Pasta Bella - Fredericksburg TX

Pasta Bella Restaurant and Bakery
103 S Llano St,
Fredericksburg, TX 78624-4112
830-990-9778


http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/menu/1273923?p=0  The writers at Urban Spoon have a scanned and uploaded menu for Pasta Bella, which giving credit where credit is due, appears to have been posted on this website by Jay Hicks. An excellent job by this attentive person and I felt it important as they did, to allow you to see what your menu options would be in advance.

1.   This is a small hole in the wall restaurant that if you blink traveling down Llano street there will be a good chance that you will miss it. It is hard to describe the decor and ambience unless you have been there. Pictures of the Class Michelangelo’s David now re-vamped with cooking accoutrements.

 and random vibrant colors spread upon his body. It appears that many of the portraits and paintings in the store are meant to metaphorically show a hint of madness added to the traditional, which sort of applies to the restaurants atmosphere itself. Traditional dishes you would think to see and their taste expectant, but madness with the bustling and phobic compactness of the place. Many of the chairs and tables are wobbly and sardined together but the food and staff is great so it is always packed, encouraging you to feel that claustrophobic sardine can. It seems as though they were trying to do the best they could with a very limited location, but they are definitely doing something right because day or evening, week or weekend, the restaurant is almost always packed and that should say more than anything I can write.
I have heard some people complain about the service, and at times you might think it seems slow, however, my theory to this as opposed to most slow service restaurants is the physical limitations that the staff has to work around. It's a little hard bustling through a crammed service crowd with burning hot plates of food, almost working through a jigsaw labyrinth. I have never once encountered missing out on an item I have asked the staff for, but I think there is a flustering they have to deal with as you see storage of food along the walls of the restaurant that surrounds the very visible and loud kitchen each consumer sits beside. It's a tiny, rather cramped location but the service and food are both excellent. No reservation is needed, although the hours do break during the day so be careful to call and schedule your visit during their opening hours. Although bear in mind that there generally has two sets of opening hours, with a break in the early afternoon that can cause a miss out of a lunch date if you don't pay attention to the time.

If you feel that the portions are too large you can request for a half serving, which also minimizes the cost. As for desserts, they are disappointing if you are looking for something that follows a pure Italian menu. I know when I think Italian I prefer a Tiramisu not three types of cheesecake. The menu for entree and appetizers is specifically Italian with divine cream and wine sauce reductions as well as classic Italian marinara dishes such as Manicotti.
I would give this restaurant a 4.5/5 for both the food and the service combined discounting for the cramp feeling and the consistent closure of the patio every time I have been there. If you find that you want to avoid such a cramped location, I promise, the food is just as good in my experience as an order in advance for a takeout. With the number provided above, and a link to the menus this makes you easily equipped to manage a dining 'out' experience from home.

My favorite dish and suggestion, the flash fried tender artichokes in the lemon spinach herb sauce at the half portion. This is the #5 option under the PASTA BELLA SPECIALTIES, and worth it!  And trust me, even the half order is filling but you must ask this of your server, they do not list the option of half orders on the menu and it doesn't apply to every meal.

Monday: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Tuesday: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Wednesday: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Thursday: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Friday: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Saturday: 11:30 AM - 9:00 PM

Sunday: Closed

Closed from 2pm-5:30pm, Monday-Friday and 3pm-5:30pm on Saturday.