Rasta Pasta

My girlfriend and I randomly passed by here and decided to check it out for lunch. We will be back.
The Jamaican-​Italian cuisine is very unique and very flavorful. Some of their dishes sound a bit strange, but take the plunge and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Really tasty pasta dishes that left me full and satisfied. I especially liked the curry with jerk chicken. I can’t say I’ve had a dish that was very similar to that unique combination. Also, it was almost too much food for me! Finally, their punch card system is pretty rewarding, since you get a free dinner after only 3 purchases. I will definitely be back!

I honestly don’t know why this place is getting such poor reviews! When I went, the food was absolutely delicious, and cheap, too! Even the salad was perfection, with a bacon ranch dressing. If you want to try new flavors of food you probably haven’t had before for a low, reasonable price and great service, please try Rasta Pasta! I’d like it if they stuck around.

Rasta Pasta sits on The Drag… one of the most iconic hippie strips in Austin. With homeless and philosophy TA’s alike, Guadalupe is poppin’ with all sorts of free-​spirited goodness. Enter RP, an extremely Marley-​esque joint that only has locations in FoCo, CO and Austin, TX… no further explanation needed.
Without fail, there is, of course, a shout-​out to the number 420. Everyday, before 4:20PM, they run a $ 4.20 pasta special. Naturally, being a cheapo, I jumped on this opportunity to test these here Cordon Bleu-​rooted chef’s waters. Other than the special, the menu is fairly standard, with shaped pastas and filled ones for carb-​based fare. Salads round out the menu.
For $ 4.20, you get your choice of spaghetti (garlic herb or «Trenchtown»), garlic bread, salad (w/​green pepper vinaigrette or sun-​dried tomato dressing), and a drank. Oh… they also have $ 0.87 10 oz. drafts of PBR. Wow. Hipster to da’ max.
Trenchtown spaghetti was my choice, and it was disappointing. A couple pieces of tomato floated in a soupy broth of cajun-​like spices. The noodles were well executed, but the sauce component was just cheap, salty, and sloppy. The meal was filling, but the faux-​Cajun notes of the dish just did not satisfy.
The salad was fresh, the bread was nicely toasted and light, and the drank was just a great addition to a cheap, cheap meal. You get filled up at Rasta Pasta, but you would do best to just eat here after getting the «munchies.» Nothing special about the offerings at this institution, just stick-​to-​your-​ribs sustenance. I would give a worse rating for my experience, but $ 4.20 for a meal providing upwards of 1000 calories? Please…

I feel so harsh giving out my first 1 star… but it was really that bad, really really it was.
The only reason we went is because my roommate is obsessed with their seafood pasta or something and convinced me to go even though I don’t like seafood and would order something else. And let me tell you, SOMETHING ELSE was bad.
I had the Chicken Montego Bay which was highly rated. First, there was way too much pasta in it. Second, it was the dryest pasta I’ve ever eaten. There were a lot of veggies which was good but it might as well have been a salad with no dressing because of the dryness issue. And it was pretty pricey for a casual place on the drag (for dinner). I would have preferred: less pasta, more sauce, less price.
I think this place gets its good reviews through its lunch special which I hear is cheap. But I can’t get over how bad my experience here was and I probably don’t want to go back for cheap lunch either.

A girlfriend and myself went to Rasta Pasta for dinner recently. We thought, «Cool, a new restaurant on the drag. And Bob Marley interior decorating… alright, this seems pretty Austin-​y, let’s go.»
After having dinner, we will NOT go, ever again. We ordered the Chicken Montego Bay, despite worries that pineapple would not go well in a hot pasta. Since the meal cost $ 13, and we are college students (read: poor), we decided to split it.
First came the salad, if you would like to call it that. I would like to call it a chunk of iceberg lettuce directly taken from an HEB bag, doused with a huge (¹⁄₈ bottle) amount of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. I passed on the salad and let my friend have it; she took one bite and set it to the side.
Then was the pasta. They did split it into 2 plates, for which they charged us $ 2. The Montego Bay pasta consists of jerk chicken, pineapple, basil, and fresh vegetables. It was majority bell peppers in an excess of very salty sauce. The one positive note was that the portion size was HUGE, neither one of us could finish half of an order.
The waitress we had seemed less than thrilled with her job. She slammed the dishes on our table in the same manner as an angry bagger at the grocery store will shove your bread into the bottom of a bag and then throw a ton of heavy cans on top of it.
I don’t blame her. If i had to serve sub-​par, overpriced food to people with an increasing number of reasons to not tip the waiter, I’d be pissed too.
I’ve heard it’s pretty good and better prices for lunch. I’m not going back to find out.

