Pasta Pomodoro

I’m very sorry to hear that this location, too, has closed down. As far as I know this was the last Pasta Pomodoro standing in Southern California. The food is excellent in all of the Pasta Pomodoro locations I’ve been to. The service here was also good. The ones in Northern California seem to be closing as well, but there’s still Novato!

The restaurant just closed two days ago. The Northern California branches remain in business, but all of the Southern California stores have (I believe.) now closed. Unfortunate but true.

I’ve always loved the different Pasta Pomodoro locations we’ve visited. So I was sad, but not surprised, when our waitress informed us on our visit a few days ago that this location was closing as well. Not sure if it’s the type of restaurant I’ll be sure to visit on a San Fran trip, so Ciao! Pasta Pomodoro!

Food was decent but service was horrible. We were seated and sat for 20 minutes without any staff giving us a second glance when we watched another party get seated and waited on within 2 minutes, we realized we had been forgotten. So my husband got up in search of someone and let a random waiter know. He just looked and him blankly and said, I’ll let someone know. 5 minutes later we our waiter arrived to take our drink order, but never apologized. Strike 2. And he just seemed awkward and like he was avoiding us due to his mistake all night instead of just apologizing and letting us all laugh and get over it. Food was decent. Nothing to rave about. If the owner reads this… Teach your staff how to humbly admit and apologize when they make a mistake.

My wife and I were a big fan of the Pasta Pomodoro that used to be in the Bella Terra shopping center in Huntington Beach and were sad to see it go. I needed to get something from Roger’s Garden and was looking for somewhere new in the area to eat. I had no clue this plaza existed. It’s at the very end of San Jaquinto Hills Road and Newport Coast Drive. It’s at the intersection of nothing and nowhere in a residential area. I don’t get why this plaza is here as it was totally empty and we were pretty much the only people eating here. There’s not even a good chance for random drive by traffic of this plaza. Has the same architecture and landscaping as the plaza on MacArthur and Bison. Lots of interesting restaurants in this plaza including a Zov’s! Strange location… I don’t get it.
Anyways, I was excited to see this was around since we had good experiences at the HB location. We were told to sit anywhere in the empty restaurant and was helped by an extremely friendly waitress. I was happy to see calorie counts are listed on the menu.
While waiting for the food to arrive we were brought plate of freshly baked and still warm foccacia bread along with the most heavenly pesto dip for it. This dip was so frickin’ good it alone should have kept the Bella Terra location in business. The waitress said she’s tempted to eat it as a soup and I couldn’t agree more.
I started with a Caesar salad which uses organic hearts of romaine, shaved pecorino cheese, and garlic croutons. The dressing is made with anchovies but sadly they do not have anchovy filets for the salad. Still… the anchovy flavor did come thru on the dressing which made me a happy camper.
My wife started with a cup of their «zuppa di tortellini soup» which is chicken broth, beef & pork tortellini, braised beef, and organic spinach. It looked and smelled really good but since my wife is getting over a cold I passed on tasting it. She though thought it was really good.
For my entrée I had a bowl of rigatoni pasta topped with bolognese sauce which consists of beef, pork, and porcini mushroom. It was topped with shaved pecorino cheese. When it was brought to the table I was a bit worried since it looked a bit watery but luckily the looks were deceiving since it was a rich and flavorful sauce. Rigatoni was cooked a perfect al dente and I very much enjoyed the meal.
My wife had the «Ravioli di zucca» which is ravioli stuffed with roasted butternut squash and topped with parmesan, brown butter, fried sage, and crumbled amaretto cookies. It was plated beautifully and looked frickin’ amazing. I’m not into squash so this isn’t something I’d get but my wife loved it and it’s usually something she goes for if she sees it on a menu. She really thought the crumbled amaretto cookies on top really added a unique texture and taste to it. She washed down the meal with a glass of Moscato D’Asti.
Glad to see this place is still around. Sadly, this plaza is in a horrible location with nobody at it so I can’t imagine it will last. I hope I’m wrong. Besides indoor seating there’s a huge patio in the back and a dog friendly patio in the front.
1÷14÷14 update: Restaurant went out of business a few days ago :-(

Went back a few times and the bread is good and the pasta and sauces are OK. Upgraded from 2 stars to 3 stars.

