El Paso, TX
(915) 875-0002
Pasta Avanti
Pasta Avanti seems to have been around ever since I moved here from the Northeast (not the New York “Northeast” but the Dyer Street Northeast). I have had some more recent meals, though, allowing a more up to date review.
Although its address is on Mesa the restaurant is not visible until you start to make the curve on Crossroads Drive. To say it is “out of sight, out of mind” might be an understatement (a translator at the United Nations once gave the German version of this as being a “blind idiot” but Pasta Avanti certainly is not this). Speaking personally, this is a restaurant I do not think about often mainly because I do not see it often.
Other people give the restaurant mixed reviews and I am pretty much in the same camp. The first two reviews I saw on Google Maps gave it one star and then five, respectively. I would not put it on either of these extremes, though. Instead I would have more faith in Yelp which suggested alternative restaurants as being Salt Grass Steakhouse (3.5 stars) or Cheddar’s (3.7 stars). To me Pasta Avanti has some items that remind me of chain restaurant fare while others point out why I think in large part local restaurants are worth patronizing.
The Food
Spaghetti combo
An Uber Eats order brought me a “Half Eggplant Parmigiana and Half Baked Spaghetti Combo Pasta” dinner that I enjoyed. For me I thought both the Spaghetti and the Eggplant Parmigiana fell a little short of what I get at Como’s. I do not interpret this as meaning that Como’s is a better restaurant, but rather that I should try other items because each restaurant has its own specialties. I did find also, though, that having all these items together somewhat made up for any perceived deficiencies in individual dishes.
One item that did come together for me was the Minestrone Soup, which I thought was far better than at most restaurants.
The Bread was excellent as well.
Other Comments
The restaurant is only open for dinner, so this will limit the number of times I will probably try the food. There is definitely enough here that I would like to explore the menu a bit.
RATING: 20
Cuisine: Italian
Cost: $$
Hours: Dinner only Tue-Sat; Lunch only on Sun. (closed Mon.)
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: Not listed on Yelp, and I don’t know whether they have it or not
Most Recent Visit: Mar. 5, 2022
Number of Visits: 6
Best Items: Minestrone, Spaghetti
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Spaghetti |
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Minestrone |
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Bread |
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Eggplant Parmigiana |
Was there a significant difference in food quality between your Uber experience at Avanti and the times you’ve visited the restaurant? In the Albuquerque area, many of the food delivery companies tend to leave the food on the patio without announcing that they’ve deposited it. Then after you’ve discovered it, it’s usually cold.
Excellent point. In this case I think the packing was good and it is not a long distance from my house so the food was fresh. I have an app that tells me when the food is delivered. It is funny you ask because I did have a bad experience the previous time I ordered from Avanti. The driver did not get there until almost closing time so they cancelled the order. I had signed up for a trial version of Uber One where you get one month free. When they cancelled the order the clock was still ticking on the trial subscription and it was a while before I could make more orders where I could use the Uber One discount. There was no way to contact the company and get them to give me the full month I was supposed to have. Heads they win and tails we lose.