad came to the table severely overdressed, like the one Olsen twin that is always in beaucoup layers. Plus, it was nothing to write home about. I’m sure you probably know that I did not get the caesar ;) The food was just OK. Of all the things we ordered I would recommend the Italian hummus and the chicken lasagna.
My friend said her cocktail was weak, but I avoid this unhappy hour disappointment by sticking to wine or straight alcohol. I order my drink on the rocks with no chaser. If I really wanted flavor, knowing me I would have a random crystal light packet in my purse to doctor it up with. I mentioned I’m really good at balling on a budget, right?
They do live music on Tuesdays from 6 – 9, which also coincides with at least one hour that is happy. I would probably come early, enjoy happy hour (sans food) and wait for the live music to start. I didn’t dislike PF, but it definitely didn’t have a wow factor.