Atmosphere — It’s all the Bob Marley you expected. Beachy and casual. Clean. Small patio, w/​people watching.
Service — Excellent! Fast, friendly… Seated tables with waiters.
Food — Interesting menu. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the ATX. Tried the pasta that’s a mix of tortellini with banana, grapes, pineapple, green onions, and butter/​wine sauce. Really really interesting stuff. Sour, sweet, salty! So interesting to your moth. Was good but I wish they used higher quality ingredients for the price. Canned pineapple, cheap pasta, dried herbs…
Price — Not worth it? Lunch is cheap, dinner price are expensive! Especially for the drag! My vegetarian pasta was $ 12! Big portions, but they skimp on freshness. The food is good, and completely different… but really needs to be at a better price point for it’s location and overall taste/​quality. You do get salad and bread (green dressing is yum) but it’s nothing special. Almost seems like this is their justification for charging what they do on dinner dishes. I could do with out.
I hate that this is a sit down restaurant with waiters. Makes no sense on the drag. Wish they’d take an order, seat yourself with a number approach.
Overall, fun to try, worth it for lunch. Skip dinner.

My husband was not happy about the food and he didnt leave any tips. BUT they charged him on his card for tips he did not leave. Isnt that illegal?
We called our Bank to denounce this and luckly they gave us back that money.
Stay away of this restaurant.

The lemonade and salad were very good. I really enjoyed the garlic bread though. the pasta was too greasy though. It was pretty expensive for pasta though. the tomato dressing was wonderful though.
An average experience though.

Upon entering there was confusion as to seat myself or wait to be seated. I was seated but later noticed the wait staff instructing others to seat themselves. I saw one of the waiters pick up a small dog from inside the restaurant and carry it out front to the patio. I watched and never saw him wash his hands. I provided a 50% off coupon from the Student Discount Handbook which wasn’t applied to my bill. The food was average. The place seemed sort of dirty. The reggae music was nice. I doubt I’ll go back.

Who knew it would be so good?! I ordered the Dreadlock Ravioli with the red wine marinara sauce and spicy sausage. It danced on my tastebuds with a little extra red pepper and parm! Coworkers ordered the Montego Bay with a rose sauce the cheese melted in my mouth. The Rasta Pasta was great too. I will definately go back. Friendly fast efficient service. Very casual.

Service = Pretty good
Lunch = Good and inexpensive
Dinner = So overpriced that it will blow your mind… in a bad way.
Basically, don’t go for dinner, go for lunch.

Wow, this place is great for lunch and when you are on a budget. A whole meal for under 5 bucks is very rare these days. You get a salad and garlic bread to go with your decent sized entrée. I’m definitely coming here for lunch more often.

I tried Rasta Pasta on my lunch break today. I thought it would be more packed since it was lunchtime on the drag. I got the 4.20 special along with my friend. I don’t remember the name of mine but it had a nice spice (on the menu there was a picture of a chili pepper denoting a spicy item) and my partner in crime got the garlic infused version. Both came with a salad and a drink. I ordered tea, and I must say it was kind of gross. I took two sips and that was more than enough. The salad was fresh and my dressing was so good. I believe it was the bell pepper vinagrette. So yummy, try it!
As far as the atmosphere, it was pretty laid back. They were playing Sublime, Bob Marley typical 4.20 type tunes. I liked the place and you definitely get more than enough food for the price. I would go back.

When I first checked the Unilocal reviews before heading to dinner, I had really high hopes for this place. Really high hopes that came crashing down REAL quick.
Let me preface this by saying, the service here is GREAT! Okay, now that that’s done…
This place is way overpriced. I had something analogous to sticker shock when I first saw the dinner menu. For some place so casual, why are you charging so much for pasta? I ordered with Chicken Montego Bay, which was one of their «best sellers.» It was just penne. Dry chicken. Vegetables. Mysteriously runny white sauce. Awkward pineapple bits. I wish you could see the face I’m making…
The salad that came on the side was salad out of a bag with bottled dressing poured on the top. At least that’s what it tasted like. The garlic bread that came with it? It dripped grease when I folded it in half.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when I eat out, I want to eat something that tastes better than what I can make at home. At ~$ 15 dollars for dinner, the food is way overpriced for the quality, and I could easily make a better meal for a whole lot less.
I was so excited about this restaurant adding variety to my dining choices on the Drag, but I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

