"For a casual pasta situation, hit up The Italian Homemade Company. The original North Beach location is our favorite. It’s got a parklet with bar stools, lively music playing in the background, and a “pasta lab” behind the register where you can watch the employees make fresh pasta. To order, just walk up to the register and mix and match your choice of sauce with one of their housemade pastas. Our go-tos are the pappardelle with bolognese or the tortellini with butter and sage." - julia chen 1, lani conway