Pasta Bene

Oh Pasta Bene! Why did you close? Such good al dente pasta at fair prices. I guess I will just have to visit your Berkeley location. Now what am I supposed to do for decently priced Italian in SF (without the wait times of North Beach’s more authentic establishments)?

THIS PLACE CLOSED DOWN!!! very very sad!!! I have been coming here for a year and was introduced by my friend and totally fell in love here. The portion size is perfect and so is the price. You can’t find an Italian restaurant that served almost dinner size portion and comes with bread and salad/​soup during lunch time for less than $ 10 in the FiDi.
I have tried few dishes here and there and they are all so yummy!!!
How did i find out this place was closed? My friend and I wanted pasta for lunch so we decided to head over here. I found it odd that theres no sign on the street, when they always do. I thought to myself… maybe they forgot to put it there. When we were walking in, this guy in the car told us it closed. We were like what you mean? he said. they closed down, they posted a sign. WHAT??? no way, I was just there 2 weeks ago and didn’t see any type of sign and warning. Man!!! it turned out they kept the one in Berekley. booo!!!
I am going to miss this place. Maybe I will make a trip to Berkeley one day since I live Hayward anywayz. Its totally worth it tho! sign…
Pasta Bene you will be missed!!!

Yeah, I am not satisfied with their portions. Again, I can eat a lot for a pretty small girl but still… I’m a girl. I was able to finish my dish no problem.
I came for lunch and it wasnt crowded at all around 1:30pm.
Carciofi e Pollo — linguini with chicken breast, artichoke hearts & vegetables in olive oil-​herb sauce
It made me think of an asian stir fried noodle dish… I wish they cut the artichokes up more. With some parmasean cheese, this dish was pretty good but kind of expensive. 7.95 for what I got… eh i guess.
Oh and I was sad that they didnt give me garlic bread this time… but instead, a tiny piece of toasted french bread
I should have just gone with one of the lunch specials for $ 5. What I get for trying to get fresh.
They have terimisu for only $ 3! I will come and try this next time.

Mmm mmm good! No it’s not Campbell’s soup, but that’s how i feel about today’s lunch i had the pleasure of eating at Pasta Bene.
My co-​worker and I arrived around 11:40am and the restaurant was nearly empty. At first, i was a little confused on how to order but here’s the break down:
1. Get a tray, silverware, and napkin
2. Tell person behind counter what you want for lunch
3. Take the number they hand you to place at your table
4. Choose Soup or Salad (gets handed to you right away)
5. Move down towards the cashier (get bread and butter if desired)
6. Pick up glass of water, add lemon slice if desired
7. Pay
8. Find a seat
9. Server will bring food to you
I got the salad — comes with some sort of parmasan cheese italian dressing. Pretty good!
My lunch entrée was the Carciofi e Pollo — linguini, chicken breast, artichoke hearts, zucchini and carrots in olive oil-​herb sauce. The dish was delicious and the sauce was light unlike the other cream pasta sauces they offer. I also tried my co-worker’s Gamberetto — fettucini, shrimp & mushroom in tomato-​cream sauce. That was good too, but I know it would be too heavy and creamy for me if i ate the whole dish.
This is a great lunch spot to try out. I received excellent service from the guy running around delivering everyone’s food. I couldn’t finish my pasta and asked him for a box. When he came back with my box, my co-​worker thought it would be a good idea to get one for herself so she asked him for a box too. The server had to make two trips but he still came back with a smile.
What I especially liked about this place is how I didn’t have to break the bank dining at a «sit down» restaurant in the FiDi. Sometimes you just get tired of always eating out of a box or on disposable dishes. And even if it’s more like a sit down restaurant, i was still in and out in 30 minutes.
$ 13 including tax & tip

Unfortunately I really wasn’t impressed with this place. I went with my boyfriend and his mom since its in the financial district next to his work. This was my experience,
I walked in, looked at a janky menu on a poster board, we ordered a Caesar salad made fresh, got my own plates, bread and water, ordered food, paid, and found a table.
I ordered a chicken ravioli for about $ 8 and a sparkling soda and split the Caesar salad. I’ll admit they made the salad fresh, but it wasn’t good :(. The pasta wasn’t good either. Another plate we tried was the sausage ghnocci. That wasn’t very good either.
Overall, it cost each person about $ 10 and it was all pretty bland. It’s also just a big white room with paper table cloths… I don’t know. It just wasn’t what I expected for ‘fast-​italian food’.
My recommendation: Asian food seems to be more popular in that area. I’d just skip it all together. :(

The best little Italian place I’ve had in the city. It’s hidden down an alleyway around the corner near the Rickhouse. The price is great for the quality of food you get. It’s a great place for both lunch and dinner. Lunch can get hectic as the ordering system is more of fast-​food-​esque, in the sense that you order at the register and then they bring the food to your table.

LOVE! Seemingly run by a real Italian family who take pride in their food. It’s just the right level. Unlimited parmesean. Unreal caesar dressing — perfect creamy to tangy ratio. Affordable, fresh, delicious, amazing tomato cream sauce. Family owned. Hand-​made pasta and ravioli. Great crusty bread. GO!

