Pasta Fresca & Piadina

You can always tell a good lunch place based on where the construction workers go. Between 12 noon and 1 o’clock, you’ll see a lot of pickups outside of Pasta Fresca.
Their grinders/​subs are loaded with ingredients and flavor. They seem pricey until you see what you get for your money – I get two lunches out of a small, and I’ve tweaked my jaw muscles several times taking a first bite because they’re so stuffed. The bread is perfect: crunchy crust, soft inside, and when they dress the sub, they don’t skimp on the black pepper.
If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, get two slices of the pizza and a can of soda, which will run you around $ 6 and leave you with a very full stomach. No need to have them heat the pizza; it’s fantastic cold (never even tried it hot). They usually have two flavors available: cheese and something else (pepperoni, sausage and peppers, etc.). This is bready, thick-​crust style.
If you want a grab-​and-​go, call ahead. Since everything is made fresh and it’s a popular spot for those in the know, there can be quite a wait if you order on-​site.
The service is brusque, even on a good day. I’ve never seen fresh pasta or piadina there, despite the name. None of that matters. It’s the go-​to for the best sandwich in Mystic, and that’s all you really need to know.

Better than Publix subs, yes, I said it… The small sandwich special ran about $ 10 but was very large and enough for my wife and I to split. I thought it was perfectly made and with quality ingredients. CASH only. They have a very large selection of chips and a decent selection of drinks as well. Overall a solid place to go.

It is worth noting that «Italians» really haven’t eaten this way since Caligula. But there’s a picture of Venice on the wall and the sopressata fa venire l’acquolina in bocca, so we’re OK. Also, the handmade touch, so thick tomato slices that taste like something, a mouthful of pepper, and admirable restraint on the dressing.
The woman who takes your order is as sour a puss as you’d like to meet if you give off airs of being from anywhere farther than Stonington. But unless you’re visiting the sandwich shop because you’re looking for romance, that shouldn’t bother you too much. And you’ll like the bread. And you’ll really like giving the once over to the surprising number of people who come in here to order large grinders on the apparent pretense of expecting to finish them alone, in one sitting.
My wife and I had a small. We were happy. Che bellezza!

This is where you go for beach picnic sandwiches. A small is a two sitting venture, with fresh bread and a great selection of chips.

The subs are huge. We had two larges for 4 people and couldn’t eat all the food. We could have split 1 large.
We’ve eaten at allot of NY Deli’s and are used to being able to order what we want. The food was great, but it they had trouble when we asked for modifications to suit our tastes. If you want exactly what they’re serving, then the generous portions are great. If you want a custom deli sandwich, you might look elsewhere.
We took our order to the water front park a block away and watched the ducks and the bridge open.
Overall, a good place.

Local mom and pop grinders. They have two sandwich sizes: small and large. Order the large only if you’re splitting it or want to make a couple of meals out of it! My husband and I can split a small for a light lunch. Order the sopressata grinder for a real Italian taste. Lots of options for sides– full sized bags of chips, 12 packs of sodas, and salami and cheese. If you’re not into grinders, they do offer a garden salad, soup of the day, or even pizza slices for the kids. For vegetarians they offer a vegetarian, «meatless» grinder if that’s your thing.
Just off 1 across from the Packer building. They close between 2 – 3 but often earlier when they run out of bread! (We’ve come at 1 before in the Spring only to be sadly disappointed when we saw the, «closed» sign.)

Place is so good they literally sell out of stock. Come early. This is a must try italian deli doing it correctly.

In Torrington, there is a venerable local institution called Carbone’s Market that sells colossal grinders, with excellent quality meat and bread. Pasta Fresca & Piadina is the Carbone’s of southeastern Connecticut. I can think of no higher statement to make about it.
It’s a cramped place with almost no décor, away from the touristy area of Mystic, designed for exactly one thing: to get huge sandwich-​logs into your twitching hands. There’s a pretty nice selection of Utz and Dirty chips along the wall, but I can’t believe one’s stomach would have room for anything more than the star attraction. I ordered a combo with Genoa salami, capicola, mortadella, provolone, lettuce, tomato, mayo, oil and vinegar, mustard, and black pepper. The meats were everything you’d expect from fine Italian coldcuts, the bread was delightfully crusty, and the grinder itself was structured well enough to be eaten without making a big mess. Within the first couple of bites, it catapulted PF&P to my top tier of CT grinder shops. I also got some pasta salad, which was basically potato salad with pasta instead of potatoes: creamy, eggy, chivey, delicious. Great for a warm day.
The woman working the register wasn’t the friendliest, but as with Carbone’s, or Franklin Giant Grinder in Hartford, you come here for, and judge solely on, the food. I’ve previously declared the existence of an east-​west grinder axis in CT, consisting of D’elia’s in Norwich, Franklin, and Carbone’s. D’elia’s, however, isn’t in the «giant» grinder tradition; for that, PF&P takes its place.

I’m only doing this review so that I can add this restaurant to my favorites list on Unilocal!I think that pretty much sums my opinion of PF!
[Update] Obviously I like this place since it’s on my favorites list, but there is some advise to give to visitors:
1) Go early — when they run out of bread they close (I think they still do).
2) Don’t get lettuce, get the cabbage. If you get a large and have to put it in the fridge for a day it won’t get the bread all soggy.
3) Take your sandwich to Stonington Pier to eat and watch the people fish.

Small little place easily overlooked but what a find! The grinders are so good and the portions are huge! Fresh veggies and deli meat on freshly baked French bread! So delicious it’s everything a grinder should be and then some.

This place is awesome !!! Huge portions which is great you get your money’s worth. Small is easily for two people. Fresh ingredients and tasty bread as well. It’s a little pricey but you pay for what you get and it’s amazingly awesome lol note to self bring cash only

Pasta Fresca is in a league by itself. The ingredients are of the highest quality and the portions are huge. The grinder rolls are freshly baked and delicious. I have a hard time driving by this place without stopping. My favorites are the genoa grinder made with cabbage and the tuna grinder also with cabbage.

The most amazing and delicious sandwiches ! The freshest ingredients. And the small sandwich is HUGE. It easily serves 2 very hungry or 3 normally hungry people. Old school, utterly fabulous sandwich shop. Note: They only take cash.

I absolutely agree with the other reviewers that Pasta Fresca’s grinders are huge – the small is like a foot-​long from Subway. It can take me three or four lunches to eat the whole thing. My big complaint is that making combinations of meats gets expensive quickly because adding a second kind of meat to a sandwich costs $ 1.50 for a small and $ 2 for a large (on top of the $ 8 small-​grinder price tag). At other shops I get Italian combos with ham, salami, and capicola. Here that would cost $ 11, plus items like peppers are extra, too, and the vegetable suggestion is very limited. My friend wanted a club (turkey, ham, and roast beef) and I ended up getting it for him from Subway because the price difference was going to be nearly $ 10 and Subway had a wider variety of veggies. I’d be willing to take less of one kind of meat on a sandwich (and there’s certainly tons of it, which is great) in order to get a second or third option. Even offering predetermined combos on the menu would be great.

My favorite sandwich place in Mystic. They are an Italian deli. The bread is super fresh and they are not stingy at all in the meat. These sandwiches are loaded. My husband and I usually get either a small genoa and ham grinder or a small pepperoni and ham grinder and we split it. It’s about $ 9.
It is a a perfect size to split for lunch so you aren’t stuffed. They are only open 11 – 3 during the week. They close at 2 on Saturday and they are closed in Sundays so it can be hard to catch them while they are open. We get so excited when we can get Pasta Fresca.
They only take cash so make sure you have some. They no longer have an ATM on site.