Got a response from P. P in regards to our waiter. His name is Awesome «DAVE»!
Schpanx Dave! ;-) P.P. Should give you a raise. If not, a lemon cake would be second best! :-D

This place is so confusing to me. The ambiance is casual, the servers/​staff are definitely casual, but the prices don’t say casual. Appetizer, 2 entrees, dessert and wine for 2 runs $ 60 easy; not including tip. This is the only so-​cal location they have left. All the other ones have closed down in the last 2 – 3 years. I wonder how diligently corporate keeps an eye on this place. The service and food quality have dropped. Service is slow and forgetful. Have to often ask for things twice. For the price I’m paying, I would expect better. Maybe it’s the whole being in a smaller shopping center vs. Fashion Island kind of attitude?

What a great little spot! stumbled upon it and luckily it was kids eat free night. My friend and I ordered some wine and some dinner and the free meal for the kids came with a drink, dessert and a HUGE meal.
we are making this our tuesday night girls night spot!

One of the last ones left, if not the last one!
Every location I went to, Aliso, Laguna, Irvine were all good, fun, nice waiters etc. But for some reason they just couldn’t make it, and I don’t understand why.
I’ve been coming to the Pomodoro’s for the last several years and is just a great Italian place that’s not too expensive and has a great menu and yummy bread with parmesan olive oil sauce :)
Don’t close!

I really missed the one that closed on alton in irvine
I am now thinking they are not related?
different table dip and bread
lots of meat, so pick a vegetarian dish if you want easy on the meat

I am torn. On most nights it is a «5 stars» for the price and other nights, it is a «2 star». The difference is the kitchen.
Consistently, over my last 5 years of dining here, the service is impeccable, and the service staff makes up for the poor consistency of the kitchen by getting our orders fixed or something comp’d to make up for the poor quality.
Other than that (big that), on good nights the drinks flow, the food is quick, the menu is surprisingly creative and the ingredients are very good.
This place definitely fits the bill when you don’t want to think and eat something good at a very reasonable price. You can even bring your own wine for no corkage fee (just tip the service staff extra as they will likely deserve it!)

Great and friendly service, lovely outdoor patio area. If you think of it as a strip mall eatery, it should get 5 stars. If you’re looking for an amazing date night for two, I’d reconsider.
Ordered the lunch special of an insalata mista and pasta in a pomodoro sauce. The salad was fine, I found the pasta sauce to be a little bland. The bread that the brought while I waited was very stretchy and doughy.
It was really cheap (under $ 15 not including tip). I did think the portion was a little small, but then again, it was a lunch special, so that is a little too nitpicky of me.
End result, if you’re at this mall and need a quick and cheap touch of Italian food, go for it… Just don’t remember, this isn’t a Mario Batali restaurant.

This place can be described as UNIQUE and a GENUINE BARGAIN. If you are looking for the typical mom-​and-​pop Italian restaurant with checkered tableclothes and dry pungent garlic bread, then this is not the place for you.
The dishes tasty, original, and varied. There are alot of items for vegetarians including the verdure with cannellini beans (my favorite). The minestrone soup is absolutely to die for! So are the FREE BREAD STICKS which taste excellent and are filled with rosemary. The bread comes with an olive oil/​lemon/​pesto flavored sauce which is also excellent. For nonvegetarians, try the pollo griglio, or the salmon with cannellini beans. The salmon salad is also very good. My son loves the kids spaghetti and meatballs. Most dishes are well under $ 15 dollars, despite the sheik feel of the place, the Newport Beach location, and the high quality and originality of the food.
The service is friendly and attentitive. This is a great place to take a date or the family. Check it out!

