Not Your Mama's Pasta — Restaurant in Blacksburg

There's some good food here, especially the pasta. I'd go for the pasta as while the pizza was my favorite it can be hit-or-miss now, the last two times have been so disappointing it's hard to order it again and the last was the worst pizza I've ever been served. I like burrata on pizza (ball of mozz with a pocket of cream in the center), but you don't take it ice-cold from the fridge and drop it onto it or you end up with cold pizza-ish mush. It was just awful, when pizzerias know you drain it and warm it up to room temp if you go that route.

The service is generally bored and out of it to the point you assume they're high, and the restaurant itself needs some TLC. There's broken seating, exposed wiring, and some generic art. The lack of a coat of paint and some care for the facilities makes you wonder what they're ignoring in the kitchen. The skinniness of the space and flat surfaces means the sound reverberates, so a group of wine moms cackling can ruin your meal due to it being so loud.

The pasta has always been good, and you might have good luck with the pizza if you keep it simple, but if you see a group that seems loud...

Positives: the pizza crust is excellent, you can tell the bread is fresh and the tomato sauce is quality made.

Negatives: the caico e pepe started with a good flavor, but turned extremely salty to the point of not being able to finish it. I understand it’s supposed to be salty but the batch I had was overbearing.

Overall: I think it’s worth trying if you have time on your hands, but I will not return because 1 hour wait is crazy with no prior communication just for one pasta and one pizza. They need to figure out how to manage crowds and communicate with customers.

Extra information: I think they forgot about our food because we ordered before a big crowd came in, but ended up waiting 1 hour. We were going to dine in, but did take out since it was busy. It was obvious they prioritised other orders before ours, since we only got our food once the entire take out line and in house...

One man show: this affected the turnaround time, but not the quality of the food or the affability of the single human doing everything. Highly recommend the truffle and mushroom pizza and the St. Patty's Day pasta (while it lasts) with savory, tender corned beef and brisket. The pasta is bouncy, but tender and perfectly seasoned. (Carbonara and Zozzona were also lovely, but my fave was St. Pats) Pizza crust is well seasoned, thin with a nice balance of chew and crisp bite. Truffle drizzle is the perfect umami complement to the subtle mushroom and savory cheese. Pizza by the slice, too! Just go eat there so you can enjoy a nice meal in a small, casual eatery with an urban italia vibe. (As of Mar 2025, M-T is take out only, W-F is sit down. You can use the tables on M-T after you get...