Pronto Pasta

Oh boy am I in trouble! This place is not only dangerously close to work, but also to Curves where I am supposed to be working out. (paying dues alone should make you lose weight, right?) When a friend suggested going for dinner here, I was happy to give it a try, having heard good things, but never having been.
At 6:00 on a weeknight, it was almost empty. Am thinking that tucked away in a strip shopping center, and being a counter-​service type place, maybe it’s not top of the mind for dinner? It SHOULD be. A very affordable dinner! And a very very TASTY one!
When you can finally get past the awesome sounding choices that do include salads, soups and sandwiches, and make a decision (uh, PASTA, of course!), you go to the counter, pay, get a number to put at your table, get a cup for your drink and move on. Everything you need is at or around the drink station including silverware, napkins, utensils, hot sauce, cheese, crushed red pepper, lemon for the tea, etc.
(note, they do sell beer and wine as well at very reasonable prices!)
Will your pasta come super super pronto? No, but it comes pretty darn pronto, pronto enough to mean fast, but not TOO fast, because this is freshly made! (If you go to their website, they explain that they are «obsessed with fresh»…they grow their own herbs, grate their own cheese, make their own salad dressings, etc.)
All I can tell you is a piping hot bowl of very fresh and absolutely delicious chili mac with caramelized onions and peppers was set in front of me. Oh my! I had grabbed a bottle of Tabasco, anticipating having to kick it up, and it needed no kicking up. It was very spicy and very very good! I ate a little more than half before I was stuffed, and yes of course I brought the leftovers home and am very much looking forward to them tomorrow. Extra kudos to them for having takeout containers out so you don’t have to ask for them.
Extra extra kudos for the chef or owner (or both) for coming out to check on our meals!
Don’t let the counter service or name of this place scare you away. They are local, not a chain, and well, you really should give it a try. But beware as I am now, that you might find some dangerously caloric items to try. By the way, my meal, with tea was well less than $ 10!
Note: they have a sign up saying they are closed on the weekends, so if you want to try them, go during the week for lunch or dinner!
TIP: While I failed with food porn, go to their website, they have pics that will have you drooling, and you can see just how not fast-​food this place is!
By the way, they do have healthier menu items… but good luck with getting past items like bacon mac n cheese with fried onions. AND, another plus… GREAT sanitation rating…101.5!
Now, with all this raving, why not a 5 star rating? My answer is just that I’ve only been there once. I feel a 5-​star coming on though.

I tried Pronto Pasta for the first time for lunch yesterday. Everything on the menu looked great, but I decided on the Sausage Rigatoni. I had to get back to work, so I got this dish to go. My lunch was ready pretty quickly and it smelled delicious! I couldn’t wait to get back to my office so I could eat. The sauce was a little thin, but otherwise, my meal was pretty good. I wasn’t blown away, but for $ 7, I felt like I got a decent lunch. It was a little too much for me, but not quite enough to get 2 meals out of it. I wish they offered a small option like Noodles and Co. I will definitely eat here again!

After my first experience it was good not great but very good. I could tell the ingredients were fresh but the complexity of the dish was not there. I do understand it’s a step up from fast food and in that case it was delicious and quick. I will try it again.

Great food and lots of healthy entrees, including Quinoa w/​Spinach & Garlic. That’s my favorite, but all their past is excellent, quick and good prices. Atmosphere is a little loud as groups tend to dine there, but overall for food and quality, I do recommend this place.

Love this place and the guys are so nice. The food is delicious and reasonably priced. Great for take out.

Pronto Pasta is a fantastic locally-​owned family-​friendly restaurant. Hot, al dente pasta jammed full of fresh, delicious ingredients, what could be better going into the cold, rainy NC winter months?
We stopped in yesterday after I picked up the kids. Dinner for three AND a glass of merlot for Mom (they sell Barefoot wines and several types of beer) for around $ 25. The bacon cheeseburger mac n cheese was amazing, and a huge portion. Since it wasn’t overcooked in the first place, it was just as tasty when I reheated my leftovers later that night.
The staff here is friendly, and the restaurant is kept spic-​and-​span clean. They will gladly help you put together your own pasta if nothing on the menu is exactly what you’re looking for. They also have soup and salads which I look forward to trying one day, if I can resist the urge to have the pasta!
Random pluses– they bring your food out to you when it’s ready, a step up from typical order-​at-​the-​counter type eateries. They have to-​go containers readily available by the drink station. Fountain drinks come with free refills. They clean up your table for you when you’re done (no bussing your own dishes). They have stepstools in the bathrooms so little ones can wash their hands easily.
To top it off, they participate with several local schools (including my sons’ school) for «family nights» once a year, where 15% of your total bill is given back to the school as a fundraiser. As you can imagine, it got a little hectic with all the children being excited about seeing each other, running around, spilling things, etc but they took it all with a smile! Keep up the good work Pronto Pasta, we will be back soon!

