Pasta Fresca

Located in the San Pedro Square market, Pasta Fresca is a great lunch option if you’re in the area. They have a pretty decent lunch special where you get a decent-​sized portion of pasta with a small fresh salad (either the Italian or the Ceaser).
So far, I’ve tried the pesto and the lasagna and both are very flavorful. I especially love that both pastas are fresh. Also, they have fresh pasta that you can cook at home for sale for just two bucks. Pretty good deal.

Not bad pasta at an ok price. One of the San Pedro Square tenants, this place offers a variety of pasta dishes. I tried the lasagna which was pretty big looking, but came at a price of $ 10. The lasagna also came with a small side of salad. The lasagna was good, but nothing wow worthy. For the price, it’s actually one of the cheaper places here if you’re looking for a bite. I was just sorta hoping for more I guess. Really wish they had chicken parmesean.

Butternut Squash Ravioli!!! I have tasted it in many many places… from upscale restaurants to home-​cooked preparations. This is absolutely the best… a perfect balance of pasta to filling complimented by fresh sage and not at all greasy or slimy. Words cannot describe how impressive the food is at this place! What we have here is four to five star dining in an upscale food court. Their pasta is freshly made with each order placed. One of my companions had the spaghetti bolognese and she’s still talking about how «amazing» it tasted. Pasta Fresca also serves a salad that I cannot stop craving… mixed greens with generous potions of crab (not Dungeness) & avocado. My only regret is that this restaurant isn’t in my neighborhood.

I want to like this place. The pasta is indeed fresh and tasty — however, portion size and sauce needs a lot of work. Unfortunately as an Italian place those last two comments are more critical than ever.
First, I have had the opportunity to taste the vegetarian (marinara, pesto) and meat sauce. The veggie sauces are pretty good. The meat sauce is BITTER and very salty. I tend to prefer sweeter, simple meat sauce that isn’t oily and this sauce violated all of those preferences. I couldn’t take down more than a few forks before I had to pass on the dinner I paid for.
I also sampled the lasagna and, unfortunately, it used he same meat sauce that I didn’t like on the pasta. They do have a vegetarian lasagna option (which I normally prefer) but unfortunately Pasta Fresca complicated it with strange vegetable choices like celery and carrot. For me, great lasagna is noodles, cheese, ricotta, great sauce — very light and fluffy. Simple and delicious. That isn’t what you get here.
So, yay on the fresh noodles, please re-​think the meat sauce dishes.

The guy at the counter was nice. Food is not. Never going to eat here again. This one star ia for the guy.

Delightful little place located at the San Pedro Market Square. I love love love fresh pasta and this place delivers the traditional Italian way. I had the carbonara on my first visit and it is the closes version to the ones I had in Florence. The egg, cheese, and olive oil are mixed perfectly with the spaghetti. Mmm… Mmm. Today, I had the lasagna and the meat sauce is fantastic.
The best part about his pasta is that it is light not heavy like most over starched version served by local restaurant here including Pasanos. Pasta Fresca focuses on «Made to Order» and fresh ingredients. It is why it is now my go to place for lunch. The portion isn’t big (it not the sink to the bottom of your stomach kind of pasta) which I appreciate and you can expect it to be done the right way every time. I get tummy full of fresh delicious pasta, but I am not falling asleep in the afternoon.
I highly recommend this place, but as a dine in. Because the freshness of the pasta and ingredient, it needs to be eaten ASAP to appreciate it. I had a to go order once and the pasta got cold and didn’t taste as good. It’s too bad they don’t have a sit down restaurant for me to go for dinner with a nice bottle of vino from my own collection. I highly recommend everyone to give this place a try.

The freshly-​made pasta was amazing!!! We had the Pasta Carbonara and it was delicious. We also had the Crab and Avocado Salad. It was also completely amazing and delicious. This restaurant serves food wirh high-​quality ingredients. The quality really differentiates this restaurant from the rest! Try it. If you love freshly made pasta cooked to perfection.

The name is very mis-​leading. I expected freshly made pasta, like Antipastos in the Alum Rock area. The portion was small & the noodles tasted like top ramen noodles. The main spice that was used was salt. I’ve had better pasta at Olive Garden or Maggianos.
Basically the food sucked & I wont be back. There are better options at SP Market.

Meat lasagna was outstandingly good with a nice side salad. Very high quality. I’m limiting pasta intake these days, but this is where I’ll get my fix when I want some. No issues with the pager or staff as some have reported.

Portion is so small! Don’t even bother! $ 11 for sucha small pasta and barely any taste. Boohoo!

