Pasta Moto in San Francisco, California: A Restaurant Review

Pasta Moto's deal is that they are attempting to be a quick-serve Italian restaurant that uses fresh ingredients while still delivering your meal to you in fast food time. They bill themselves as having "no heat lamps, no pre-packaged foods and virtually no waiting." Additionally, all their pastas are made from durum and whole wheat, and all sauces made from some sort of imported Italian tomatoes that are supposed to be pretty good. The whole thing sounds like a noble enterprise to me, since I love Italian food but it is far and away some of the most expensive food to find in San Francisco. You'll notice one thing they don't list themselves as being overly competitive in, however, and unfortunately that is the pricing.

This location is in the food court of the Westfield Shopping Centre in San Francisco. The menu is a mix of pastas, panini, pizzas and salads. There are some tables at which to sit and eat but it is not a "sit down" sort of restaurant, and most of the seating is found in the shared generic tables at the center of the food court.

Pasta dishes run from $7 to $8 and include Penne Pomodoro, Spaghetti Puttanesca, Fusilli Arrabbiata, Taglianelle Alfredo, Rigatoni Bolognese, Ravioli Pomodoro, Farfalle Primavera, Gnocchi Pesto and Pasta del Giorno.

Panini sandwiches are also about $7 to $8 and include Cotto, Prosciutto, E Rucola, Panini Verdure (the vegetarian option), Panini di Tamachino and Panini di Pollo (the latter two being turkey and chicken respectively.)

Pizzas are about $8 to $9 for what I would describe as a small "personal pizza" rather than slices. There's Margherito, Rustica, Funghi (yum! I love it when Italian places call their mushroom pizzas this), Napoletana, Quattro Formaggi, Insalata, Piccante and del Giorno.

On the side you can get various salads, with or without meat, for about $4 to $8. There's also the option of adding a variety of grilled and roasted veggies, meats and bread for about $1 to $3 extra per added item.

So how does Pasta Moto do on all its stated goals? Well, they have the speed and service down pat. Servers were friendly and helpful and the food came out about as quick as advertised. The food quality is almost like what they put in your head, with talk of all the fresh imported ingredients and whatnot. It wasn't the same as a sit-down Italian dinner, but still pretty good for mall food court standards. The only place where they really don't hold up is the portion size with respect to the price. I understand they are using better ingredients than standard junky mall fare, but over $10 per head for really dainty portions that are sometimes just OK in quality is too much to ask. There has to be a way to either get the price point down or give you a lot more food. If they can manage that somehow I'll be happy to recommend it without reservation. Until then, don't go out of your way for it.