The Pasta Bowl - Lincoln Park — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Edit 1-

The food here is fine, looks good, tastes good. No issue there. But the people working here? Whole other story. Ethan, especially -- probably the "highlight" of the night. If you're brown like me, well, good luck! There, I said it.

The first time I came here with friends, we loved it. That's why we came back. Shouldn't have bothered. My girlfriend ordered chipotle pasta, loved it. I didn't, so I ordered chicken parm. I forgot to say white sauce -- my bad -- but I apologized and asked if they could make it that way. No problem, all good.

I paid upfront, tipped him $5 cash (which is what I could afford as an international student), and went back to enjoying dinner. Asked for a coke refill. Now, there were little to no customers in the restaurant, so this wasn't exactly a rush-hour situation. Still, we waited almost 30 minutes. Nothing. My girlfriend even tried calling him over twice -- he flat-out ignored us. Then, of course, we see him happily pouring cokes for other people. Because apparently, a simple refill for us was just too much.

At that point, I had to go ask someone else for a takeaway box. Meanwhile, Ethan vanished to the bar like he was hiding from us. Finally, when we're getting ready to leave, I ask for him, and he magically reappears with a half-filled to-go cup of coke. And his excuse? "I'm just busy." Busy? In a restaurant with barely any customers? That's a new definition of busy.

So yeah, grow up Ethan. Learn what respect looks like. I know, crazy idea -- we're all human beings, shocking right? Pasta Bowl, maybe stop hiring servers who think customer service depends on skin color or tip size. Maybe if I'd slipped him $50 he would've remembered I exist. But no thanks. I was recommending Pasta Bowl to friends -- not anymore. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Yeah, I'm done.

Previous review-

Love this place. The food is top notch. But the servers here are entitled to a minimum tip. Two weeks ago me and my girlfriend went to eat here. We are international students and we cant work here. But we try to enjoy with whatever we have and roam places. The server was all good with us. We had the Alfredo Chicken Penne Paste with the veggies and a coke. The bill came up to $26 and we rounded it off to $30. The waiters face changed. He asked what happened and if he did anything wrong. We said no. He said okay then he slammed something on our table and started clearing it. Read us guys. We would love to give but we have limited resources here. Not everyone is loaded. Few of us would just like to have a simple meal. Just serve us our dish if you think we can’t tip. Don’t run around doing some sort of circus. Felt embarrassed. Love the place but don’t feel like going there anymore. I hope tha...

So I never leave reviews but I just wanted to say how appreciative I am for the thoughtfulness, and great customer service exhibited by one of your employees (Margaret). I have ordered through various food service apps for food from the Wicker Park location before but this was my first time ordering from the Lincoln location. First off let me say I will never personally use a food delivery app again. I ordered through DoorDash (what a mistake!)- It was a late order that I was sure would be the last one placed on a Monday evening at 9:30pm but I had just gotten home from work and was hungry and between walking the dog and the weather- not to mention the pandemic I just didn’t feel like getting out again. The app kept notifying me that the driver had changed and after an hour of this (well beyond the time the Pasta Bowl was supposed to be open) and not receiving any notification from DoorDash as to what the problem was I finally got a phone call. On the other end was Margaret who seemed genuinely concerned that I never received my food (despite not having ordered directly through them) and she said she was going to have the kitchen remake my order for me to pick up. When I arrived she was extremely attentive and very pleasant. I know they didn’t have to stay open for me but I appreciated their diligent efforts to feed me. I ordered the Farfalle Chicken Pasta and added shrimp and was sure that after all this my meal would be incorrect or slopped together but when I arrived home it was perfect! I learned that the Pasta Bowl offers both ordering and delivery directly through the restaurant and I will most definitely be using their services in the future as they are far more reliable and I feel better knowing my money is going to hardworking individuals. Thank you for a turnaround experience - My tummy and I are...

The Pasta Bowl has many good dishes, both for meat eaters and vegetarians. It has been around for years, and some of the original dishes are still part of the menu. Rigatoni bolognese is a deservedly standard item, and is quite generously served. Other dishes include Farfalle pollo, a chicken dish with butterfly pasta that always tastes fresh and inviting. One of the remarkable dishes is the macaroni and cheese, which was dressed up as a main dish long before it was the fad to do so. The latter stands well against any of the other similar dishes that other restaurants offer. Salads are generous, as are the sides. The problem is that the specials seem a little modest compared to the rest, and as inviting as the innovation in the menu can be, it's hard to justify the Gold Coast prices for specials in this reliable, friendly neighborhood establishment. Wines are modest, and seem carefully chosen. I would recommend asking about availability, though, just to make certain a choice is in stock at the moment (the restaurant shares space with the Other Side bar that is, no spoilers here, on the other side of the Pasta Bowl). For the nice choices,m though, the stemless glasses seem out of place, but that's the way it's served here. Service can vary, with some of the established staff offering fine service. It can be busy here, and some of the local university groups can be as loud as the bar crowd in the Other Side. Yet the Pasta Bowl is probably one of the few sit-down restaurants with table service in the...