Good pasta usually isn’t cheap, and cheap pasta usually isn’t good. Pronto Pasta is an exception. The kitchen really knocks it out and nails it every time. Since this place is right down Wake Forest Road from my office I usually try to hit it for lunch at least once a week (which drives my wife crazy when she sees the check-​ins).
I like my pasta cooked al dente. That’s hard to do consistently, and I’ve been to many a pricier pasta place that serves up mush. Not at Pronto. Granted, I order the same thing every time — the Southwestern Chicken and Pasta — but it’s consistently hot, with firm but not crunchy pasta, every time out. And I get out for under $ 10.
The staff keeps wanting me to try something else — I’ll have to do that one of these days!

I do love this place though I don’t get here often enough. I have to admit it beats out Noodles at Brier Creek because they give more toppings as opposed to pasta. The potato sausage soup is excellent and I can’t seem to not get the bacon mac and cheese. My husband always gets the southwestern. The breadstix are worth ordering. This place is really busy at lunch, so I am told by hubby. It was empty when we went for dinner. Casual dining at it’s finest. Freshly prepared.

I’m an avid fan of Noodles and Co, so when I saw what I thought was a local alternative, I was game. But this place blows Noodles and Co out of the water. Everything in this place is made from scratch and all the ingredients are fresh and crisp. I’m not sure who came up with the menu, but that person is a genius. Not only does their food taste phenomenal, but the menu has some of the most creative recipes I’ve seen in Raleigh (under $ 20 a plate). I have never walked away not RAVING about this food.
For example: Sausage potato soup. Sounds humble enough, but it tastes exquisite. Most importantly you can taste the fresh cream that makes it so decadent. We both get a bowl every visit. I’d say it should more appropriately be titled «bisque.» But the sausage and spinach and potato make it a tasty meal. At the price and with the focaccia it’s a steal.
Tonight blew my mind also. I was feeling something lighter, and saw on their TV menu the «Pronto» salad. Its spinach and mixed greens with red peppers, kalamata olives, red onions, cherry tomatoes, red-​skin potatoes, fresh pulled roasted chicken, and topped with capers, served with a homemade honey lemon pesto. The flavors in this salad married perfectly and were an intriguing departure from just «Greek» or «Caesar.» Add in their olive-​oil-​drizzled fresh focaccia bread on the side and you’ve got a light but filling dinner.
I can’t tell you enough how much the food here stands out. You have to check it out! I only wish they’d fire their decorator and move to a better location where their five-​star chef’s work can be more appreciated.
It’s fast casual food and prices for gourmet made-​from-​scratch food. I will keep going and going…

Super friendly crew. Good salad. Shouldve taken everyones advice but i went with the bacon cheeseburger dish. Ehh. Kinda Denny’s.

Just tried for first time for lunch and I’m surprised that this place isn’t busier! Fresh, made to order pasta dishes and very friendly staff. I’ll def be back!

I have trouble reviewing a place that serves Mac and Cheese after trying the Mac and Cheese at Pooles Diner. I think that is the pinnacle of the dish and is «lick the plate good».
However, I do have to say that Pronto Pasta is very good and substantially cheaper. The atmosphere is a step below fast casual but nicer than fast food.
My wife went the traditional route and had the cheesey classic with cheddar and Velveeta. The pasta was cooked just right and the cheese was the perfect consistency. It was very nice.
I was a bit more daring and went with the aged provolone and horseradish with the fresh-​grated romano garnish and braised beef. Well prepared, great taste and just the right consistency in the sauce.
This is a great lunch spot or a good place to take the kiddies. How could they resist «build your own» mac and cheese. This kid couldn’t.

This is a no frills establishment that makes tasty, straightforward pasta dishes. The restaurant is really plain in décor — too plain really — so this isn’t a great venue for a valentines dinner. Think of it more as a competitor to the Noodle Bowl type establishment.
For a vegetarian or vegan, there are quite a few nice options and the kitchen is very willing to work with you to omit or add ingredients. They even have a gluten free option. Overall a good place to come for good food at a great price, but don’t expect anything more than that.

Yummy in my tummy. On my second trip I got the mac’n’cheese. I was reluctant to choose the classic cheese mac because it had crappy velvetta but I did anyway. I added grated romano and bacon for no additional cost.
I must say, the macaroni was extremely good. If it had velvetta in it I sure didn’t notice. The balance of cheeses was perfect. My mouth is watering just describing it! The bacon, though bad for my heart, was good for my palate. Now I’ve eaten something that is going to bring me back again.

PROs: The food is great. The pasta and all the sauces are homemade each day. Even ‘heavier’ dishes didn’t came out feeling that way. The staff was friendly and helpful. Went out of their way for us.
CONs: This is an order at the counter, delivered to your table operation. So atmosphere is a little sterile. The strip mall location isn’t the greatest.
(I’d give it 4.5 if halves were allowed)

This review is more from family feedback. I’m not a huge pasta fan to start with and my meal, the pepperoni pasta sounding like a winner, but it didn’t excite me.
The salad my wife ordered looked wonderful and she thought it tasted equally good. Kids meals were as you would expect.
The fit up appears to have been on a budget, but if you’re choosing restaurants with too much emphasis on ambiance you’re going to miss out on some great eats.
If we had half stars this would be a 2.5 to me.