Pastabilities

The beet appetizer was to die for, absolutely delicious, I ordered the angel hair pasta with house tomato sauce for my entrée, the sauce was more chunky than I expected but was very good, the pasta though was definitely not angel hair. It was thin spaghetti, and I was extremely disappointed with that. I would’ve chosen rigatoni or another hearty pasta if I knew their version of angel hair was actually thin spaghetti. This is an italianish restaurant right???

Absolutely amazing! Ambiance, food, wine and desserts are everything and more! I’m a huge foodie and was recommended to eat here on my trip in NY this past week and I have to say just walking in the door and the smell of the food and how nice the staff was was absolutely to die for! Will definitely go back when I’m in Syracuse again!

I came here recently for dinner on a Friday night, and everything was amazing and definitely worth the long-​ish wait. We started with the calamari and the cheese bread in addition to the spicy hot tomato oil and stretch bread that they provide you with. The calamari was cooked perfectly, and the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ sauce complimented it well. The cheese bread wasn’t anything special, but the the spicy hot tomato oil and house made stretch bread was delicious.
I ordered the manicotti for my meal, and it was cheesy goodness. It was a bit heavy, but it tasted so good! My husband got the bolognese with the homemade linguini — the fresh pasta was the best pasta I’ve ever had, and the sauce was surprisingly light but flavorful. Our dining companions got the pink vodka cream with the homemade fettucine and grilled shrimp and the lasagne. Both had rave reviews.
The service was fantastic, but I did find the place a bit loud. In spite of that, I thought it was an enjoyable atmosphere for a nice dinner out. Overall, it was the best dinner I’ve had in a very long time. We were all still talking about how good it was the next day.

Yay for Pastabilities!!!
Some people are on the «I don’t eat carbs» kick, but if you’re a pasta lover, you need to stop here. I know it’s been featured on TV and you may be thinking it’s just another Italian restaurant, but it really is something special.
Pastabilities makes most of their own pasta and you can tell. The pasta is perfect and add some of their small batch made Spicy Hot Tomato Oil and you have a perfect meal. I’ve also had their carbonara and its rich and creamy. Everything you’d want.
If you decide to get appetizers, I recommend the calamari and the duck bacon flatbread. SO. AMAZING. If you’re skeptical about duck bacon and cherries being on a pizza, take the risk. You’ll be thankful you did. It’s savory with a bit of sweetness from the cherries.
Dinners come with stretch bread and Hot Tom oil, and trust me, you’ll want more. But good thing you can just walk across the street to their bakery and get as much of it as you want!!! They also have other artisan breads. My favorites, other than stretch, happen to be the Gorgonzola bread and Asiago bread. Yeah, I have an unnatural love of cheese. Add some hot oil and you’ll be in carb heaven.
Lunch is served cafeteria style, which makes it fast and easy. They do a number of pasta dishes and have amazing cold salads to choose from. If your unsure what you want, decide quickly because there is almost always a line of hungry people waiting.
This is a great place and a must try for anyone in the area.

Literally one of my favorite restaurants on the planet. All the food is amazing and flavorful. 100% get hot tomato oil to start.
Lunch is the little known secret: cafeteria style, lower price, and just as amazingly delish.

The bread and sauce was an incredible start to a lovely meal. The duck pizza served as our appetizer. This was not a traditional pizza. There was a sweet jam like sauce. The cheese was thick and tasty. And of course the duck was delicious. I had the fettuccini carbonara. It was truly amazing. I highly recommend. My boyfriend got the wicky wicky chicken riggies. It was a bit too spicy for our likings, we both were not too impressed by it.
Overall highly recommend the duck pizza and fettuccini carbonara. Great dinner!

If you like pasta here is a must go. They have great pastas with awesome sauce. Lots of options. I love their original hot tomato sauce. It’s spicy enough and have excellent garlic aroma and taste. Perfect dip for good bread.
Fried calamari was good but nothing exceptional.
I had the pasta with pesto and chicken. I liked it with more sauce buy nothing was wrong with the food, it’s just my personal preference.
There are lots of options for vegetarians. One of my friend ordered something vegetarian and it was tasting really good.
They have full bar with a good selection of beer. I’ve tried couple of their cocktails and they were really good.
Great place to hang out with friends and enjoy good for and good drinks.
The only downfall is the long waiting line. Every weekend that I’ve been there, I’ve been waiting for already 45 minute.

