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Posted by junipero (Junipero Serra) on September 2, 2008

Food: 2/10  Vibe: 1/10  Service: 8/10  Value: 2/10  Overall: 3/10

I ate at Pasta Trio once in 2006 and it was great. I ate there again in 2008 and it was awful and I don't plan on going back. I took my mom there as a guest, and I was really embarrassed.

For starters, our server was nice enough but insisted on pulling up a bar stool every time he came to our table, so he could sit and chat with us instead of stand, like a server would normally do. I found it a little overly friendly and cutesy.

We took our seats in convention hall black fake-leather upholstered chairs - really ugly. We ordered some white wine, which came to our table lukewarm and in glasses you find at a restaurant supply warehouse. The silverware is the kind used in elementary school cafeterias - stamped out of sheets of dull metal, uninspired and downright cheap-looking. The dishware was equally uninspired, most likely purchased in bulk, at the same supply warehouse as the glasses.

While we waited for our salads, what looked like a homeless man began bussing a table near ours. If it was a homeless guy, good for Pasta Trio for hiring him, but he needed a shower and clean clothes. To say his presence was an appetite killer is an understatement. He was joined shortly by what appeared to be another homeless person, who walked in off the street in filthy clothes with filthy hair and a filthy glass in her hand, asking for water. The Pasta Trio staff seemed to know her and engaged her conversation at the bar, next to our table. I was stunned that they thought diners wouldn't mind her presence.

I held out hope that the food would improve the situation. The salads were quite tasty, with a balsamic dressing that had some bite to it. There, the good times ended. Our food was brought out on plates that looked like something I might prepare on a Friday night when I'm home by myself - an absolutely gargantuan slice of lasagna plunked in the middle of an otherwise empty plate. My linguine was just sort of sitting there - it was evident that no thought whatsoever had gone into presentation.

Our server raved about the lasagna and joshed that he hoped my mom was hungry, because man is it huge. Huge food is usually a bad sign and it was no different in this case. Dry, gummy, dull-as-dishwater lasagna doesn't get any better just because you serve it in 1 foot square portions. My linguine with shrimp was just sad - there was no connection between the shrimp and the gummy noodles other than that they occupied the same dish space. There didn't seem to be any understanding, or interest, in creating dishes that were inviting, cohesive, or at all tasty.

Back in 2006 when I dined her for the first time, it was a completely different experience. Has management changed? It also raises questions in my mind about how well the Old City is really doing when the quality of a restaurant has taken such a nosedive.

As I said earlier, I don't plan on dining at Pasta Trio ever again.