The Pasta Factory — Restaurant in Avondale

Went here for my birthday dinner. It was a very disappointing experience. I read the reviews and they seemed mixed but still good. Well the mixed reviews were right. This clearly isn't Italian food by any means, a Mexican twist on Italian I would say. Nothing wrong with that as I love my Mexican food, unfortunately I was expecting Italian.

Had the Chicken piccata, it wasn't bad but the sauce tasted like Dijon mustard, it's supposed to be lemon flavor, it wasn't. My daughter and wife got the bolognese, but again, not quite it. The sauce had standing water and wasn't very flavorful. If you're looking for Italian, this isn't the place.

Also, found a very coarse, short, black hair in my food. Looked to be from a mustache. I'd venture to guess at least one person in the kitchen staff has a black mustache?

The decor was also a bit out of touch, it's what you would imagine a basement decorated to look like the olive garden with stereotypical Italian music. They have a very lovely front dining room with a look at the kitchen, but tables look to be used as a spare office for management?

Also, listening to a server telling other patrons, that multiple dishes are hit or misses, or just not good at all. Unfortunately we heard this after already ordering. Still not something you want to hear at a restaurant. The checkout experience is just as odd as the dining experience. I thought I was checking out at a food truck when they told me to pay up front and was then met by some sort of Square payment system. Having to use a tablet to pay the bill is super weird. Putting customers on the spot to give a tip isn't it.

Won't be back, good luck to those who ignore...

We visited for the first time last night and after reading on Next Door how great the food is we decided to try the Pasta Factory. The family is welcoming, accommodating and attentive but it ends there. When we go out to eat it is because we want something better than we can make at home. I am of Italian descent and am from the New York area so I know Italian food. This meal was far from Italian. The bruschetta was hard and tasteless. The tomato topping for the bruschetta was pale and looked so unappetizing we wouldn't even try it. The salad was iceberg lettuce with tiny slivers of carrot, onion and red cabbage. The same pale tomato was on the salad. The oil and vinegar was a very poor quality, The one olive and one pepperoncini tasted like chemicals so that is as far as we would go to eat it. For the main course the same poor quality oil was used. For anyone who doesn't know this, the quality of oil you eat has a great impact on your health. In fact, the quality of the food you eat has a direct impact on your long term health. I feel badly writing this review (as there are many who clearly enjoyed their dining experience) because the owner and his family clearly work hard at what they do. On the other hand we wish we had read these reviews in addition to Next Door because we would not have wasted hard earned money on a meal we couldn't enjoy. I wish them well. There is something for everyone. This...

When we first walked in, I thought there were only a few seats. They walked us back and it turns out there's another room in the back. We ordered an appetizer (Caprese) because my husband was really hungry. It was what you'd expect. We didn't realize that bread would be coming too, so I was already full by the time the food came out.

I ordered the eggplant parmesan with a side salad. They only have two choices for dressing. I'm in love with a great eggplant parmesan, but it seems that not many restaurants make it the way I like it. Maybe I'm an eggplant snob. This eggplant was pan fried, and luckily wasn't swimming in oil when it came out. The thickness was better than other restaurants. It had the skin on, which makes it difficult to cut through with the butter knife they give you. The pasta wasn't made fresh (it was dried pasta), but it was cooked the right amount of time, so that's something. The sauce was okay. My impression of the food was so-so. Nothing was bad, but nothing was great. It was right in the middle. But my husband really liked his dish, so I guess it just goes to show you that different people prefer different things, and what I consider to be just okay, others consider great. So don't take my word for it! Go check it out and you may love it. And maybe I'll go back and try something different next time. They do have a variety of vegetarian dishes...