My only but favorite Italian restaurant I tried in Syracuse.
Anyone visiting in Syracuse, go to Armory Square and dine at Pastas!
We arrived kind of late on a weekday for dinner, so the restaurant was less crowded. However, just in time to try Pastabilities’ dining week this year, which runs for about two weeks in late February. It is a prix fixed 3 course meal that is $ 25 per person.
Street parking is available with free parking after 6:00 PM. Inside, the brick wall interior brings a commodious environment but can be animated with energy at night! Full bar to the left with seating to the right, not sure about the back of the restaurant but surely more dining room.
FOOD:
Spicy Hot Tomato Oil with stretch bread (⁵⁄₅): Order this. Best thing — hands down. Bread was warm, and you can always ask for more to dip. The signature dip is slightly spicy but addicting.
Cup of soup d’jour (¹⁄₅): Mushroom bisque. Eh, I have experienced better. This was too salty for my liking. Barely touched this.
House «50÷50» Sauce with Meatballs (⁵⁄₅): House tomato sauce with the Spicy Hot Tomato Oil is just heaven served with two meatballs the size of baseballs. If you are looking for a classic pasta with a slight spicy twist, then this is the candidate you should pick. You can opt to have it vegetarian, but the meatballs and pasta were cooked right and delicious.
Vanilla Ice Cream and Cookie (²⁄₅): Vanilla ice cream, can’t go wrong with that. It was the gigantic cookie — half dipped in chocolate. It was frozen — I mean hard to bite into! I did not try to bite the cookie after my initial attempt because I thought I would chip my tooth frankly.
It all adds up to a 3.25 star but rounded up because the spicy hot tomato oil. It’s that good, forever changed.
Sadly, I arrived to lunch time late one day and missed the lunch my friend informed me about. She calls it the buffet, but it runs as a cafeteria style. You grab a tray and order food and sit where you desire. I really wanted a piece of that spicy hot tomato oil. Pastabilities has a separate bakery across the street, next to Benjamin’s, that sells bread and the sauce! Wegman’s also sells it.
If you want to stop by, try to make it for dinner (no reservations accepted) or even take out if in a hurry!
Lunch (Cafeteria style) runs from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM Monday to Saturday.
Dinner runs from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM Monday to Thursday and 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM Friday to Sunday.

Lunch pasta for $ 8.10? Yes. It’s great how they make this joint into a cafeteria during busy lunch hours, frickin genius. Grab a tray & utensils, order and get your food, walk down the line, pay, find a seat, munch, and leave. Or do a take out in less than 6 minutes. They were so fast, I didn’t even have to pay for parking.
Their popular chicken riggies are spicy! Mmmm, so good!!! Definitely a must try item.
Their vinaigrette drenched salad is pretty bangin too. And I HATE over dressed salad. Makes you think you’re eating healthy but guess what, you’re not! Hahaha. I couldn’t believe the enormous size of these salads. In NYC, something this big would cost nearly $ 20 bucks!
Mmmmm… Don’t forget to eat pasta here if you’re in the area. It’s damn good.

This place probably has the best pasta I have ever eaten! If you live in Syracuse or just visiting… Make this a priority to go to! This is mine and my friends new «go-​to» when we are in town. The staff was friendly, polite, and all around excellent. My friend got the cheese ravioli and I got the wicki wicki chicken riggies w/​half Alfredo sauce (the server suggested it) and it was simply amazing! The pasta is homemade and so are their sauces. We had the calamari as an appetizer and that was just as decadent! The ambiance is casual and rustic which just gives a «feel good» vibe to the place. Everyone must go here!

