Fasta Pasta

Breaks my heart to see this place closed. I wish Ivan and his family nothing but the best.

They always say the hole in the wall restaurants are the best and in this case it is so true! Having a 2 year old is hard going out to restaurants and this was take out only which is perfect. OMG the food exceeded our expectations! We will be coming back next time we are in Tahoe!

OK… it was a bit concerning finding this place in the back of a liquor store… but we had checked Unilocal, and it got good ratings. So we ordered 4 different dinners for 5 people. We all shared the meals, and every one of them was Excellent!!! Maybe the best pasta I’ve had?
There was more than enough food for us, with left-​overs. We had the Chicken Marsala, Tomato Basil cream sauce, Tortalini, and Alfredo. Dinner was under $ 35 for all the meals, including garlic bread. AMAZING! Anytime I am in South Lake Tahoe, I will visit Fasta Pasta! Kudos to the guy who thought this one up!!!

Sitting here right now watching my food be made. Cannot tell you how excited I am to feast tonight!
He’s a one man show and it is incredible.

4 stars on the pasta alone. I’ve been here enough times to know what I like. If I venture around, I might get something I really dislike (for example that meat sauce that tasted like spaghetti-​os).
This time around I ordered the Alfredo cream with mushrooms and peas. I also ordered the tomato cream sauce with Italian sausage. Both were delicious! Very tasty and large in portions. I added some extra cheese and pepper flakes at home, a dash more salt and inhaled it. For $ 8 and change it was definitely worth it.
I’m giving up on the garlic bread. I’ve never thoroughly enjoyed it and I’ve ordered it three times already. It’s not that great to me. It seems like he takes some dinner rolls, pan fry it in butter, and then throws Huge chunks of garlic and rosemary on top sprinkled with red wine and cheese. Sounds delicious but nothing marries together. Sometimes the bread is burnt and bitter, the garlic and rosemary is cut too large and doesn’t adhere to the bread. Some times it’s too wine-​y. I’ll pass next time.
Tried the $ 4 pizza. They aren’t huge pizzas, more like app size. But for $ 4 they’re nice. Just a simple sauce cheese and basil on top.
Take a look at the fotos and check out his menu and do your best to call ahead of time. If not, you’re most likely in for a wait.

Delicious, affordable, home-​style pasta. Simple menu, loooong wait, best to call in order, cash only.

So unexpected to find this gem of a restaurant inside of a random liquor store! The pasta was cheap and very tasty and in portions that are probably enough to share (if you can agree on a noodle and sauce combination!) I was planning to save half mine for tomorrow’s lunch but I found myself sneaking back into the kitchen to finish it off… It was so good I couldn’t help myself. From my experience, it is pretty fast if there is no one in line ahead of you, but as other reviewers have mentioned, this is a one man operation so if there are orders ahead of yours, you might have a bit of a wait. Even that’s not the end of the world, just play some Mario on the Nintendo and relax!

Best pasta place I’ve ever had. My husband is Italian so it’s always an adventure when we go out of town looking for great Italian restaurants. This place had high reviews so we decided to check it out tonight.
My husband got the spaghetti with meat sauce and I got angel hair pasta with creamy Marsala. Then we split an order of garlic bread. WOW this place is amazing. A hole in the wall kind of a place as its inside of a liquor store but we got some wine while waiting for our pasta. Highly recommend this place and we will defiantly eat here again on our next trip.

Wow, this is a great authentic Italian food to go place. The chef/​owner is from Italy, and he makes all of the food. It was about $ 8 – 10 a plate, and so worth it. We could have ordered one one plate and his amazing garlic bread and been just fine. The chicken Marsala was Amazing! Serving sizes were good. His place is attached to a local market, but don’t be deceived. He closes at 8pm, but you can tell all the locals come get there food here to go. We’ll be back for sure

Where can you find cheap amazing pasta nowadays that is not microwavable stuff from Trader Joes? This place is definitely a one of a kind! Big portion, CHEAP, amazing yummy pasta!
Located inside a liquor store, don’t expect to dine and be served wine and shit. You choose the noodle, sauce, and extra $$ for meat and veggies.
I got the fettuccine marsala sauce with chicken and my bf got the fettuccine alfredo cream with chicken too. We both like the alfredo cream sauce better! Both costs less than $ 20! Score!

Excellent Italian food and for a great price.
This place is located inside of a liquor store so you just might miss it. But if you happen to venture upon it, you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.
The options are limited and there’s only one guy taking orders and preparing the food. But he clearly knows what he’s doing and makes some awesome pasta dishes.
My bf got the penne with meat sauce and sausages, and I got the penne with basil tomato sauce, chicken and peas. We also ordered the garlic bread to share and cannolis for dessert. The pastas were delicious… had a nice bite to the pasta and the sauces were extremely flavorful. The garlic bread was pretty epic too… tons of herbs and garlic sprinkled on top of a soft and chewy bread. I could have passed on the cannolis though. They were pretty average.
The wait was a little long but understandable considering the popularity of this place (he had a line of customers waiting), and it being a one man show. But it’s well worth the wait!

This place is great perfect after that long 3 hour drive form the Bay Area.
The portions are large, great for family style. The prices are very reasonable. We ordered the spaghetti pasta with meat sauce and added carrots and peas to make it nutritiously complete.
This place gives me the feeling of the hole in the wall local joint– that feels like you a 49er miner digging for gold in Tahoe, but came up short, and then walk in here but can still can get a hearty meal and bier.
Yes a bier! This place shares space with the liquor store.
There are only two of them that work there (at least from what I know). The owner/​chef and his wife/​cashier. So service can be a little slow.
There is only one small table to eat.
Most people will call to place an order and then come by and pick it up to go.
However, you can wait there and play Nintendo.

