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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.
I have to agree with the friend that you mention in the first paragraph, when he says "more for his money." I'm thinking maybe he means more money for his money, at least I would. I rent a one bedroom house about 4 minutes from downtown, huge front and back yards, very private, grass, trees, wildlife, gorgeous. It's $450 a month. I looked into a 1 bedroom on Market Square once. $1300. That's quite a difference just so I can walk out my front door and do what? Have a beer with other people? I could see paying $1300 for a one bedroom place in say, downtown Long Beach, which I did once. Because part of what you're paying for is Long Beach. What are you paying for in Downtown Knoxville? The Farmer's Market? Sundown? As lovely as those are, they aren't worth $850 more per month. And this isn't mentioning the obnoxious prices for purchasing a loft - upwards of $200,000. Downtowns should cost more because you're paying for that something extra of which you speak. But Knoxville's Downtown is not the same thing, and yet the prices are. And you seem to think that there are only 2 choices here - downtown loft or suburban McMansion. There are other neighborhoods out there, like the one where I live. As a side note, friends can be made anywhere - it has more to do with the person than the place.
I'm a former public school teacher and find this story appalling, and maybe not for the obvious reason that the lines between church and state were blurred somewhat. No, what I'm horrified by is the fact that principals would allow classtime to be interrupted in favor of plunking kids down in front of what is essentially a lengthy advertisement. There isn't enough time in the school day as it is and to interrupt it so someone can make a profit? Stunning. The Knox County School Board so often waxes poetic about how important our children are and that we need to ensure that they get the best education possible, and then they allow this. What's next, this multiplication test is brought to you by Count Chocula Cereal? This recess period is brought to you by GapKids? Keep advertising (and yeah, religion too) out of our schools.
