Pazzo Pastaria — Restaurant in San Antonio

The Curmudgeon -About-Town says:

It's not a big place, just two units in an ordinary strip center, and the well-lit dining room is barely half the total. The ambience is American suburban with a hint of nostalgic Italian, mostly provided by the unobtrusive soundtrack of quiet modern music interspersed with things that would have made my mother exclaim, "Oh, I love this song!" (A single song from Perry Como would keep her happy for hours.) It was all quite comfortable. We were greeted with a big smile and I had the feeling that, if the hostess had known our names, she would have introduced us around to the other diners.

Having come so far, we decided to splurge a little bit, so we started with wine and an appetizer of spiedini. (I had been thinking vaguely of making some myself, and wanted to see how it was done here.) The name, spiedini, means "on a skewer" or something like that; when I was a kid, it was what we called kebab. Pazzo's version is from some other part of Italy. It was mozzarella cheese wrapped in prosciutto, which is a good combination, but it was served on a fabulously delicious bed of spinach dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette and coarsely grated parmesan that lifted it way beyond merely good.

We each freshened our palates with a small house salad and bread. The salad was a mix of lettuce and spinach with a few interesting ingredients added, most notably some really piquant finely-sliced onion that gave a wonderful and unexpected kick to the course. All this was topped with an excellent vinaigrette dressing, not the balsamic version that had been so nicely applied to the previous course, but a milder sort that complemented the character of the salad's ingredients. The bread was good but not that good, especially compared to everything else. One breadbasket is complementary; after that they're something like three bucks. I'm sure they do that because of people like me, who will happily make an entire meal of the bread, given the opportunity and a certain superior quality. In this case I was happy with just the complementary quantity.

All the pasta dishes offered come in two sizes. Since we'd started with appetizer and salad, the smaller size seemed sufficient, and they were; but when I go back, if I don't have an appetizer, I will want the larger size. I guarantee it. My wife's choice was fusilli gorgonzola: pasta spirals in a creamy cheese sauce, with chicken. I'm the opposite of a big fan of gorgonzola cheese, which is the Italian version of bleu cheese. I think of it as rotten, so I never eat it. But I did sample her pasta course, and found it tasty. I still would never order it myself. In the words of somebody more famous than me, My gorge rises at it.

I went with bucatini fiorentia: tubes of pasta in a butter and garlic sauce, with spinach, mushrooms and chicken. Oh. My. God. Oh, my God! The combination of flavours was outstanding, and the textures! This is why freshly-made pasta is better than store-bought. I had never had bucatini before; I thought the word had something to do with oil wells (it means something like "little bore-holes" and turns out to be an apt description of the shape). But now that I've had bucatini at Pazzo, I want a pasta making machine so I can have it whenever I want at home. (I won't get one, of course, but at least now I can see the point of one.)

All in all, an outstanding meal. I wish I'd picked a better wine...

I am writing this review reluctantly. This is a small business and it seems relatively new, so my intent is just to share our experience to manage diner expectations. I’ll start off by saying that we are from NYC and Philly, so we truly know what good food is, especially Italian food. We’ve been eating it all of our lives. Unfortunately, this isn’t it. We were so excited to come to this restaurant - it’s gotten great reviews and came recommended by a local food group. Atmosphere- it’s in a strip mall and has very little ambience. It all feels pieced together without much rhyme or reason or taste or decor. However, the staff is lovely. Waitress was super nice and very attentive. Food came out quickly. The problem is the taste and presentation of the food. The waitress said everything was made from scratch, which set us up to believe it was going to be special. House-made bread was cold and had no flavor. We had the whipped ricotta crostini - it was a mess. It tasted ok, but the plate was a heaping mess with drizzle of pesto and oil everywhere. Then came the pastas - I ordered the Fettucine Della Casa and had asked that the chef “go light on the sauce.” It arrived and was swimming in sauce. Literally drowning. I didn’t send it back or complain because I feel badly for them. I know the owners/staff think it’s good. It’s not; it’s fair, at best. My husband got the bucatini and sausage. He thought the pasta was undercooked- I thought it was well cooked. The problem was the sauce - “Marsala butter” - it never really came together. It was just an oily mess with sausage squares and some peppers and spinach. It was not appealing to the eye. Lastly, the owner came out to check on us and asked “everything turn out great?” and practically walked away before we could answer. Does she not really want to know? I found the question to be a little off putting. Why not ask “how did everything turn out?” It’s as if she’s assuming everything is great when it’s really not. And she’s not sticking around to solicit feedback- she’s off to the next table. I’ve also seen some of her responses to comments on here saying “have a blessed day” and other passive aggressive comments when someone doesn’t like the food. As an owner, and as someone in customer service, she should be open and curious and looking to deliver the best possible product. They get good marks for effort, but the kitchen fell short. This is is just really unsophisticated food in a a very mediocre setting. I hope they take this to heart and make...

I called looking for a last minute reservation on Valentines day. I spoke to Gini. She said if we didn't mind eating later, she could get us in for an 8:30 sitting. The place is very cozy and has a kind of 60's Italian vibe with music to fit! We were greeted by staff as soon as we came through the door and, after giving our name, were promptly seated at the only open table. The one thing that we noticed when we came in was the amazing aroma of Italian food cooking. My mouth was watering! The menu had something for everyone, some old favorites like Spaghetti and meatballs, Lasagna Bolenase, Chicken, or Eggplant Parm. Also on the menu were some interesting Original creations from Chef Sean Archer. We started off with complementary bread accompanied by a seasoned balsamic vinegar & olive oil. We ordered Two appetizers, the Arrinchini which is a deep fried ball of risotto with a center of gooey mozzarella, served in a marinara sauce. These are worth fighting over! We also had the Mussels they were cooked perfectly the sauce was bread dunkable and I noticed the portion was really healthy (this was going to be the theme for the rest of the night!). We decided to also share a salad so we would have pleanty of room for the entrees. We chose the "Bianca" a pear salad that had a delicious balsamic dressing, gorganzola, and walnuts on chopped greens. This was devoured! Sweet and savory! For the main entrées my wife ordered the Gamberi Ala Vesuvius, spicy shrimp on a bed of polenta. If you love depth of complex flavors, this one is for you! The shrimp take you to flavor town, and the polenta is so silky creamy and rich. Fantastic dish! I ordered the Chicken Diablo, it had a tender and juicy chicken cutlet with Calabrian Butter Sauce, Cherry pepper, shrimp, and red peppers. Served with some garlic pasta and roasted vegetables. Remember when I said large portions were going to be the theme? We both needed to go boxes! For dessert, we tried a house creation, Limoncello Tiramisu it did not disappoint, right down to the poached sugared lemon slice that sits atop of this huge portion of Italian cake. If you like lemony desserts, you must try this! We had a reasonably priced bottle of red wine with our meal that paired perfectly. Our waitstaff was friendly and super efficient and never hovered. Our overall experience was a "we will be back"! The best part was the large, delicious, affordable portions, Great staff, and a cozy...