Pallino

I’m obsessed with this place! It’s fast, tasty, and I’ve always experience good service here. I stop in for a quick bite before work… Seriously I can be in and out in 20 minutes or less. It’s a bit pricey, so I wouldn’t recommend bringing your whole family here if you’re on a budget but definitely great for a quick bite with a friend or something. Also, if you’re looking for authentic Italian this is obviously not the place, but I love any kind of carb so put a plate of noodles in front of me and I’ll love it: p

Food isn’t bad, but it’s not worth the price. 3 entrees cost me $ 40 after tax. I swear it tastes like they just open a bag of frozen food, thaw it and serve it. I have given it 4 tries only because it’s a quick option to bring home after work instead of jack in the box. Probably won’t go back.

The price and speed of service is great. I do not understand the negative reviews at all. The food is great.

First time visit. We liked the menu choices. Ordered a variety to try things. My ravioli was tasty. I had a small serving, get the large if super hungry. The bacon mac & cheese was ok. It had good flavor, but the ravioli was better, so I really just wanted that. however, the best meal of our choices was the pesto pasta. The flavor of the pesto was awesome! We all enjoyed this. The last thing we had was a sandwich. My husband enjoyed it. I didn’t get to taste it.
You order at the counter and they bring out your food to you. It was busy, but not too loud. Lots of table seating options. We enjoyed this place and will most likely try it again if over this way and in the mood for pasta.

Came into pallino for a quick bite. FLITHY, is the best word to describe the place. It’s 11:30 am, they are not remotely busy and the booths are filled with crumbs. Tables, not wiped down, I mean just unacceptable. Look at the pictures I posted.
Ordered a caprese panini, which had hardly any mozzarella. The bread and pesto were good but if it’s a caprese it needs more mozzarella, that’s the main part.
Do yourself a favor, skip this place. It would be better to go hungry.

Gross food. Bland soup, meager panini, overpriced pasta, old carrots.

Meh. Basic pasta and bland pizza. More of a family friendly place than a great restaurant.

This place is a hybrid of a sit down restaurant and a fast food place. You place your order at the counter and a server brings out your order to you. We had several pasta dishes. I thought it was expensive for what it was. The portion for the penne pasta with chicken was kinda small. There were only 4 meatballs in the spaghetti with meatballs.
All tasted good not great. just the prices were the same as a sit down restaurant.

Loved stumbling upon Pallino looking for a good, fast panini. Service is always polite and quick and I like the casual atmosphere but with the great food and very generous portions. Would love to come back and try some of the pasta dishes! For pesto lovers, their basil pesto is fantastic!

I like this place because food is consistently good, and my kiddo will actually eat a substantial amount of food. It’s casual enough that I don’t worry about my kid making a little noise either. The prices seem a little high at times for what it is, but when you’re wanting to get out of the house to something pretty easy this place does the job.

I have eaten at multiple Pallinos… Not great food. It’s so cheap, and good for families feeding lots of little mouths but man the food is bland. It’s quite obvious nothing is made from scratch, and it’s all just like warmed up. But I guess it’s pretty much just fast food Italian… So you get what you pay for.

EAT SOLO. They are incapable of bringing everyone’s entrée to the table within the same 5, 10 even 30 min. My husband and I were halfway through our dinner so we asked where my daughter’s pizza was. (We saw other people who had arrived after us receive their dinner (including pizza). Staff had no idea what happened and gave us no update. By the time they brought her pizza, we were completely done. No apologies for ‘losing’ her order and creating an inconvenience.

I’m shocked the reviews aren’t any better than this! The food here was so tasty, especially – ESPECIALLY – the panini!

In my last review of Pallino, I commented on their Panini and salad (please refer to my last review of Pallino at 8÷19÷2014). This time I write something about their pizza.
Visited Pallino again last week and tried their Italian Sausage and mushroom pizza. If you can take spicy food, you got to try it out. The sausage has quite a kick but really delicious. The combination of cheese, mushroom and sausage made it really rich and moisten yet crispy. Even my kid who can’t take spicy food loves it. He just take out the sausage and eat the pizza part.
This Italian sausage and mushroom pizza is really good. What will be great? With a bottle of icy beer. It would be great combination of hot pizza and cold beer.

I loved this place when it first opened. So much so that when I lived in Hawaii, I had my mom bring frozen Anna’s Sauce to me when she came to visit.
The Anna’s Sauce is still amazing, as are other things I’ve tasted. My fiancée says the Alfredo sauce is the best she’s ever had.
Really, the only reason for a three star review is because of the service. I was just there last night for dinner. There was a man and a younger woman that were the servers. And unless there was food up to be taken to tables, they were standing in the dining room, shamelessly flirting with one another. Even while there were tables to be bussed, just sitting there.
Oh, and he was sporting a super awesome hickey on his neck, which was gross.
I get it, coworkers can be cute and sure it’s convenient that they’re always at work, but maybe keep your schmoozing to the kitchen/​break room/​bathroom… Although I guess this particular dinner theater was free with purchase of food.

