|
I’ve always wanted to spend more time in the downtown Phoenix area (outside of attending ballgames). Growing up in San Diego, I always dreamt about going downtown and hanging out with friends for good food and good times. My own little version of city life complete with catching the trolley down to the harbor and walks along the Gaslamp Quarter.
When I moved here to Phoenix in 1996, I fully expected to simply shift my rose colored city dreams from the coast to the desert. But for the better part of my life here, downtown was a far off, early night anti-oasis. The distance from Tempe to Phoenix only traversed for sporting events or jury duty. And if you did get to it, there wasn’t much you could do.
Luckily – things seem to be changing. Wanting to take advantage of the new light rail and a suggestion by one of our friends on a new eatery, a group of us decided to see if we could make Saturday night in the city work. Once we figured out the foibles and pitfalls of the Light Rail (another post, another time). We met up with a group of friends at the 6-week old eatery, Pasta Bar.
The Pasta Bar has a prime location about a couple blocks from the Light Rail and across the street from the vaunted Matt’s Big Breakfast (but incredibly small building) and sharing the building with the new hotness that is Sens (a place my crew says we will try at a different time).
When you first get in, you’re immediately struck by the intimate vibe. We got there at about 7:30pm and the place was definitely buzzing, despite the block and a half walk from the train stop being practically deserted. As we approached, I was hit with the apprehension that this was going to be one of the pretentious “mood lighting” places. Luckily, the low lighting wasn’t too low and splashes of red and yellow paint accented the long, narrow space. The décor choices definitely made an impression, if not sense (What was with the serial killer portraits on raw canvas?).
The furniture definitely had that “Scandinavian Universal Look” (Read: IKEA) I’m quite fond of. The tables and chairs were natural wood – save for the bar area. That was sleek and trendy with its black top and glass shelves. Our party of six sat at a high top table with barstools and decided quickly that the butt numbing wood stools were not the best choice of seating.
But we weren’t there to pick up furniture…we were there for good eats. And if there’s one thing I agreed with on the website – Pasta Bar does simple food extremely right. Seriously folks, what you see is what you get. When my fried Buffalo Mozzarella appetizer came out, I oohed and ahhed over the most delicate marinara sauce I’d ever seen. The ingredient list couldn’t have been more than tomatoes, basil, EVOO, and water. But it tasted special anyway!
Our main courses did not disappoint either. The great thing about eating with a larger group is that you can pretty much go around the horn with the menu and eat off everyone’s plate. Our favorites of the evening turned out to be the “Whatever We Make That Day” Ravioli special and the bowl full of Orecchiette. The ravioli was made napkin style, folded into little triangles filled with ground meaty (veal, beef, and pork) goodness. Thumbs up all around. The Orecchiette (“Auricles” in Italian) was the perfect balance of sausage, pasta, and cheese. I almost asked my husband to trade dishes…but I had ordered the ravioli.
The intriguing part of Pasta Bar’s menu though, is the listing of “sides.” Here, you can accent your dinner with a number of items. The sides are big enough to share – and a good value for their price. The warm calamari was tender and succulent and almost didn’t make it around the table. The plate of roast lamb prompted one friend to say, “Every restaurant should offer tender roast lamb as a side dish.” We were all excited for the meatballs. Our waitress touted them as “huge” and we got two. So we were game! While they lived up to their size (relative to the dish), we found the serving to be overwhelmed by the wine-based sauce. Basically, take a meatball and soak it in red wine and that’s what we were eating. This stalwart of Italian cooking turned out to be the weak link of the night. It’s not that we hated it…we were just underwhelmed.
Chef Wade Moises and his staff make Pasta Bar a place you want to come back to. With an emphasis on keeping it simple, you and your friends can enjoy just hanging out (but ask for a low table). The prices are rather reasonable for a downtown eatery. Our group of 6 for dinner ordered a couple of appetizers, entrees, shared some sides, and a couple of glasses of wine to a little over $200 without tip. Bonus points to the eatery for being open up late on the weekends (open until 2 a.m.)! Definitely a better alternative to the IHOP, IMHO…
Pasta Bar: 705 North1st St Suite #110 Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 602-687-8704 (Reservations Accepted)
When I moved here to Phoenix in 1996, I fully expected to simply shift my rose colored city dreams from the coast to the desert. But for the better part of my life here, downtown was a far off, early night anti-oasis. The distance from Tempe to Phoenix only traversed for sporting events or jury duty. And if you did get to it, there wasn’t much you could do.