Fasts Pasta might make great food, but good luck getting it!
We read the reviews and phoned ahead to order take-​out around 6pm. We were told that tonight «was a special night» and he was closed. Not to worry — he suggested we try again the next night and were told he would be open till 8pm. Swell!
The next night we phoned and no one answered, so we decided to stop in (around 6pm). The place was deserted. The guys in the bottle shop told us he hadn’t been in at all today. I suppose the night before had been a very special night indeed!
This place no doubt has great, well-​priced food, but if you plan to go here you should also make a back up plan.

This place is for take out only. When I got there the only one chef owner said no more bread. It was like 6, he kinda said was closing already. But still was ok to make us food. So pasta the only thing we can order. I saw the reviews, seem like food are really good. So I didn’t might just to take out.
All I could say, they really taste good, it did take a while to wait, since he is the only one there. I think it worth it, my son love it, I love it. Since we both not a fan of pasta at all.
If u don’t mind the wait and take out. Must go try.
Price is good portion is big. Too bad they didn’t have bread. That was the only thing missing.

Had Fettuccine noodle with chicken and veggies. A good mix of veggies, and the grilled chicken had a very delicious flavor. Simply HUGE serving size — felt like at least a pound of pasta. Ambiance is non-​existent, so did take-​out. I wish they had a healthier version of pasta (e.g., whole wheat), but I doubt enough other people share that view to make it possible. Anyway, a really good deal for a whole lot of food — come hungry. Come very hungry.

Tops of my list of the best pasta I had. Tahoe is gifted to have such a fantastic spot.
Run in a small grocery joint by a old couple. They will make it fresh and hot.
It will take some time to get your order, so place your order prior to your arrival.
I will recommend to try all of them as they are so well. Cant say more than that. Gem of a place.

Found this place courtesy of Unilocal.It is definitely in the back of a liquor store and definitely legit. We arrived at around 7pm on a Friday night after Christmas. There were a couple of people waiting before us. We were told that it would be about a 25 minute wait which was fine considering the entertainment that they have there (Old School Mario). It was fun watching the owner make the pasta and garlic bread. I never get a chance to see food made like that. The two people there were so friendly. We ordered three pastas, fettucini alfredo with chicken, fettucini marsala with bell pepper, spaghetti and meatball and two servings of garlic bread. The place overall seems a little disorganized but worked. If you’re in the area and have a craving for some carbs this is the place to go. Its a good amount of food for a very good price.

Disregard my check in comment, we decided to come back and wait for the owner and found him! He went to go visit a neighbor briefly. Found Fasta Pasta on Unilocal before heading to South Lake Tahoe. I wasn’t sure if my husband would’ve been down to try this place out and I’m glad he was open to it. We meet Ivan who was super accommodating and friendly. As all UnilocalER’s mentioned, this place has Super Mario Bros while you wait for your pasta. I was a super Mario addict back in the 80’s and can’t believe I remembered a short cut to get to a different world!
Hubby and I decided to share a to go container of pasta and garllc bread. We ordered a Penne Pasta with Tomato Cream and Sausage. I must say, one of the best pastas I’ve had in a long time. The pasta was so delicious and what’s great is you can watch Ivan do his magic in his open kitchen. The garlic bread is unforgettable, so tasty with the pasta especially when you add the garlic crumbs on top of the pasta. YUM! BTW, we found some picnic tables in front of the lake and had our lunch there. Perfect combination!

The staff is super nice. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to order so she made some suggestions. We ordered chicken fettuccine Alfredo and chicken penne with meat sauce and garlic bread for $ 22 isn’t a bad deal for Italian dinner.
With all the Unilocal reviews, and the only chef is cooking our meal, I was getting super excited for the food. So our wait time for the food was —- minutes, and the chef was making everything to order.
Only downside is that the restaurant is super small and there was already people in front of us sitting at the two tables they have. While waiting, more and more people were ordering, the line got all the way into
the liquor store.
The pasta was cooked perfectly and portions are big.

An Italian joint located inside a liquor store. That’s a first for me!
After a day on the slopes, all I could think of was a plate full of comfort. Nothing else comes to mind but Italian food made with love. I pulled up my trusty Unilocal app and spotted this place. Run by the owner himself, we lucked out when we got here because there was no one else but us. After placing our order, we could see a line forming and that’s when all the waiting started. Tip: Come before peak hours.
It took about 20 – 30 minutes for our food to be ready. Ivan, the owner does everything himself and it amazes me how he can do it all. A one man show indeed. Impressive!
We ordered FETTUCCINE in MARSALA CREAM SAUCE with chicken, PENNE in PESTO CREAM SAUCE with chicken, and PAN FRIED PIZZA. Everything is served in a styro container in really hefty portions. Two people can probably share one order of pasta. The pasta dishes were both flavorful and comforting. You can tell he makes everything from scratch here including the pasta. It’s cooked al dente and does not have that artificial or processed taste to it. I love it! Very delicious. What’s even better is the fact that each order costs about $ 10 only. Great value! I wish I could say the same for the pizza. Serving is for one person only and half of our pizza was burnt. We pretty much ate the unburnt half of it and threw the rest away. I would steer clear from it if possible and stick with his pasta creations instead. You won’t be disappointed!
There’s almost no space to eat here except for one teeny tiny table and a bench to sit on while waiting. Most people get their food to-​go. I would do the same unless you want to have everyone in line stare at you while you’re digging into your carbs. It’s cash only but an ATM machine is available inside. Va bene!
Would I come back? When I’m in town, definitely yes!