I first recognized this restaurant from the original establishment in Breckenridge, CO. From the outside it looks rather hipster and I expected it to have something to do with pot-​infused dishes. (Fun Fact: Pot is legal in Breckenridge and the restaurant is decked out in Bob Marley/​Jamaican décor) Therefore, my assumptions were reasonable. Austin, being one of the more relaxed cities about pot, brought Rasta Pasta to the famous «Drag,» which is a string of restaurants on Guadalupe St. and where numerous students stop during lunch & dinner breaks.
My waitress was courteous, yet very slow. I assumed it was her training week, since the restaurant had just opened. I ordered the dish «Rasta Pasta». If it was named after the spot I figured it would be the signature dish. I was not impressed at all. My food took close to 30 minutes to come out, and by the taste of it, I could have whipped the plate up in 15 minutes. The penne pasta was overloaded with what tasted like store-​bought canned sauce and there were minimal strips of jerk chicken hidden in the midst of the pasta.
Overall, the price of my dish was $ 6.95. Not bad for the amount of food, but not too for the taste. I would definitely eat here if I was on a tight budget and wanted to eat cheap pasta. It definitely is no Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill, but at Rasta Pasta-​you get what you pay for.

I just tried Rasta Pasta with a couple of my friends, and we were all disappointed. I had the Rasta Pasta, and it was basically pene in ragu with hot sauce in it. Really not impressed. There was also too much garlic salt in the sauce and the taste lingers in your mouth for hours. The side salad was fine but unimpressive, and the garlic bread was your standard school cafeteria variety. My friends were equally unimpressed with their dishes (Montego Bay and a Ricotta Dish). This sort of pasta dish is way too easy to make to be this bad.

I’ve been wanting to try Rasta Pasta ever since it opened one or two months ago. The interesting array of dishes looked promising and delicious. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
A group of friends and I decided to try it out for dinner a few nights ago. I ordered the Chicken Montego Bay, and my other friends chose the Rasta Pasta. Every dish came with a side salad, which consisted of like five pieces of lettuce. My dish was pretty much penne and veggies completely drenched in a white cream sauce. The taste was decent, but the pasta was incredibly runny. I tried my friend’s Rasta Pasta, and it made my Chicken Montego Bay taste amazing. The Rasta Pasta was dry and tasteless. I think if I dumped a jar of H-​E-​B marinara sauce onto a pile of stale pasta, it would taste twice as good as the Rasta Pasta.
The price for dinner is ridiculous. With tax and tip added, I paid $ 16 for something meh. Not worth it at all. I would rather go somewhere else on the drag, because at least I’ll be getting what I paid for. Also, the service was slowwww. It took our waiter such a long time to bring the check and get us take out boxes. Overall, this experience was not worth it, especially if you go during dinner. If you still want to try it out, I would recommend going during lunch time because the prices seem so much cheaper.

Just left Rasta Pasta, and it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, but with lunch dishes on the cheap, you definitely get what you pay for, so 4 stars it is.
My waitress, Sarah, was extremely nice and she seemed to be on the ball. The vibe inside was everything you’d expect it to be — Lots of green and black, and that Jamaican feel that I assume is either authentic or what us white people hope it’d be.
Now on to brass tacks. The garlic bread is so-​so, but it’s bread — and it’s cheap. The marinara sauce for the garlic bread is abysmal, however. It is worse than the marinara packs you get with your DiGiorno pizza at HEB. It has an extremely bland taste, as if a robot made it. However, the bread + marinara was $ 2.95 (IIRC), so I’m not losing sleep over it.
I ordered the Rasta Pasta and I dug it. It was $ 6.95, and it filled me up (i’m a decent sized guy). It wasn’t amazing, but for the price, you get what you pay for. Noticing a trend here?
For cheap pasta dishes, you can’t go wrong with Rasta Pasta. It won’t blow your mind, but it’s a cool little bang for your buck kind of place.

I work right around the block from this restaurant, and I’ve been wanting to try it out since they opened. Rasta Pasta was everything I expected it would be — Bob Marley on the walls, Bob Marley music, and a laid back atmosphere. The staff was friendly and very polite. I went in at lunchtime on a weekday, and I was surprised at how quickly they had my food out.
My delicious pasta dish, which came with a side of garlic bread, cost $ 4.95. The marinara sauce is great and they don’t skimp on it. Yum! Their menu is limited, but if my picky, spicy food hating, vegetarian, lactose-​intolerant self can find something, I bet almost everyone can.