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Pasta Mia, Pasta House with (Inexplicable) Lines Down the Block - Columbia Rd in Adams Morgan - Closed


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I apologize if I'm being repetitive but I haven't found a dedicated Pasta Mia thread and being that it is always packed I figured someone might have something to say about it.

My real question is WHY DON'T THEY USE THE BAR??? I've been there a number of times, waited out in the cold a number of times and not until recently walked into the back of the restaurant to find a full bar, stocked, with additional tables and seating!! It seems like a huge revenue center for them if only they wanted the cash. I know what you're all thinking...nothing about Pasta Mia is run according to any efficient or sane method, but come on. They've got a full bar and they make people stand outside in the cold. Give them a drink and the people will pay!!!

Also, I had thought (or hoped) that they made some of their pastas fresh and I was surprised to find out that none of them are in fact made in house. mad.gif

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I would suspect that since it would involve hiring staff, they'd be against it. They seem to value a rock-bottom staffing model, given their lack of hostess or line manager. If the bar's stocked, though, I wonder what they use it for? Private parties?

Used to be a fun place every now and again, but ever since I discovered I could also get a $12 plate of pasta sans insanity down the street at San Marco, haven't been back. Granted, the Pasta Mia plate will feed you for three days, so they win on volume.

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I would suspect that since it would involve hiring staff, they'd be against it. They seem to value a rock-bottom staffing model, given their lack of hostess or line manager. If the bar's stocked, though, I wonder what they use it for? Private parties?

Used to be a fun place every now and again, but ever since I discovered I could also get a $12 plate of pasta sans insanity down the street at San Marco, haven't been back. Granted, the Pasta Mia plate will feed you for three days, so they win on volume.

Sans insanity, maybe, but not nearly as good.

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This is just another place I find to be incredibly overrated and not nearly worth the ridiculous wait to get in. Granted, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to southern Italian, but besides the fact that this place plops down about 2.5 lbs of pasta in front of you, what makes them so special?? The packaged pasta? The bland, soupy sauces? This is all before you get to the nasty waitstaff that runs the place, who makes you feel about as uncomfortable sitting down and paying them for food as anyone in the city.

Sorry to sound so bitter, I guess I had one too many bad experiences waiting 45 minutes to get into the place only to be disappointed.

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This is just another place I find to be incredibly overrated and not nearly worth the ridiculous wait to get in. Granted, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to southern Italian, but besides the fact that this place plops down about 2.5 lbs of pasta in front of you, what makes them so special?? The packaged pasta? The bland, soupy sauces? This is all before you get to the nasty waitstaff that runs the place, who makes you feel about as uncomfortable sitting down and paying them for food as anyone in the city.

Sorry to sound so bitter, I guess I had one too many bad experiences waiting 45 minutes to get into the place only to be disappointed.

I can definitely see why you would NOT want to wait 45 minutes for pasta-that's a young man's game! I won't do it. mad.gif , even though I used to love Roberto's sauces. But this is like an old Italian restaurant where the husband's in the kitchen shooting daggers at everyone, and the wife's out front ringing her hands, looking out over the swarming crowd for a familiar face to smile at. Can be either charming or irritating, depending on one's mood/patience level. As far as the bar in the back goes, I used to drink Grappa back there, but that was just because my wife used to work there. I never saw anyone else drinking anything back there. Odd, but this is Adams Morgantown, Jake.

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Looks like this news has been out there for a couple of weeks, but they're closing Saturday.

3/26/16 - "Arrivederci to Pasta Mia, a D.C. fixture that dished out pasta, and love, from Nonna" by Lavanya Ramanathan on washingtonpost.com.

I ate there once over 10 years ago and don't remember much. The article says they used boxed pasta (I don't know why I would have thought anything else), pre-bagged romaine, and jarred (Kirkland) pesto.

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