Food = delicious. Fresh stuff. Entrees, pizzas and entrée salads all come with a choice of salad or soup of the day as well. I loved the Carciofi e Pollo dish… linguine, artichoke hearts and vegetables with tender savory chicken. And I had the salad with it. All savory and well worth the prices.
Location = in an ALLEY, definitely off the beaten path!
Prices = reasonable, especially for the portions! Most entrees cost under $ 11.00, except for the King Salmon dish. But the specials are nice too.
Service = mostly self-​service, at the counter. Beware, the older female cashier/​behind counter person, is not very friendly. Food comes out pretty fast too.
Décor = simple. But it’s cafeteria-​style, with tablecloth tables and real silverware. :)

I have eaten Pasta Bene now for years since my work caters from there.
Today, I finally decided to unchain myself and grab a bite with Jen B. Being in an alley is sort of weird but I guess most would say its off the beaten path. Went inside and found nice tables with table cloths and plenty of seating. Pretty much you order, pay, and sit where ever you’d like. They have food runners to bring out your main entrees. I had the fettuccine Alfredo with the veggie soup that cost me $ 11.99. They have this frequent buyer card if you pay cash but didn’t really hear how many stamps you need.
Our food came out pretty quickly, I thought the portion was pretty generous and should have taken half my food… but of course didn’t and ate the whole thing! Chicken was moist, flavorful and yummy and the pasta was cooked perfectly. Overall my meal was very enjoyable. In and out in an hour. Will be back to try some other offerings!

Down an alley? Check! No line up? Check! Available tables? Check!
Well, this meets lunch requirements! With it’s pastas served cafeteria style, but made to order, and a bread + soup/​salad accompaniment, this meets my lunch expectations. The crab ravioli was rich and delish (it was on special) complete with it’s al dente pasta. Stars just for having salad — fresh salad, well dressed! I don’t think I could ask for more out of a low key lunch spot… except for maybe a less-​full-​tummy afterward… oh how I just wanted to crack a bottle of wine and chill out all afternoon!

Its at the end of an ALLEY!
was what I was thinking when I arrived. Probably wouldn’t have chosen this place if I knew it was in an slightly dirty and dimly light alley.
Arrived at 11am and we were the first customers. Everyone here has an accent so I just assumed at whatever they were saying.
Weird way of running things. You order in the front, you get your soup of the day if you ordered one, then you get a number where you bring it the fancy table of your choice.
Total looks like a place where their waiter. The cream of celery soup I got was pretty good. I wanted the cream of mushroom!!!
Garlic bread was kind of hard. The Gorgonzola salad I order was delicious!
Overall, the food was good but I probably won’t be coming back.

Update: I’ve just discovered that Pasta Bene now serves dinner. I am delighted – I work a couple of blocks away and have to stay downtown one or two nights a month. Now I have a lovely place to chill and dine.
I stopped in for dinner last night. I was the only customer. The woman co-​owner and I chatted for quite a while. Both she and he are delightful – they remember me and do their utmost to give good service. These are folks I want to support. They had my beloved crab ravioli on the menu, this time in a pink sauce flavored with just a bit of Gorgonzola. I had it with their minestrone and a complimentary glass of Chianti. The damage? $ 10.90. Are you kidding? There are white linen table cloths, lovely background music, beautifully prepared food… for under eleven bucks. I’m still shaking my head.
Clearly I’m going to have to step up my exercise plan, because I intend to have dinner here regularly. I hope you do, too.

I came from Tokyo, where the Michelin guide 2009 gave 191 stars to 150 restaurants, including 11 restaurants with 3 stars.
Since I relocated to the Bay Area five years ago, and then moved to San Francisco recently, I’ve found really great restaurants — however only a handful per each category, there have always been wonderful restaurants — except Italian. Pasta, to be precise.
Oh boy, I’ve tried so many high-​profiles like Delfina, Antica, etc. and never eaten a decent al dente. Seriously, I almost always get overboiled pasta (spaghetti and linguine, especially) even when I particularly asked to make it VERY chewy. I heard a story that American people go mad when they are served al dente because they think the pasta is undercooked, and the consequence is that cooks have eventually adapted themselves to such customers.
Those enormous numbers of cheap Italian restaurants in Japan served much better pasta. In fact, there’s a Japanese slang for «harder» al dente — «Bari-​kata».
Anyway, I finally found this place.
I ate Gamberetto Fettuccine — it was cooked to its perfection, «real al dente» in other words, couldn’t be harder, couldn’t be softer. My wife had Chicken Piccata, which was also tasty. Steamed vegetables are fresh and seasoned delicately. And all side items like soup, salad, bread (with butter, another +1), there’s no room for downside. Considering all that excellence in execution, we couldn’t decline the offer of dessert. And of course, the tiramisu followed our expectation.
I’d mention that the tomato cream sauce was a little bit heavy to my taste, but that’s totally in acceptable range.
Last but not least, the price is super reasonable! $ 10 for dinner entrée with salad or soup plus free drink? It’s incredible. I’d pay $ 15 for the pasta alone! Definitely deserve 5 stars for that price.
If you care about fancy exterior or interior, go somewhere else. But if you’re serious about authentic pasta and looking for GREAT taste, go try this place.
Oh btw, there was Giada De Laurentiis’ book signing event in the city today, and that encouraged us to give another try with Italian. Big thanks to her. :)