The food was decent once I finnaly received it. My pager never went off and after watching 5 people who ordered after me get their food I went up to the counter to find my food waiting and getting cold. The portions aren’t huge which doesn’t bother me too much. The service was really, really poor. The cashier seemed like it was her first week, the head chef was rude and unorganized, and the other gal helping cook also seemed new and was taking verbal abuse from the afore mentioned chef. It was a pretty sad scene to watch overall. Luckily we came early, because after we sat down we heard him say, «all orders are going to take 20 minutes.»
Hoping they can get it together. It seems the same staff issues Sama Zama had are happening here as well.

I toke some pasta Arabiata but unfortunately it was absolutely not pasta Arabiata for me and it was too small portion.

The chicken arabiatta pasta have no taste !!
I’m very disappointed of my choice. No take that meal!!!

Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, this is the first Italian food I’ve had in San Jose (aside from pizza) in the two years I’ve lived here. I got the pesto pasta, and I will definitely be coming back! The pesto itself is very fresh and the seasonings taste fantastic. The noodles are cooked al dente, but I actually prefer them that way.
The side salad is fresh and the dressing is good as well.

Come here for a solid meat lasagna paired with a Cesar salad. The lasagna is freshly baked and will fill you up without giving you a food coma. It’s like moms cooking, but without the forced seconds and thirds! In fact, the lunch special portion size is just right for one person, and with outdoor seating, it may just be better than moms kitchen table. Enjoy!

Located in San Pedro Market across from the pizza place.
I love freshly made pasta and am actually surprised that a lot of the ‘top rated’ Italian restaurants in San Jose, don’t really make their own pasta. You know because you can taste the difference. And granted, everyone has their own preference for pasta texture and sauce, but I stick to the simple stuff!
The thing I remember most in Italy was the simplicity of all the dishes. Nothing drenched in sauce, salt etc… Pasta stood out on its own so anytime an establishment claims to make their own pasta — I always am willing to try.
I went to Pasta Fresca for lunch today with flat expectations which were exceeded. I can only speak for the Carbonara, but I enjoyed it. I love Carbonara because pancetta and egg yolks are some of my favorite components (not the best for you, but super tasty). The simplicity of the dish may not roll for those that like the saucy dishes, but I loved it!
The pasta was definitely home made, you can taste that chew. It was the perfect texture. Can’t wait to go back and try the pesto, another one of my favorite classics.
They still kept some of the same menu items from Samba Zama? The crab/​avocado salad and minestrone, which I’ve had at the old establishment. It’s alright — minestrone is not tomato based.
Come try it out and make your own judgement. I got the Carbonara with a side salad for about $ 12 after tax. Not too bad in my opinion!

Wow! This was YUM!!! We had the Chicken Arabiata and it was delicious!!! For the price the portion was good and it came with a salad, I would have preferred more pasta. lol I’m definitely going to give this place another try for something else.

Mediocre at best. Bland pasta, underwhelming Caesar salad with an odd lemon frosting? Mac n cheese? Forget about it.
Seriously, they couldn’t figure it out as Sama Zama and they aren’t doing anything different with pasta.
With the many other options at San Pedro, this one is easy to forget and worth skipping.

I waited patiently for this pasta restaurant to open. And it paid off. I was not not disappointed. First I ordered the meat lasagna and was more than satisfied with the portion and the taste was spot on. Great pasta texture with a meaty sauce. Second I had the mac n cheese which also satisfied my Hunger for delicious pasta. This is my new go to pasta restaurant.

A few years ago I did review of Pizza Bocca Lupo and I joked about how I had to dodge circular saws and tools on the floor as that restaurant was setting up its Neopolitan wood fired oven… from where else? Neopolita, of course… San Pedro Square at that time was being renovated and I ran into this seriously good pizza joint amongst the Black&Decker power tools… fast forward a few years later, and the verdict so far? Just read other folks’ Unilocal reviews! Was I right?
OK, same corner of the square, no Makita tools to trip over this time, just busy folks preparing to launch an Italian pasta joint… I was privileged enough to put my mouth on some seriously-​good-​made-​in-​the-​restaurant-​with-​Napoli-​class pastas. Omg, all I could say was «la pasta qui è fresco e delizioso». «fresco/​fresca» means «fresh» doesn’t it? All I know is that you don’t have to fly to Naples, to get pasta made fresh like these. Hey, they’re right here in San Pedro’s Pasta Fresca… Lots of creative dishes but the two that stuck to my-​non-​Italian-​speaking brain was the lasagna and the butternut squash pasta. The lasagna? I loved the mixture of ground beef or sausage in the sauce. Rich, and cheesy as well. It’s like what Zia Ester used to make us when we were kids (without the mangi! mangi! bit) Did I say rich? Tomato-​ee as well. The butternut squash pasta? Creamy and dreamy! To die for. The Bocca Lupo mouth of wolf next door will be watering when this place launches.