Pastabilities. my first restaurant venture in the city of Syracuse. verdict: guilty as charged… cause it slayed. I’m giving this restaurant 5 stars even though we waited 1hr and 8 mins for a table on a very busy, beautiful Saturday night. To be fair, we did not make reservations. thinking we could wing it (big mistake). We had a few drinks at the bar in the mean time, but for whatever time we had to wait, the food definitely made up for it.
So let’s get started: The bread and hot tomato oil is soo good… I wish I would have bought a bottle (or two). The calamari was crispy and delightful, especially dipped in that hot tomato oil. I had the lobster ravioli, which I believe was a seasonal item, and it was great, especially when dipped in the hot tomato oil as well. I think I tasted a few other items, which were also more than likely dipped in (or at least scraped from the bottom of the plate of) the hot tomato oil. its that good.
Tip/​pearl of wisdom– make reservations. so you can eat/​drink/​bathe in that hot tomato oil ASAP.

Pastabilities, or Pastas as its known to most locals, is a surefire crowd-​pleaser. When we have friends or family in from out of town, we usually take them here, and they love it. The first time I went, I was blown away by the spicy hot tomato oil and stretch bread. Seriously, there’s a reason they bottle this stuff and sell it at Wegmans. I also had the pesto pasta, and while the pesto itself had great basil-​y, garlicky flavor, the pasta was very dry. My wife had the duck bacon flatbread pizza. She loves it and orders it every time we go. If you like sharp, tangy, tart flavors, this is the dish for you — with copious amounts of Humboldt Fog cheese, cherries, and shallots. I’ve had a few other menu items as well, and they’ve all been good enough to bring me back.
It is definitely a great place for a weekend dinner downtown, but
I’d recommend the cafeteria-​style lunch even more. You get the same delicious, freshly-​prepared food for half the price and with a long wait.

I had a colleague in town, so I took him here since he had been asking to go after hearing about it. We didn’t call ahead for reservations, thinking Monday night wouldn’t be busy at 7:00, but there was a 15-​minute wait, which wasn’t bad, as we were lucky to get spots at the bar, so we had a chat with a few drinks.
Once we were seated, we were distracted from the menu by the Tomato Oil Sauce and bread, which we quickly asked for an additional serving of sauce for. The experience would have been better if the bread had been warm, rather than cold, but we ordered the cheesy garlic stretchy bread, which was phenomenal. We used the signature sauce rather than the marinara that came with it too!
He ordered the Mushroom Soup, along with Spaghetti Bolognese, while I got the Special Braised Short Ribs, and we also got two Meatballs, because I was craving one. He raved about the soup, saying it was easily the best mushroom soup he had ever had, and upon visualization alone, it was packed with mushrooms. When the meatballs arrived, we both agreed that, while moist and good, we had had better. However, my Short Ribs were unbelievable. Very tender and pulled apart easily, while the Asparagus mix was delicious as well. I’m not a big pasta person, so I didn’t touch the pasta much, though it was very good. He wished his Bolognese was chunkier, saying it wasn’t the kind he liked or was used to, but he felt it was still good. He also said the pasta was delicious and clearly homemade.
We are both very good and trained home cooks, so we offer high praise and would surely go back.

The food is pretty good, but nothing to write home about. I would advise to go to this place for lunch, and skip it for dinner. During dinner this place is so busy and loud. For most of dinner I couldn’t hear my husband at all. Lunch is one of the best deals in town. The food is amazing, generous helpings, and quieter atmosphere for lunch.
The spicy tomato oil and stretch bread is amazing. I’m a garlic lover and I also enjoy getting a garlic clove in the tomato oils. I also like the duck bacon pizza. The cherries and glaze add sweet note that compliments the tangy of the goat cheese.