Luckily – things seem to be changing. Wanting to take advantage of the new light rail and a suggestion by one of our friends on a new eatery, a group of us decided to see if we could make Saturday night in the city work. Once we figured out the foibles and pitfalls of the Light Rail (another post, another time). We met up with a group of friends at the 6-week old eatery, Pasta Bar.
The Pasta Bar has a prime location about a couple blocks from the Light Rail and across the street from the vaunted Matt’s Big Breakfast (but incredibly small building) and sharing the building with the new hotness that is Sens (a place my crew says we will try at a different time).
When you first get in, you’re immediately struck by the intimate vibe. We got there at about 7:30pm and the place was definitely buzzing, despite the block and a half walk from the train stop being practically deserted. As we approached, I was hit with the apprehension that this was going to be one of the pretentious “mood lighting” places. Luckily, the low lighting wasn’t too low and splashes of red and yellow paint accented the long, narrow space. The décor choices definitely made an impression, if not sense (What was with the serial killer portraits on raw canvas?).
The furniture definitely had that “Scandinavian Universal Look” (Read: IKEA) I’m quite fond of. The tables and chairs were natural wood – save for the bar area. That was sleek and trendy with its black top and glass shelves. Our party of six sat at a high top table with barstools and decided quickly that the butt numbing wood stools were not the best choice of seating.
But we weren’t there to pick up furniture…we were there for good eats. And if there’s one thing I agreed with on the website – Pasta Bar does simple food extremely right. Seriously folks, what you see is what you get. When my fried Buffalo Mozzarella appetizer came out, I oohed and ahhed over the most delicate marinara sauce I’d ever seen. The ingredient list couldn’t have been more than tomatoes, basil, EVOO, and water. But it tasted special anyway!
Our main courses did not disappoint either. The great thing about eating with a larger group is that you can pretty much go around the horn with the menu and eat off everyone’s plate. Our favorites of the evening turned out to be the “Whatever We Make That Day” Ravioli special and the bowl full of Orecchiette. The ravioli was made napkin style, folded into little triangles filled with ground meaty (veal, beef, and pork) goodness. Thumbs up all around. The Orecchiette (“Auricles” in Italian) was the perfect balance of sausage, pasta, and cheese. I almost asked my husband to trade dishes…but I had ordered the ravioli.
The intriguing part of Pasta Bar’s menu though, is the listing of “sides.” Here, you can accent your dinner with a number of items. The sides are big enough to share – and a good value for their price. The warm calamari was tender and succulent and almost didn’t make it around the table. The plate of roast lamb prompted one friend to say, “Every restaurant should offer tender roast lamb as a side dish.” We were all excited for the meatballs. Our waitress touted them as “huge” and we got two. So we were game! While they lived up to their size (relative to the dish), we found the serving to be overwhelmed by the wine-based sauce. Basically, take a meatball and soak it in red wine and that’s what we were eating. This stalwart of Italian cooking turned out to be the weak link of the night. It’s not that we hated it…we were just underwhelmed.
Chef Wade Moises and his staff make Pasta Bar a place you want to come back to. With an emphasis on keeping it simple, you and your friends can enjoy just hanging out (but ask for a low table). The prices are rather reasonable for a downtown eatery. Our group of 6 for dinner ordered a couple of appetizers, entrees, shared some sides, and a couple of glasses of wine to a little over $200 without tip. Bonus points to the eatery for being open up late on the weekends (open until 2 a.m.)! Definitely a better alternative to the IHOP, IMHO…
Pasta Bar: 705 North1st St Suite #110 Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 602-687-8704 (Reservations Accepted)
Labels: AZ, Light Rail, Pasta Bar, Wade Moises
posted by Kimberly at
5:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home