I can’t belive it took me this long to review this place since my family comes here all the time. It’s a great place to take the kids too. It’s sort of a fast food Italian restaurant, but they will bring you your food out. You can get wine or beer also. The food is really good. I’ve gotten the pasta and the panninis and both are delcious as well as the caesar salad. It also comes with bread. Service has always been prompt and friendly. It’s not a huge place so it can get full pretty quick if it’s during a busy time. Check it out.

I recall going to the University District location all the time when I was little with my play group plus their mothers. I would always get the cheese ravioli with Alfredo sauce. My 9 year old self loved it. Years later I return to this location super hungry after going to the AT&T store to get something with my phone fixed. I got the cheese ravioli with arrabiata sauce this time. It was good and it had pancetta which is always a plus. They still had those awesome Italian sodas I remembered too. This place is good for what it is. It’s not a gourmet Italian restaurant by any means. It’s cafeteria style fast food. You order at the counter. I feel like the prices could be a little less for sure but if you want a quick lunch and you’re in the area I say it’s a pretty good place to go grab a bite.

Free Kids Meal on Wednesday… not so much. The food was tasty but extremely overpriced for what you get. Our bill for 4 (two of which were free meals for kids) was $ 42. I can see spending $ 50 at a sit down restaurant where you are served. Your pasta comes with a salad, etc. But for a 4-​pc micro thin pizza (albeit tasty), small chopped salad (with wilted lettuce but despite that it was tasty… not fabulous but pretty good) and spaghetti with 3 meatballs and half carafe of wine ($ 10.75 and was so so), I think $ 42 is a lot.
My two kids received their bowls of pasta quickly. Then a salad came out, then an adult bowl of pasta, THEN my pizza. Seems odd to serve that way though I appreciate the kids food coming out first.
I love that they have kids games and a kids (and grown up) hand washing station when you walk in. VERY clever. My kids really only drink water and milk so we ordered them water which came in SUPER thin plastic cups. I love that they are thin and less to fill our landfills but when I went to put the tiny plastic lid on, it BROKE the cup of water and the water spilled on me, my son, the table and the floor. Better DOUBLE UP on the plastic cups for the free water.
The kids mac n cheese was delish although my son wasn’t a huge fan. The cheese taste was great… tasted like real cheese in there somewhere other than some powdered creepy orange sauce like at Red Robin that you mix with water or milk). A bit more than a five year old can appreciate but he ate it. My daughter got spaghetti with meatballs. It was really good though she didn’t eat all of the meat balls. My aunt got the same thing and her meatballs (3 of them on both) cost $ 3.50 and the kids meal cost $ 2.00 but the meatballs were exactly the same. WTH?
I doubt I will go there again but I am glad I tried it. The food was good but the poorly run and self serve on most things for the price did not impress me.

Okay… I am on the verge of giving this place 4 stars but I am totally biased. I had some medical testing done in the AM and had to fast. After eating very little in the afternoon, I was STARVING and came here for lunch. I probably would have eaten just about anything at this point.
I am not even sure that I tasted the food going down… I was so hungry. I know that it was definitely satisfying… quick service… a relatively clean location… decently friendly service.
Food was decent… it’s essentially Italian fast food but a step above a place like Cucina Cucina. I had the Mama’s Rigatoni with Meat sauce which is usually what I get when I come to these chains. The soups and salads are generally pretty good here, too.
The French bread that comes with for whatever reason is really good.
Overall, reasonably priced… about $ 20 for the two of us.
A decent, quick place to come for lunch if you’re in the area of Issaquah Swedish.

It’s quick, cheap enough, and there was something for everyone in my extended visiting family from Boston… my vegan dad, pescatarian mom, and super-​picky niece and nephew. My kids, spouse and I have standing orders that we are happy with, because we often stop by here for an uncomplicated, reasonably priced meal. The food is good if you know what to order. Some of the items I would definitely avoid, such as anything with a cream-​based sauce, including the mac and cheese, which was on the bland side. Here is what we like:
–all the salads are decent to good. I’m a huge fan of the dolcetto salad as a side salad, and my daughter always gets the caesar.
–the pizzas are also decent, if you like that thin-​crusted neapolitan style, which I do
–I adore their homemade potato chips, but not the expensive parmesan-​topped appetizer ones. I like the plain ones that come with their panini, but unfortunately the only panino that I like is the tuna
–my spouse swears by the papa di pomodoro soup, though I’m not a huge fan of any of their soups
–the kids meals are a good value
–The only pasta that I actually like here is the one with marinara sauce
In a nutshell, there is something for everyone, and it’s quick and easy if you happen to be in Issaquah. I also often frequent their Columbia Tower location in downtown Seattle for lunches with friends where we prefer to avoid the food court.