Pasta Jay's — Restaurant in Boulder

After a long day of hiking we decided to go and get some food. With 10 of us, including those with dietary restrictions, we chose pasta J's. When we arrived, I was very impressed with the menu. A very extensive vegetarian/vegan menu on one side and a very extensive gluten-free menu on the other. Then of course they had their regular menu. All the dishes looked great and I was excited to eat.

Being that we had just spent 6 hours in the mountains, we werent interested in waiting so we opted for the bar. We all wanted to have our own individual checks, but the bartender made it clear we were not able to do that. He gave us an option of four checks to split amongst us. None of us were a fan of that, but that's how it goes.

Restaurant was pretty busy, it was a Sunday night so we weren't expecting as many people as there were. I was able to find parking not too far from the restaurant and it was free because it was Sunday so I appreciated that. It took a while before we were able to order, but again, the place was pretty packed.

I'm only going to be able to comment on a few of the meals, the people near me, because we sat at the bar.

I ordered the stuffed chicken Genovese, gluten free version. My dining companion to my direct left ordered the same regular, next to him was a buffalo chicken something or other, next to her was the mussels. To my right was a margarita pasta I believe, and to her right the mac and cheese with broccoli and chicken.

For our people of 10, they brought out one basket of bread to share. We didn't feel like that was enough. It barely gave everyone one little piece of garlic toast. When we asked for another basket, they told us it would be $5 😲 I would get that if they had brought enough for 10 people in the first place, but they didn't. We had been divided up into two tables of three and one table of four. We felt like we should have at least had three baskets of bread, because if we had sat at those individual tables, that's what we would have gotten. Eventually they did end up bringing another basket of bread.

The gentleman that ordered the mussels said they were not fresh, and he did not like his meal at all. None of us thought it was fair that he paid $6 for his soda, when the beers were also $6. 🤔 The girl to his right who had the buffalo chicken something or other, said her meal was okay. To her right, was the gentleman who ordered the stuffed chicken Genovese, regular. He said his chicken was okay, the tomato sauce two watery, and didn't like his pasta at all. He said my gf pasta looked much better. For some reason my portion of stuffed chicken Genovese looked much smaller than his. As if I only was given a half portion, or was missing something. As I ate it I think I was missing something. I'm pretty sure it was supposed to have sun-dried tomatoes or some sort of tomatoes in it. The only thing that appeared to be stuffed in my chicken was mushrooms and cheese. I agree that the marinara sauce was very lacking. My gluten-free pasta turned out to be rotini instead of penne, I didn't care, and my Alfredo sauce was more like cornstarch mixed with water then alfredo. I didn't taste any cream or Parmesan whatsoever. Maybe it was in there, if so it was very watered down or poor quality. I ended up pouring my pasta with Alfredo sauce into the marinara of my chicken and that made it taste better. The lady on my right had the margarita pasta. It looked really good to me, but she said it was pretty bland. I didn't get a chance to ask about the mac and cheese with chicken and broccoli, but on the way home, one of the gentlemen that rode with me said he got the gnocchi and he liked his meal. He said the gnocchi was nothing special but he enjoyed his sauce. It had been a long day for me and I forgot to ask him what kind of sauce he had. 🤦🏻‍♀️

We all agreed the garlic toast was nothing special, and those who drank wine were pretty shocked at the $14 price tag.

All in all, an edible meal, but definitely not worth the $30 price tag. Location,...

I have to start by saying I never expected a simple dinner at a local Italian restaurant in Boulder Colorado would change my life, but somehow it did.

I was in town for the funeral of my best friend of 21 years, he was killed in a tragic plane crash doing what he loved doing most in life. We spent years making memories together, were both best men at each other's weddings, and loved each other like brothers. Ive never felt this pain before and wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I was with just a few close family members of both my best friends and mine, and we decided to try out pasta Jay's since it was close to where we were staying. The atmosphere was welcoming, and the employees seemed to be enjoying themselves, which in a way I can't explain, give myself a little boost seeing people working hard to earn an honest living.

I decided to get a few drinks as obviously I was in a difficult mental space and needed to relax. Immediately I struck up a conversation with a young man who identified himself as winn(sorry if misspelled, unsure if that's the correct spelling). He was warming, engaging, and quite humorous I must see. We had got to the point where he could tell I was in town for a not so fun reason and he looked at me and said "hey man, it's none of my business, but you seem pretty down, are you feeling alright?'

It was at this moment, to my initial embarrassment that I started to let a few tears roll down my face. I felt he was someone I could release my personal feelings to, even though I'd only known this guy serving me a beer for 5 minutes. I broke down, explaining how I lost my best friend of 21 years, and he just let me talk, let me express myself, and honestly reminded me alot of my dear friend I had just lost. He was visibly shaken and said some very comforting words to me that I'll never forget but choose to keep private to respect the moment.

We talked for about another 45 minutes as he was scrambling around working hard, and I couldn't help but appreciate the generosity, compassion, and humanity that he showed me.

I left that night coming to peace with the reality of the situation I found myself in, but couldn't help but feel peace after talking to this random server at a local Italian restaurant.

Thanks Winn, it means more then you'd ever imagine.

And to my best friend Marwan, may God bless your...

Ugh so terrible! Horrible waits, seating, and food.. I've worked in the restaurant business for many years and don't usually leave reviews but I can't help but to this time. This was our first dinning experience in Boulder and I won't be back to this place. We got there at 5:33pm on a Thursday, it was busy but when I asked the host how long for 2 she said about 15mins. Ok great, no worries we wait... Then after 25-30mins I checked to see how much longer she thought it might be and she said there is one other 2 top ahead of you and then you can be seated. I said ok no worries just checking. We finally sat down at 6:35.. at a small table shoved in the corner with no room to move my arm and the table wobbled so bad I thought my water might fall off. Even the waitress and host made a comment on the tight space, bc there were about to sit a 6-8 top right beside us. One of the guys tried to get to his seat and said excuse me so that I would make room, I looked at him and said I'm on a wall there's no where for me to go. His whole family left the restaurant. I wish we would have too. After the server went to the manager about switching us to another table,(which we didn't ask for) the manager came to the table and asked if we wanted to wait at the bar for another table. I asked her how long she expected us to wait we have been there for an hour, to be sat at a horrible wobbly table with no room? ! She said we can either stay there or wait at the bar. I was starving so I said we would just wait this is about 6:50 at this point... After she left we decided we were leaving bc there are too many nice places to eat to be eating like this.. as we went to leave the manager said wait we will set u right now at this other table and I will get y'all's drinks and apps. We never saw her again after that. And she didn't take care of anything.. not that I want free food. We paid the whole bill and left disappointed. The kicker after all that waiting is that my husbands pasta was burnt and my carbonara sucked and was spicy? I didn't even eat my food.. the service was just ok. Not good food and horrible lies about wait...