Presto Pasta — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

Food was terrible. Worst Italian I've had in my 14 years in California. I originally come from back east where there's plenty of good Italian food, even from the small pizza and sub shops. Can't believe people think this is good. Maybe I was there on an off night but I've had better meals at Sbarro, a fast Italian cafeteria style chain so that's not saying much. Food was cooked so unevenly and came out so fast it had to have been microwaved. I had the blandest egg plant parmigiana ever. Hardly any cheese on it. Was buried in a huge mound of fairly decent pasta which was covered in way too much mediocre sauce. I'll give them some credit for the large portion but it did not make up for the uneven temps or poor flavor. On top of all this, I ordered a side of veggies which were buried underneath the pasta and tasted overcooked and bitter. The portion of veggies was rather small as well. My girlfriend had the Greek salad which was doused in so much dressing that it was unenjoyable. The salad was mostly greens, had about 2 Kalamata olives, no tomatoes, hardly any feta cheese and almost no onions. Her son had the spaghetti with meatballs. He was enjoying it until he got to the cold center of a meatball, most likely the outcome of a bad microwave job. Lastly, the garlic bread that came with both meals was just a slice of soggy average loaf bread doused in butter and served at room temperature. The highlight of my meal believe it or not was when I cracked open the can of orange Pellegrino to wash the foul flavor out of my mouth. Never again will I eat at this place. No offense to the counter and wait staff who were professional and pleasant. Chef Gordon Ramsay should do an episode of Kitchen Nightmares here because someone in there needs to learn how to cook and...

This is the fanciest mom&pop shop my husband and I had ever been to! It is only about 10 minutes north from the hustle and bustle of downtown Santa Barbara. Parking is ample and easy! The food is so great and reasonably priced! We had the combination plate which included lasagna, Alfredo pasta, and chicken piccatta. I had a Cajun chicken pasta. The 2 plates were more than enough to share between us and our two kids. Combo entrees came with a choice of soup or salad and a beverage. The booths and tables are nicely situated and have a VERY cozy/family friendly feel to it. The restaurant is clean and organized. The bathrooms are also VERY clean. We still can't get over the marinara sauce! We are a pasta eating family and that sauce was absolutely delicious! We even planned to have a date night out there. The drive from where we live (2 hours) would be worth it! Oh they also have pizza! We will be trying that at our next trip in...

I ordered food, delivered from this place and I really don’t understand its relatively high ratings ( unless it’s a bunch of 8-12 year-olds adding the reviews). First off, the garlic knots looked and tasted suspiciously like a certain refrigerator crescent roll that you can buy at any grocery store, covered in greasy butter that did not soak into the dough knots, at all. And the creamy pesto sauce…? Tasted suspiciously familiar to a certain jarred brand, that, again, you can find at any grocery store. And the bread is a toasted piece of white bread with nothing on it (if you order it plain, as I did). I guess I expected a lot more from a 4.5 out 5 rating than I should have. It was, for the most part, very disappointing. I did get excited to see whole pine nuts on my pasta w/creamy pesto, though - that...