Pasta Paradiso

Previous review was a 5 star. Now 1 star.
I loved this place. I want to know where I can find them again?

I’ve only tried this place once, but from that one bowl of delicious alfredo goodness, i’m hooked. I got #22 and I remember the number because everything is way too difficult to say. It was the chicken alfredo with sundried tomatoes. It wasn’t the BEST pasta I’ve ever had, but considering that this was 8 bucks in the financial district and they gave you a large chunk of bread, I’d say that’s a fairly decent deal. The salads looked really good too. Might try that next time.
Actually I think I might just get some for lunch today.

This is a good place where you can get some classic pasta without breaking the bank. The staff is also helpful and friendly.
If you are here, get the pastas with the red sauces, not the whites. Their reds and pink sauces are all quite good.
This is a very chill place and they won’t hurry you like a lot of downtown places. So take your time…

Our company has ordered take-​out from here several times and their pastas were good. I try to limit my pasta intake though, so what I really love this place for is their grilled salmon with steamed veggies (today it was summer squash and zucchini) and basmati rice. You also get a huge hunk of sourdough bread with your order and the price can’t be beat ($ 10.40 total including the tax).
Right now they don’t have outdoor seating anymore due to construction on the building, but I’m hoping that they bring it back once the construction is over. It’s a nice place to sit outside for lunch or even go after work on a nice day for a glass of wine.
Service is quick, too, which makes it good for someone like me with a 30-​minute lunch break!

Mango Chicken Salad: Great lunch special deals. Huge salad with generous amounts of everything! To-​go comes with bread and a biscotti! You could split the salad into two meals! The Italian guy at the counter is pretty funny, too.
I want to try their strawberry chicken salad next. Pasta looks good, too.

Well, I still l like their food and they seem to be fine for pick-​up or dine-​in…
However I rely on them for catering most of all and the last 2 orders I made were disappointing.
Not necessarily the food but things were missing or the order came with incorrect food.
I don’t know –what burns my ass is our office spends alot of money there and I couldn’t even get an apology. Nothing! Kind of a bummer.

12:00 — lunchtime begins
12:05 — walk to pasta paradiso
12:08 — order fettucini carbonara + snapple
12:10 — sit at table
12:11 — waiter serves cold bread and butter
12:13 — food arrives at table HOLY. WTF…FAST
12:23 — finished food
12:32 — writes this review while walking back to work on my iphone
Food was pretty good and decently priced. Service was super fast too. Definitely a cool spot for lunch if you’re working nearby.

Solid restaurants start with a solid management. They definitely put customers first.
This is a perfect place for a casual sit-​down. It is open late, and it is a great happy hour spot, especially for those looking to grab some food and drinks before a ball game.
The portions are generous. You definitely won’t walk away hungry.
My favorite dish is the MANGO CHICKEN SALAD, which is loaded with tender meat, avocado, blue cheese, and mango, topped with walnuts. You can’t go wrong… unless you’re allergic to nuts.
They also have a nice patio area. Sit down and grab a beer!

G at 19 having a conversation with his room mate
Room mate «what ya cooking G?»
G: «Pasta»
Room mate: «Good, you can’t burn pasta» (this statement was made due to a previous botched cooking job I did)
Some 10 minutes later
Room mate: «I guess I was wrong, you some how managed to burn pasta»
Why do I bring up this memory that had long been suppressed and almost forgotten about?
Because the pasta I had at Pasta Paradiso reminded me exactly of the pasta I use to cook when I was 19 and still acclimating to not having mom cook me dinner every night.
I ordered the Fusilli which was horribly horribly overcooked and the vegetables were a mush mess. The sauce was actually pretty good but even the best sauce doesn’t make up for the previous two gaffes in this dish.

Now open for happy hour and dinner!
Happy hour is not at all crowded, so I’m keeping PP in mind for a group outing. The dinner menu is a limited version of the lunch menu (at slightly higher prices), with the addition of some Middle Eastern dishes — kabobs and such. Dinner service was friendly and attentive, and we were even offered a complimentary slice of carrot cake!