Went in on a Friday night, there was a 30 minute wait but the turn around at the bar was fast so we decided to just eat our dinner there.
Started off with the complimentary hot tomato oil and stretch bread. The hot tomato oil was absolutely amazing and addicting! We ordered a second order! I then had the garlic clam sauce with linguini and the Bf had the burger.
The clam sauce pasta was average, can’t go wrong with garlic, oil, and clams really. I’d probably order something different next time just to explore the menu more. The burger really stole the show, oddly enough, something about goat cheese on a burger that never ceases to amaze me. And that port wine reduction… lawd.
All in all I would definitely go back to try more and buy a bottle of that hot tomato oil, maybe on a less busy night next time. :)

I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Armory Square before. If not, I would describe the experience as a concentrated chaos of restaurants, one way streets, and cars in the span of four blocks. Enjoy this experience by trusting me and going to Pastabilities.
The brick atmosphere is cozy but still busy and electric with energy. The Guy Fieri charicature and autograph in the entryway lets you know that this place has become a destination. I would sit in one of the wood paneled booths upfront if you can get one. Otherwise, diners will typically sit in the back room with a huge flying cupid in the corner and bright windows.
The best time to go is during the lunch hour when they feature a quick-​service pasta buffet-​like experience that lets you choose your sauce, pasta AND seating location. At night, the bar is electric with a good mix of buzzing social activity and the glowing atmosphere of lights against the brick walls.
The spicy hot tomato oil is a must-​order and their bread is made fresh just across the street in their bakery. The vodka sauce and penne is a classic – and when topped with the grilled chicken it makes for a huge meal.
Overall, I love the people who work here because they help to «up» the friendliness of the city. The food is fun and comforting. You’ll never go wrong ducking-​in to Pastabilities.

Food was very good. Service was prompt and attentive. Expect to wait during the weekend dinner hours. It gets quite busy.
Everything was fresh and flavorful.

Once you get past the hokey name, this place is actually really good.
Obviously the hot tomato oil is a must-​do (and lived up to the hype) but also try out the chicken-​riggies. Sauce was great with a big kick, and pasta was fresh.
Also got the Caesar however keep in mind that this is not an appetizer size at all.
Haven’t been to many other Italian places in Syracuse but I imagine this has to be the best.

We had a great meal here and if we are in town again we will make it a point to stop by again. Stopped through Syracuse on our way to The Finger Lakes. We figured we needed a hearty meal before some wine tasting. The place is very cute! We were seated right away by the front window about 5pm. The décor is sleek and minimal. Exposed brick, strands of lights, planters, candles and framed art. The music as we entered was «California Dreaming» and it was all very much the same which I really liked. It all set the mood perfectly.
We heard all about the spicy red oil they are famous for. They give you a complimentary plate of it with some fresh bread. It totally lives up to its reputation. Delicious! And tad spicy! We ordered The Great Pumpkin beer they had on tap and it was the best pumpkin beer we ever had and we drink a lot of pumpkin! Hubby ordered the stuffed hot peepers with sausage, mozzarella, Alfredo and Parmesan reggiano which was served in a small skillet. He loved it. I ordered a seasonal kale salad with spiced squash, hazelnuts and pomegranates in Apple cider vinaigrette and it was amazing! My very little salad eating hubby even ate two plates full. He ordered the homemade ravioli in their ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ sauce which is half of the spicy red oil sauce mixed with their marinara. He said it was amazing! Cooked al Dente and tasted homemade. The sauce which I tasted was delicious!
Service was wonderful and quick. Waitress was very nice. As we left the music changed to a more clubby, late night feel and it was packed! Especially for a Sunday night.
We will be back for sure! Highly recommend!

Stopped by for a quick lunch (2p) and we were so impressed by how quickly we were able to get in and out and the wonderful food we had. Parked at dry nearly by parking garage which is very reasonably priced ($ 3). Lunch there is cafeteria style but still dry fresh. We were able to walk right in and sit down without a wait at all.
Me and my husband had the chicken Riggins. Pasta was cooked perfect with chunks of chicken, very spicy creamy sauce. When you dip some of their great stretch bread in that sauce it’s soooooo wonderful and its a must try for those that like spicy foods. They have lemon water set up for you on the house, or you can get bottled water, soda cans. They have a bunch of fresh salads and when we were there had a meatball sub special that looked so good. Very reasonable lunch $ 24 for 2, including sodas — huge portions enough for lunch the next day.
The only thing we missed was maybe a dessert option — although this may have been available and we may mot have seen it. We got a cookie from their bakery across the street which fixed that sweet craving.
We look forward to stopping by some time for dinner, but lunch was wonderful, quick and easy.