Very good food and amazing prices. Especially for dinner!
The owners, a nice couple, recently started serving dinner here. As the FiDi dies down pretty quickly, there aren’t too many customers at night. They have entrees in the $ 10-​$ 13 range and all include salad/​soup and a drink (beer or wine)!
I hope more people will discover this place for dinner.

Oh man, this place is a *gem*!! It’s a cute, authentic Italian restaurant located down an alley way in the Financial District of San Francisco. It’s open M-​F from 11AM through 8PM for lunch and then dinner.
Their prices are totally reasonable! My salmon, angel hair pasta, vegetables plus a glass of chianti was all together about $ 14! The salmon was perfectly cooked with a lightly crispy finish, sprinkled with lemon — mmmm! :) I had fun twirling my angel hair pasta Italian-​style with the spoon and fork — the pasta tasted SO fresh! And it came with steamed vegetables, good balance to everything. And the chianti, which was included with my meal, finished off the meal nicely.
I didn’t have room in my tummy for dessert, so I ordered the tiramisu to go — omg! I had some just now, and it is unbelievable! I would go there for dessert in itself! I’m not normally a dessert person, but w-​w-​wow, it is SO good! I should share it with my bf, but it might be gone by the time he finishes the video game he’s playing right now. ;) Tasty sweet — the tiramisu is definitely a hit!
The service was really nice, friendly and attentive. I can’t wait to go back and back again!

After lagging a bit in my quest to try everything on the menu at Pasta Bene, I finally made it back Friday for dinner take-​out.
I chose the chicken ravioli this time, and while it wasn’t my #1 selection so far, it was still good and I would order it again. The ravioli were large, like 2″ x 3″ large, and there were enough that I ended up with a few left over for a snack the next day.
When I saw on the menu that the sauce was a «spinach cream» one, I was curious to see what green cream was going to look like. It ended up being a regular cream sauce with spinach ribbons. Would have been fine either way though! There was plenty for sopping up with the crusty French bread.
The nice owner lady insisted that I take a free beverage, and informed me that they’re trying extended hours (until 8 p.m.) on a trial basis. So if you’re getting out of work late near Kearny and Bush and want something other than a warmed-​up burrito from 7 – 11 but don’t want to pay Belden Lane prices, you know what to do!

This place is hidden, but a pretty good deal for lunch. Bread, soup and entrée for $ 11.
Fresh made pasta to order. Nice and quiet and fast

Update: I’ve had the Farhad salad a couple times and i can report, it’s a nice sized salad with a nice slab of chicken meat. Fresh spring mix salad, with a dollop of goat cheese.Nice. Your choice of dressing: gorgonzola, balsamic or italian, also comes with a choice of home made soup. I had the lentil/​barley, that tasted earthy and briny– strange. meh. pass on this one.
So, for $ 10.95 and two light eaters could split it, just be sure to grab extra bread, when you bus your tray. They also stock refrigerated italian soda’s, like Limoncetta or Orangecetta, both delish, and at two bucks each, they ought to be. they also have wine arnd peroni beer. Get there by 11:30am or after 1:30pm or you wil be sitting in a noisy place.

Was looking for a cheap place that sells Italian food for lunch. Looked over Belden Place but couldn’t bring myself to pay a lot of money for pasta.
Found Pasta Bene on Unilocal!My friend and I went here. It seems that they sort of did away w/​the cafeteria tray experience because the nice waiter sat us down and handed us the menus.
I ordered the Chicken Parmigina and my friend had the chicken marsala. Both came w/​a yummy house salad. The portions were more than enough. Had the strawberries and cream for dessert. My friend ordered the tiramisu. Dessert was great too.
Service was fast and efficient.
Minus one star for the unisex bathroom. When I went in, I saw the toilet cover down. I flipped it open and was met with a bowl full of urine. Pressing the handle to flush didn’t work either. I had to bypass the bathroom until I got back to work. Yuck, PB, please fix your bathroom.
Otherwise, it was a wonderful experience!

This is some hangover food right here. These people know that we all live it up a little too much on the weeknights from time to time, and they are here for the sole purpose of greasing our vodka-​soaked bellies and bringing us back to life. And at value prices!
If you find yourself contemplating locking your office door, crawling under your desk, and never seeking daylight again, just get yourself together and head to Pasta Bene. This is one cream and oil heavy menu. If you’re Ed M, they may make you wait a lot longer than your friends had to wait. But if you were out til 3 a.m. and had to be at work at 9 and now you want to die, it will probably be worth it. Even the soup here is greasy.