I like this one better than the one at One Market because it’s quaint and cozy. This one has outdoor seating and quite a few tables inside. I love that Pasta Paradiso makes your food to order, yet it costs less than $ 10 to eat there. Your pasta comes with a small side order of bread with little butter packets. You can add a side salad and drink for $ 3 more (I think). I love the pasta with canadian bacon and rose sauce, but my second favorite is the penne pasta with italian sausage and red peppers.
I don’t like the vinaigrette dressing they use on their salad, but that’s just my opinion.

The grilled mahi mahi was better than I expected. It came w mashed potatoes which normally I’d leave untouched, but I ate every bit.
The caprese app, less better than I expected, not much flavor — hard to do w a good basil and mozerella.
We did delivery, service was on time.

If I could put a negative 5 I would. I wish I would have read Cy. L’s review of the gnocchi, because that dish was straight up terrible. Hands down, worst pasta dish I’ve ever had.
Listen, I love food. My stomache size will prove that. My wife will attest that I will pretty much enjoy anything. But this… this was just not edible. I’m sorry to sound so mean, but that really was bad.
The gnocchi was pasty. It had no flavor. It dissolved in my mouth, in a bad way.
To top it off, when I told the waiter about it, he did absolutely nothing about it.
Oh well, I shouldn’t complain. i’m thankful that i’m even able to go out to places once in a while and eat.

It’s aiiiiiiite. Honestly, only went here because it was a 1,000 point OpenTable reservation. The food was okay. The servers didn’t speak much english but were really nice to us. I had the fettucine carbonara which was pretty good. It’s a good place to have a decent dinner without a huge crowd but nothing to write home about.

Came here for lunch today with a friend from high school. I found this place on Unilocal and chose it because it is close to my friend’s work.
When we arrived it seemed kind of packed but there were a couple tables free.
You order and you get a number which you bring to a table. I ordered the chicken piccata because I love the chicken piccata from the cheesecake factory. I also ordered some garlic bread. My friend ordered some pasta that comes in a bowl. His also came with salad.
The complementary bread they gave us wasn’t too good in my opinion. It was hard and not too warm.
The chicken piccata came with veggies, 3 pieces of chicken, and some rice. The rice was not good. The veggies and the chicken were good. Overall, it was a lot of food for 9 bucks.
The garlic bread was different but I liked it. I love garlic bread.
Seems like my friend enjoyed his food. He finished it all.

The service here is fast and decent. There’s already pre-​ensembled baskets of bread at the tables, however the bread was cold.
Its cheap, but you obviously pay for what you get. Salad was as expected. I tried the fusilli con pollo pasta. The sauce was super heavy, and not very good! The chicken was dry and of poor quality. The sun dried tomatoes were okay! I felt like they quickly tossed everything together, and the whole dish itself did not taste very good. Pretty bland and very heavy.
This is a good place if you’re looking for a really cheap meal, but as for the food itself… there’s def much better out there! You’d prob be able to prep most of these dishes quickly yourself! ;P

If you catch them on a good day, they’ll give you free tiramisu. Delicious, delicious tiramisu (the way to my heart).
The meals are so large that we usually split it amongst two people. It comes with a salad and a soda. And they also have warm, freshly baked bread.
Excellent service to boot.

The ratings for this place really baffle me. Is it only reviewed by people who work near the Rincon Center and are incapable of walking more than a block to eat lunch? If you’re idea of normal Italian food is ravioli out of a can, then I can understand why you think this place is good. In fact, it’s only slighter better than ravioli out of the can.
I mean, really, guys, you live in San Francisco. I understand the Italian food might not compare to Italy but c’mon, there’s so much better out there. Do you really think Pasta Paradiso deserves 4 stars compared to Delfina? Let’s think about this… Um… NO!
The pasta here was less than half-​hearted, it was pretty no hearted in the preparation. The ravioli looked and tasted like it was out of a can, which was corrobated by the fact it wasn’t even warm. The other pasta was okay but was tossed with chewy meatballs, definitely a sign that they were frozen out of a package and not home made. I make meatballs at home and they are chewy in that meaty way, not the rubbery way that is indicative of preservatives.
I can say I will never come here for lunch again.

