Stella Pasta Bar & Bistro | Seven Points Brewery — Restaurant in City of Schenectady

Ate at Stella Pasta Bar recently and enjoyed the experience. My server, Callie, took great care of us: friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. I ordered a beer, Prima Vista, hoping the description was accurate, as I am not a "hops person." And it was! Light, refreshing, with a bare hint of a honey note, a great accompaniment to a pasta dinner. There are about a dozen beers on offer, with a wide range of both flavor profiles and ABV numbers. Session beers, IPAs, fruits, and sours were all represented. Although the beer comes from their own brewery (on the far side of the terrace), Stella boasts a full bar. Diners are offered both wine and cocktail lists. The house pinot grigio got a big thumbs up from my dining companion.

The pasta bar portion of menu notes that the tagliatelle and linguine are hand-made in-house daily. That sounded intriguing, so I ordered the tagliatelle with basil pesto sauce (one of about eight choices) and grilled chicken (about 7 other choices available for protein available, too). A basket of warm bread was served; made with semolina flour, I think, based on the warm buttery color and the slightly grainy crumb. The bread was delicious and was served with both butter and a bottle of olive oil from the Saratoga Olive Oil company. My main came with a house salad. I chose the house vinaigrette for the dressing. This salad was perfectly dressed. Every piece of greens, every sliver of carrot, every cherry tomato, had been artfully touched by the dressing, each coated with just the right amount. On top of that, the salad was nicely composed in the bowl. To the pasta! The tagliatelle was al dente, as promised in the menu, and the slices of chicken breast were moist and tender. It was obvious from its appearance that the pasta was indeed both fresh and made on the premises. Salut, Stella! The basil pesto sauce was delicious. So delicious was it that my dining partner wanted me to box it up and bring it home! TBH the only downside was that the plating should be improved. Maybe Stella's customers like vast quantities of sauce, but I felt there was too much of it. Yes, it tasted great, but there can be too much of a good thing. If I were plating that dish at home I would probably sauce the tagliatelle very lightly, then twirl it in a big ladle, in order for it to make a pleasing looking mound on the plate; then once on the plate, knap it with a little more sauce, shingle the slices of chicken breast on top, and lay about a 1 inch wide stripe of sauce across them. The grated cheese Callie offered to sprinkle over brings a savory nuttiness and some salt to cut through the richness of the olive oil in the sauce. Toasted breadcrumbs would be a good option also.

Visually and architecturally the building is a gem. Stella's owners wisely decided not to meddle with the winning combination of vintage dark wood paneling, that beautiful long bar, and kept the main dining room open to the rooftop skylight. The interior manages to look classic, yet modern at the same time.

Restaurants with hard surfaces low overhead usually amplify the sounds in the room. Diners raise their voices to make themselves heard, which, once everyone is doing it, worsens the problem. At one dinner at a packed Del Frisco's in Manhattan, we had to shout to speak to the person sitting next to us. At Stella Pasta Bar, on the other hand, the overhead space and the generous space between tables make normal conversation easy, and private. White linen tablecloths in the dining room add just a bit of formality.

If you are in the mood for excellent Italian food and some good conversation Stella's is a...

Oh man, where to begin. Went here with a friend for happy hour on the patio - we have been before and have had good meals both as carry out and in-house. We had a round of beers that were solid and ordered fried raviolis and a pizza. Food took about 50 minutes to come out after ordering. It was hardly busy but we didn't make a stink about waiting because it was a nice evening to sit outside and we were enjoying our beverages.

However, the real reason for writing this review is because of the pizza. We were literally stunned by it and you could tell from the second that it was placed on the table that it was not going to be good. I'm writing this a few days later and am still shocked that that was served to us. We each took a slice because we didn't want to judge a book by it's cover but wow - it was practically inedible. We ordered the Pesto Chicken pizza. It was drenched in oil, the ricotta was overcooked and placed on the pizza way too early, there were a few shreds of other cheese that wasn't melted, and the chicken was overcooked and dry (with one small strip on each slice).

I cook pizza pretty frequently and this crust had all the markings of crust that was frozen and then not given enough time to thaw and rise before cooking. It was dense, chewy and gray. The dough was also undercooked (and soggy because of the amount of oil) and there was a ton of char on the pizza pan?

We were stunned and so disappointed. We let the waitress know and told her we'd pay for it (of course it wasn't her fault!) but wanted to give her a heads up to check in with the kitchen about it. No way they were ok with sending something like that out. Looked for management staff on the way out to give a heads up too but didn't see anyone. We don't plan on coming back which is such a bummer because the patio (and the beer!) is so solid.

P.S. One other thing that my friend noticed (as a former server) was the waitress bring someone else's food out with the plate tucked into her neck and her face in...

Well if 5 stars across the board does not properly convey how pleased we were with everything the entire crew did at Stella's for our big event, then let me perfectly clear...These guys nailed it. From the very beginning, working with Chef John, Chris & Alex and the entire Stella's staff was a pleasure. We wanted to hold our wedding reception at Stella's because we had our very first date at the Van Dyck. We intended to use the upstairs event space, these guys gave us the entire building. We told them we wanted a very non-traditional reception (we had a 70s themed disco party) and they worked with us every step of the way to make that a reality. We expressed how important it was that the food was on point and that there was plenty of it. Well, if anyone left our event hungry, it was their own damn fault! The food was delicious!!! From the hot and cold antipasto that covered a giant table for our cocktail hour, to the several different varieties of pasta and salads and sides that were put out for the dinner. Every single thing was fresh, delicious and there was plenty of it. The servers spent the entire event walking around making sure all the guests were happy and that the whole building looked as good at the end of the night as it did in the beginning. Even at the very end of the night, when we had to get the dance floor out of the dining room because there was another party scheduled first thing in the morning, the kitchen crew came out and made it happen without thinking twice about it. People are still stopping us to tell us what a great event it was and how good everything was. Stella's delivered. We were regulars before, but we are loyal patrons now! Thanks again to everyone who did such an amazing job! You made it a night we will never forget!

Ryan...