El Paso, TX
(915) 842-0775
Italian Kitchen West
Italian Kitchen West opened in 2006, and is the west side outpost of Italian Kitchen, a small restaurant on Pershing Drive in central El Paso that is popular with the local population. Judging from the business that the west side location is doing, it seems to have become quite popular as well.
One outstanding feature of Italian Kitchen is the budget prices that are charged, especially at lunch. Traditionally most dinners have fallen within my low cost ($) category, although they fall into the moderate range if you order a soup or salad, something that I think is a necessity to have a more balanced meal than just a red sauce dish and side of spaghetti. Post-Covid nothing is really ($) but Italian Kitchen is easier on the pocketbook than most restaurants.
The interior of Italian Kitchen West is not elegant, and I would say whether it is comfortable or not depends on where you sit. It is a family restaurant, though, and is not meant to be fine dining–just neighborhood Italian food. The service is excellent, and once you become one of the “family” of regular diners they will probably know your preferences without having to mention them.
Italian Kitchen West has a pretty impressive bar with a big screen television. I am happy that the sound of the TV is normally off, but if you are interested in a program it will be raised enough to hear it at the bar.
Salads and Appetizers
The Minestrone Soup comes with a dark broth and I would say is relatively unflavorful. One order I received had an almost total lack of vegetables, but others have been more substantial.
Antipasto Salad
The Antipasto Salad was quite fresh and enjoyable. I thought the meat was much better than average, tasting like something that was either home made or that the restaurant had spent some effort in finding good quality. I have heard from various sources that they liked Italian Kitchen more than I did, and perhaps the cold cuts (something I do not normally order) was one of the factors that earned the restaurant its following.
Garden salad
The Garden Salad was quite enjoyable and I think is my favorite salad here.
Garlic bread
Italian Kitchen serves the old style garlic bread that consists of toasted buns with garlic butter. While this is not gourmet, I would classify it as enjoyable.
Main Dishes
As a veteran diner at the original location, I am pretty familiar with the food. I have always found the Lasagna to be enjoyable, although I do not consider it particularly noteworthy.
The Eggplant Parmigiana at Italian Kitchen West is topped with the restaurant’s unremarkable red sauce, but the eggplant itself has what I consider to be a better than average flavor (that is, that it does not taste very much like eggplant). Like most dishes here, I would say that it is good but not great, and worth the money that is charged.
Manicotti is indistinguishable from the other dishes when looking at it covered with red sauce. The ricotta cheese inside, though, makes it arguably more enjoyable than many other dishes served (possibly tied with the lasagna).
Rigatoni
The Rigatoni Primavera was quite good and is a vegetarian dish that is quite satisfying. Remember, though, that I am talking about low priced food that gives you a lot for the money.
Chicken picatta
I tried the Chicken Picatta because I was surprised they had such an upscale dish. Perhaps it was not a surprise that an item with a somewhat delicate sauce seemed to come on way too strong and in my opinion was a disappointment.
Pizza
Pizza with olives
Pizza is the one dish that truly got me excited about the food here. El Paso has a surprising number of very good pizzas, and I count the one here among them. Although the cheese is not the most remarkable in town, I thought it was quite good. Several toppings are available, and the black olives I tried were good. The best part of the pizza, though, compared to others in town, was the crust. This was perfectly cooked and crispy with a good flavor. I do not know what is considered the proper crispiness for a pizza crust, but I liked this one quite a bit.
Sausage and pepperoni pizza
Other pizzas are just as good, and it does not seem to depend on only getting certain toppings to get a good pizza.
A Summary
Sometimes I find the low prices, service, and neighborhood atmosphere more of an attraction than the food, but the food is fresh and flavorful. Probably more than anything, I appreciate the fact that patrons are not paying for the atmosphere as is the case with many of the upscale Italian restaurants. This is a “family restaurant” in every sense of the term.
RATING: 18
Cuisine: Italian
Cost: $$
Hours: Closed Mon.
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: Beer, Wine
Most Recent Visit: Feb. 19, 2026
Number of Visits: 8
Best Items: Pizza, Salad, Rigatoni
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Rigatoni |
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Pizza |
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Lasagna |
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Eggplant Parmigiana |
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Manicotti |
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Scallopini |
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Chicken Picatta |
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Salad |