Came in for a birthday lunch with my students, 18 in total. The place was rented out so we could have some peace and quiet.
Service was friendly and prompt but we were the only ones there so, yeah.
Steak was good and so were the potatos.
Shrimp Alfredo was great.
Table bread and pesto dip were good but the I loved the soft texture of the rosemary bread.
Goat cheese salad was a bit heavy.
Bruschetta was a hit.
Mozarella and tomato were fresh and clean.
Coffee was good, as were the cappuccino and latte.
Tiramisu served with both chocolate and vanilla gelato were also pleasant.
All in all, a good experience but hardly accurate in terms of a normal visit. Given this visit’s result, I’d probably come back to try them out under more regular circumstances.
For now, 3 stars, but for what it’s worth, my mother LOVES pasta Alfredo and I will definitely be bringing her here to try it out.
Bring your mom? That’s gotta worth 10 stars.
Update in the making. Check back soon.

I love ALL Pasta Pomodoros. I think their dishes are reasonably priced and the food is DELICOUS! The Pomodoro in Newport is clean inside and outside. The outside patio area has nice trees and plants… so relaxing that I wanted to stay there for hours.
There were only 2 other couples in the restaurant on a Monday afternoon, so service was pretty quick. The waiter was really friendly and served the bread right away. The bread was so so warm and fresh, I think I stuffed bread after bread in my mouth. I had the lunch express — bolognese with a ceasar salad. The portion was big enough for me and my husband to share. We had a luscious Pinot Noir with our lunch and it was perfect!
I would love to come back here when I’m in the area!

I visited this location when I went to Irvine with my friends. Firstly, when we got there we were seated at a table for 2 (we had 4 people in our group) and we are all 5“8 and above! Our knees were touching the whole time and so we got moved to a booth, but that was also really cramped, but we managed. The server at the table we got moved to was HORRIBLE. His area was busy, but he didn’t even attend to our table for a good 45 minutes (not even bread). We didn’t have anywhere to be, but we were about to lash out at him. cause he never came to our table to take our order so we got our food really late! It took a good 2 hours after we got everything!
But, I must say, the food was actually delicious! I got the vegetable lasagna and I loved it! Except WAY TOO MUCH CHEESE (but, i guess that’s Italian food for you). The bread, which we eventually got, was amazing! It had an olive oil taste to it and had some vinegar for dipping on the side. At the end of our meal, our server came up to us and apologized just so he would get a good tip, that obviously didn’t happen… Overall, really good food, but they need better service!

Not too shabby of a place! I got the 7 piece ravioli and it was just enough for me. Sadly, I am scarred by elementary school ravioli where it’s all meaty and saucy and I have no idea where they came up with ravioli from but I prefer that! (No, Chef Boyardee’s version is not a good substitute). And so, my hunt continues.
Anyway, my friends’ meals looked delicious. My only complaint is the price. Their endless breadsticks are a steal and come with delicious condiments.

Today was a delightful day for an outdoor lunch. I had the pleasure of meeting Zabie K, who served as the perfect lunch companion, except for one thing; her food choices gave me hardcore food envy.
I had the Capellini pasta with basil pesto and pine nuts, with the mista salad (organic lettuces, shaved carrots, Gorgonzola, with a balsamic) from the very affordable lunch menu (lots of options for under 10 bucks!). The salad was light and delicious, though I seem to be lacking the fork skills to eat salads with small pieces of lettuce, so I resigned myself to using a spoon, not wanting Zabie to see me suffer any longer. The pasta was well cooked, with a rich pesto sauce, and I love pine nuts– good addition.
That being said, I spent most of my meal glaring menacingly at these (
…). Fortunately, pity was taking upon me, and I was awarded a small bite of deliciously flavored butternut squash with big pieces of sage! AMAZING. I secretly vowed to distract Zabie and quickly shovel all the food in my mouth, but her concentration was unshakable, leaving me only to salivate cry into my spoonfuls of mista salad.
I really think that, considering the location, the generous indoor seating and gorgeous outdoor seating overlooking a tastefully created fountain area, a lunch menu with extremely affordable treats, and a very friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable staff, you just can’t go wrong here!
I WILL BE BACK SQUASH.

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