Pasta Sisters — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Pasta Sisters is tiny. There are maybe 2 or 3 tables, and they use their counter for seating as well. That's what I learned when we tried to eat here on a Friday night, as a group of 4. For the sake of fresh pasta, we squeezed in and sat at the counter.

For a minute, I was concerned that we might have to carry those pasta plates onto the curb. The Culver City location has more seating, but neither location takes reservations. This location is more suited for take-out, but if you can, you should definitely enjoy it immediately. Taking it home just wasn't as good.

Once we positioned ourselves at the counter, they served us some sliced bread with little plastic containers of olive oil & balsamic vinaigrette. The bread was okay, but a touch on the stale side.

As for the pasta, you 'build' your plate by choosing the pasta and the sauce to accompany it. The price is dictated by the price of the sauce.

$10.75 Pesto - pine nuts, fresh basil, pecorino romano, parmigiano reggiano, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, w/ Homemade Gnocchi +$2: Excellent! The additional $2 for gnocchi is totally worth it. A lot of gnocchi dishes out there can be dense and heavy, but this is one of the lighter gnocchis I have ever had. It almost disintegrates in your mouth. The pesto had a very smooth and creamy consistency.

$9.75 Tomato Sauce - Italian tomatoes, fresh basil, w/ Fresh Spaghetti: Good! The sauce is quite silky and the noodles were nice and chewy. I just wouldn't prioritize spaghetti and tomato sauce as high on my list of things to try here.

$10.95 Bolognese - ground beef and aromatic vegetables slowly cooked in red wine and tomato sauce, w/ Fresh Tagliatelle: Great! The fettuccine was arranged into a neat little bundle and plated enticingly. Wonderful meat sauce.

$13.25 Salmon and Cream - organic salmon, cream, fresh parsley, w/ Pappardelle: Great! The salmon pieces were creamy, not at all dry as cooked fish tends to be. The pappardelle was quite thin, with a silky mouth feel as well.

$9.50 Porchetta (Roasted Pork Belly) Sandwich - porchetta, crema di pecorino, arugula: Ok! I was a little confused when I unwrapped this sandwich. I thought perhaps they made a mistake and made me a ham sandwich. This porchetta doesn't seem like porchetta to me. Where is the fatty meat, or stuffing, or crispy skin? If it was advertised as a ham sandwich, I'd say it's good.

$11.50 Lasagna - homemade pasta sheets, bolognese sauce, silky besciamella, parmigiano cheese: Great! Again, the pasta sheets tasted very smooth. Despite it being a heavy dish, I actually thought it was light, for a lasagna, and goes down easier than other lasagnas.

$4.75 Roasted Broccoli: To be honest, we decided it'd be a good idea to order a vegetable to supplement all the rich food we ordered. It's just normal broccoli.

$6 Tiramisu - ladyfingers, Italian espresso, organic eggs, mascarpone cheese, sugar, topped w/ cocoa powder (grandma's recipe): Since we ordered the tiramisu to go, the cocoa powder was came in a separate little container. This is a very simple tiramisu, and the rum flavor is very late.

This is some very good pasta. The texture is so smooth that it almost makes pasta taste light. I would definitely come back for some very delicious, very reasonably priced pasta to go. I'd love to try the Bottarga or Clam...

I do not usually feel compelled to review restaurants online. I'm a professional chef so most times I understand how the kitchen and front of house can get when it's busy, but I need to make an exception for the experience I had today. I was so excited to come here after hearing about it, but ended up being bitterly disappointed. The place was really poppin when my partner and myself came for lunch today and it's already pretty small. Whenever I see that a restaurant is packed given how tiny it is, I anticipate it to be amazing. We ordered take out and waited 45 minutes for our food. I get that our food wouldn't be done at the blink of an eye, especially when their board is filled with tickets, but at any given service that I've worked through, at no point does food arrive to a guest in no less than 30 minutes without an explanation made to the guest. This is standard for almost all establishments. I've been to/worked for bigger, busier places that got orders out in half the time, with better food and service to boot. At no point were we acknowledged when they saw us sitting there waiting while the orders placed after us were being brought to other guests. I even overheard a line cook talking to the kid at the register about our order 30 minutes after we placed it and figured something must have happened, but no one said a word to us other than my eavesdropping. About 15 minutes after that, I heard the guy handing out orders say our order already left (I later found out he is an owner), but realized this was not the case when we told him we were still waiting. Usually I'm fairly laid back when it comes to mistakes, but it's incredibly unprofessional to let a guest sit there without letting them know why their order is being skipped over, especially when all he did when he noticed his mistake was to grin at us. I know that there is always going to be at least one guest at a restaurant that is unhappy, and management will always at least try to show them they care, but not at Pasta Sisters. Not a single apology from anyone, which I found to be slightly offensive since they knew we had already been waiting longer than anyone else. I hoped it would be worth the wait, but I felt I wasted my time. The pesto was average, and the porcini mushroom sauce with the gnocci was, for lack of a better word, nasty. There was zero seasoning; nothing more than reduced cream, sauteed onions, a pinch of garlic, and parsley. I ended up getting sick about an hour after eating. I know they have regulars and a good following, so try it if you feel compelled- I know others who LOVE this place. However, I got the vibe that they really didn't care about my opinion as a customer. I don't know if it was because they know they're popular, if they're a little too laid back, or considered me to be a one-and-done visitor- all of which I find to be a little too naive to portray for such a young establishment. I'll give restaurants second chance if the food surpasses the service, but I still can't decide...

Amazing Fresh Pasta in a random strip mall

Atmosphere: Small shop with maybe 3 tables. Full view of all the workers busy with tons of orders to go. Great interior for what it is very bright and pleasant. Hearing the interaction of the staff is a great background to your dinner.

Food:

Bread - Soft and tasty with oil and vinegar, a great start.

Pesto with Burrata - Amazing, easily one of the best pasta dishes i have ever eaten. The Pesto bursts with flavor and the burrata was silky and the perfect addition. The pasta itself was the perfect al dente, you would be amazed how many places do this wrong.

Spaghetti Bolognese - My son loved this, strong hint of what i think was wine in the meat but a nice sweetness. Overall liked the pesto better but this was good.

Very nice menu with a swath of choices, I could easily try everything on this menu and I bet it would be good.

Price: This will be the sticking point for most people. At $18.00 for a plate of pasta in a non-sit-down scenario is a bit hard to swallow. The quality of the food you are getting makes it a bit easier but I do understand it makes it more difficult for some. For me I thought the pasta was worth the price of admission and I will be back if I'm in the area.

Parking: When we went Saturday night there were plenty of spots, from the other reviews it seems to be an issue. Guess we got lucky

Service: Extremely nice staff made some good recommendations

A great option for pasta if you are in the area, they are busy but the food...