Malfitany Pasta Company — Restaurant in McAllen

This review is for the owner. Tonight was my very first experience dealing with this restaurant. I called the restaurant and asked to place a carry-out order. The manager answered the phone. He told me that he could not take my order for carryout because it was 9:39 p.m.. He told me the owner told him he could no longer accept any carryout orders after 9:30 p.m.. The reason for this decision is because many customers have been ordering and not showing up until 11 p.m. which is their closing time. This is problem because there is a curfew in effect that begins at 11 p.m.. I would have spent $18 for a pasta dinner at your restaurant. I still needed to eat so I placed an order with Domino's for $5.99. Domino's has this magic technology where they charge the customer before they start making the order. So if I don't show up to pick up my order before they close they still get paid and it's my fault if I don't go pick up my order before curfew. So for any new customers wanting to know how the food is at this restaurant I wish I could say something good but I can't because I was not allowed to order 1-1/2 hours before curfew. If you're hungry after 9:30 p.m. call Domino's instead so you can get home before curfew.

Today is 08/30/20. I feel compelled to give the Malfitany Pasta Company another review. I spent all day working and didn't eat. I was really hungry for some shrimp scampi from their menu. So I decided to give the restaurant a second chance. This time I went to the restaurant personally. I verified their business hours and I took a screenshot that shows they will close at 9 p.m. today. I walked into the restaurant exactly at 8 p.m. I asked to order the shrimp scampi and I was told by the attendant that the kitchen was closed at 8 p.m. and that he was sorry. Their business hours online show them to close at 9 p.m. That would have given them an entire hour to make me a shrimp scampi dish. I was alone, I wasn't in a party of 12 people. It seems to me that if the kitchen is going to close at 8 p.m. then the restaurant should also be closed at 8 p.m. It doesn't make sense to close the kitchen at 8 p.m. and then keep the restaurant open for more people to come in just to tell them that you're not serving anymore. We live in a magical world of technology where you can adjust your business hours online very easily. So to the manager of this establishment I will say I'm sorry that you flunked business management class in college. And to anyone who wants to eat at this restaurant I say good luck. I've tried two times in a month and both times I am forced to go to...

If you go through my posts you will see that I am more than fair in the decision I make when entering a review. I've been going to this restaurant since it was Russo's Italian Cuisine, and noticed that since the change of name, many things changed. I will begin by saying that it is a handful of employees that provide bad service. Out of possibly 10 times that I've been to Pasta Co. 50% of the time it's been great, the other 50% has made me decide I will not be going back. Several times I've gone and the capacity of seating has been full. Out of those several times, much of them the food was either cold, or lukewarm. The taste is like anywhere else with a fast food Italian restaurant, nothing to write home about. To me, the most important thing is customer service. My family and I went for dinner. We arrived at 9:00 pm, they close at 10:00 pm. Our waitress from the beginning was not ready to attend, anyone, attitude and politeness out the door. We were seated, given our menus, an appetizer and drinks. Ten minutes later she comes back and asks if this order is to go since by then it was 9:10. I replied, no, we will be dining in. She rolls her eyes, and walks away. From there on, she made it a point to make us feel unwelcome and rushed through everything to get us out. Even before we were done eating she came and said, you want a box for that, my daughter was still cutting through her food. This has happened before with different staff members. There were other customers inside, and I could see they were doing the same thing to them. I'm sure they turn off the Air Conditioning Sytem off because by 9:15 it was hot in there. Over all, definitely not a 4 or 5 star restaurant, 3 at best. I gave the review a one star because I make my decision based on percentages. If in my opinion out of 10 times I've been there 5 times I've been treated horribly, then that brings your rating to 2.5 stars. But, from 2.5 stars in food quality, and service, I notice that your restrooms smell, your cooking area is cluttered, and as you walk down the hall to use the restroom you see all the disarray, that most definitely brings your score to a 1 star. If you work on your performance you will have more than just a couple hundred reviews. A great restaurant will always have thousands of reviews, because people are eager to tell others to experience what they have. Not...

I want to give a huge shoutout to the staff and management team here. I stopped by early in the week and asked to make a reservation for Saturday May 4th. I let the extremely nice host know I was making the reservation for my 16 year old son and his prom date. As a General Manager in the Food Service Industry I know all to well how most servers feel when young kids come in to dine alone. I asked the host could he please put a note on the reservation that my son also works in the service industry, is polite, knows how to tip and can pay his bill. I also let him know that I wasn’t making any assumptions about his staff but do have teenagers come in that walk out on their bill, don’t tip or and make a huge mess at the restaurant I work at right down the road and that I just wanted to assure him that this was not going to be the case. He was super friendly and understood where I was coming from. This interaction alone deserved a five star review but the night of their reservation left me speechless.

As my son doesn’t drive yet, I pulled up to the front of the restaurant to drop him and his date off and before he even got his date’s car door open the host and another staff member had opened and held the front doors open for them and greeted them at the car. They walked them inside to a table that was set up beautifully for them. I did not go inside but the kids explained that the staff was incredibly attentive, provided them excellent service, and that the manager stoped by the check on them twice, complimented their Prom looks, and wished them well on their big night. When I arrived to pick them up, the staff again held the doors open for them and even walked their left over food out the car so my son could hold his dates dress and open the car door for her.

They gave white table cloth level service to two young teens and made their experience something they will never forget, none of which was asked for. They have definitely earned lifelong customers and I will recommend this place to everyone for years to come. Thank you so much Pasta Co.. Y’all...