Casa Pasta Italian Restaurant- Helotes — Restaurant in Helotes

I almost thought when I looked at the name of this restaurant that Casa Pasta was going to be one of those fusion confusion eateries that go half and half on a farrago of cultural components like antipasta with chile relleno and fettucine alfredo. Unbeknownst to me, the word "casa" means the same in Spanish as it does in Italian. Wall hanging size post cards of mediterranean locales make up the bare bones decor of this otherwise plain dining room. The candle wax dripped chianti bottles and red and white checkerboard table cloths are not what this busy little 4 month old strip trattoria is all about. It's a family owned establishment with brothers three running the kitchen and keeping this casa full of pasta that, in turn, does the same with customers.

Tomato sauce rich entrees make up most of the lunch special entrees served until 2pm. There are 10 or so usual suspects (i.e. lasagna, canneloni, manicotti, etc.) that are served with bread and salad. I was pleased with the lasagna that was on the lighter side with ricotta-less apparent ingredients, but satisfying none-the-less. More as of late I have been reluctant to get chicken based dishes as the breast is often a product of the Goodyear farm. The grilled chicken alfredo contained a lighter alfredo sauce and sliced, jail bird striped chicken that must have been brined as it was was both flavorful and fork tender.

The bread basket refills came and went with alacrity such that I missed the Surgeon General's warning on the bottom of the basket that cautioned against the inhaled manner in which we made the croissant like bread-a-pillars (see pic) disappear, Outstanding! Not only was the dough in house made, but so were all the rest of the sauces, pastas, etc. here. I can only imagine, for now, how good the pizzas must be as they are made out of the same dough as the bread rolls.

Two waitresses on roller skates could not have kept up as well with a room full (every other table in Covid hop scotch manner of course) of customers like the two here did. Nice, personable waitresses both. So, I just have to say with impending return intentioned, "Hasta la...

So after placing our order I’m now dropping my 5 star review to a 1 because of the female co-owners tacky/snarky attitude. I asked for marinara not meat sauce and our waitress Sky stated “it’s all meat sauce”. Now keep in mind we eat here 3-6 times a month and never had problems. Then we asked for Splenda and are told we don’t use Splenda, knowing full good and well we use it every time we come in. We ask to speak to the manager Antonio he’s always been so sweet and accommodating and honestly the reason we come in. A lady comes over and we spoke to her before and she never seems to care about the customers and we stated our experience and she immediately defended the waitress “I just asked her if they had a different marinara and meat sauce and she said yes but NOW she instantly starts defending her” Sky didn’t really do anything “wrong” just misinformed, no biggy. Then we asked about the Splenda and she hatefully said We don’t usually order Splenda they sent it on accident so this is all we have.

Well her attitude is not worth the amount of money we spend in here nor all the referrals we send this way. We stated we’d speak to Antonio and she brings us a card and says “here call my husband if you want he will tell you the same thing”. Restaurants in San Antonio are a dime a dozen, Not worth a coowner who has gotten too big for her britches and no longer cares about Customer Service. It’s sad because when they opened and first started I was so excited for them but after today not so much and I’ll spread the word once again on the negative experience just as I once did on the positive. This all could have been avoided if she was PLEASANT and not “go ahead” or “that’s fine” snarky attitude.

Then to top it off we were never checked on again even though he placed his tea glass and bread basket to the edge of the table. Also attached is a photo clearly showing MARINARA and not the “standard meat sauce” she stated was all they had. I cannot believe an owner would not apologize for a miscommunication but instead be hateful and snarky to a REGULAR...

Second time eating here, and not by choice the second time. Food a 2 star instead of a 1 star only cause I'd eat here if I absolutely had to for a party or something... It's tolerable at best. Flavor leaves much to be desired. For some reason my mom and aunt love it here but everything I've tried is so bland and flavorless. The calamari tasted like saltless, plain fried squid and only tasted slightly better with marinara smothered on top, which you shouldn't need to do if it's seasoned enough. No lemon, parsley, garlic.. nothing. Spaghetti sauce was just ok. Not horrible but not great either. Salt also didn't fix it, it was just lacking overall flavor. Bread wasn't anything special, just plain bread without any seasoning. When I took it home and added honey and butter to it, it tasted better but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat the bread here. None of my nieces finished their food... And it was shrimp Alfredo. They all said it lacked flavor... This, coming from the mouth of kids who love Alfredo. How is it even possible to make Alfredo without flavor? Couple other people complained about their meals not tasting good either...

Only positives are the portion sizes were good, and supposedly the tiramisu was good as multiple people tried it and loved that, but I didn't try any. It was probably an already made dessert, bought frozen from another company and just dethawed, which would be why it would be good.

Also, maybe something was wrong with their AC, but it was really warm inside the building which made it an uncomfortable experience, and the chairs are just hard wood so my lower back started hurting after a while from lack of cushion. Service was mediocre and I had to ask for things more than once because they'd forget, and the wait staff seemed to dissappear for long stretches at a time, not as attentive as they should have been.

It's not the worst I've had, food or experience, but I've eaten way better Italian food elsewhere and definitely have had better service. I'll only eat here if my mom really wants to eat here...