Pasta Sisters Marks 10 Years With $8 Pasta Day

Pasta Sisters is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month by rolling back prices to 2015.

On Sept. 23 only, the family-owned restaurant will serve its classic Tomato & Basil with Spaghetti for $8 (regularly $15). The price is a nod to Pasta Sisters’ opening menu and the viral Buzzfeed video that declared their $8 pasta better than a $100 dish in Los Angeles link

And in honor of 10 years, below 10 favorite Pasta Sisters facts.

1.     They are the only U.S. restaurant with a tortellini machine approved by the Bologna Chamber of Commerce and Learned Brotherhood of the Tortellino to make this pasta by machine vs. hand. 

2.     Matriarch Paola Da Re was part of an Italian expat community that gathered at Beverly Hills’ Caffè Roma in the ’80s. At 18, she met a young Celestino Drago, who encouraged her to open a restaurant instead of the commercial kitchen she was planning – and the rest is history.

3.     Drago once said Paola’s eggplant parmigiana is one of the best he’s ever had — high praise since she’s from Northern Italy and the dish is usually claimed by Sicilian cooks.

4.     All pastas and sauces are made fresh daily (starting at 4 a.m.).

5.     They source 00 flour from a mill near their hometown in Veneto that uses 100% Italian grain – truly no additives whatsoever.

6.     They cover 100% of healthcare plan costs for FT staff; many of their first 15 employees are still with them.

7.     An inspiring American dream story in difficult times: the family immigrated from Northern Italy, the matriarch (who didn’t speak English yet) went from nannying to opening a storefront when those families said she must, started with a tiny spot in Mid-City, grew slowly to 3 locations, see regular lines out the door…and have kept affordability a priority all the way through (as a struggling family in their early days, this was key).

8.     Their dishes come directly from generational Italian family recipes.

9.     While a sad note, I share in case there is ever an opportunity to revisit the story and source new leads: years ago, a burglar stole their restaurant safe, which tragically included their grandmother’s diary of recipes, housekeeping notes, and memories of life in Northern Italy. With today’s internet crime solvers, you never know….maybe it could be returned one day

10.  For the first time, they’re open to franchising — but only to fellow small businesses, not large groups or private equity. Hoping to support another American dream.