Italian or Spanish?
I wondered how to commemorate Columbus Day, which is today on the business calendar and this Friday on the historical calendar.* After all, Columbus was a sailor from the Republic of Genoa, but he immigrated to Castile in 1486, became an Admiral, a Governor, and a Viceroy of Spain through his accomplishments, and is now entombed in Seville.
In deference to the Italian community, I visited Pasta Paradiso. I ordered spaghetti with meatballs and a Coke, for $ 8.95 + tip. After all, this staple of the Italian highway was only made possible through the discovery of the tomato in the New World.
A hearty bowl of spaghetti Bolognese (meat sauce, not meatballs) was happily heated and served by an all Spanish-​American staff. (No Italians in sight.) That mix-​up seemed appropriate, as Christopher Columbus himself was sure to his dying day that he was conquering India.
The spaghetti was moist, with soft noodles in a tomato broth. It was exactly what I would expect in a fast-​food store.
— — — — —
*But the stock market was open and I worked today.
Note to self: wash shirt immediately when I get home.

«Oh think twice, its another day for
You and me in Paradiso
Oh think twice, its just another day for you,
You and me in Paradiso…»
Actually it’s not another day… today was the first day I tried this place even though I pass by it on the way to my bus every day. It’s always filled with happy hour revelers since beers are only $ 2.50 and martinis for $ 4.50. Say, that’s not a bad deal.
But I was here for a lunch with colleagues I don’t know that well. Pasta is actually a high-​risk venture for anyone trying to look corporate since you can’t quite be yourself. I am not what you call a cautious eater. That’s why I have Tide sticks — one in my desk at work, one in my kitchen at home, one in my jacket pocket. I am a world-​class spot producer no matter how careful I try to be. Today was sadly no exception.
The overhead menu is a bit overwhelming the first time you see it, and the prices are not that obvious either. Oh and people are waiting behind me. Decisions, decisions… and the pressure to be decisive in front of my co-​workers. I felt a drip of perspiration sidling down the small of my back. OK, OK… I ordered the $ 8.45 Fettuccine di Mare, and I was given the choice of tomato or white wine sauce.
My brain tried to process the information. Tomato… red…bad. White wine… white…can’t tell. OK, white wine. The three of us sat at a table waiting for our orders, and my bowl came stocked with clams over fettuccine noodles dripping in the wine sauce. Oh man, I’m in trouble. Not only do I have to shuck the clams, but I have to avoid the perils of the watery sauce. I keep staring at my shirt after every bite.
The pasta bowl was actually quite good, so hearty that I actually paid attention to the conversation instead of my shirt. By meal’s end, I was relaxed but oh, there it is… three successive spots on the left side of my chest. Damn. When the hell did that happen? I tried to conceal it with my hand in what I though was a nonchalant manner. I realized I looked palsied when one of my colleagues offered to call 911 for medical attention. Oh man, where’s my Tide stick? Damn, I left it in my jacket pocket.
As I left the restaurant looking like I was doing the Pledge of Allegiance forever, I thought I’d definitely come back if I could just remember to bring my own bib. Nothing says corporate authority like wearing a bib. But the bigger dilemma is what the hell am I gonna do for my 500^th review?
FOOD — 4 stars… good, unadventurous pasta… but bring the spot remover, you pig
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… not much on décor, but it is for the working set after all.
SERVICE — 4 stars… actually very helpful once I got over my menu overload anxiety
TOTAL — 4 stars… a solid alternative for lunch and happy hour if you can find a table