II Pastaio Ristorante

I'm so happy to discover this gem of a restaurant! The food is fresh and excellent, pasta cooked perfectly, and the eggplant Parmesan is the best I've had in Colorado. This is a family owned business and has been here for 25 years - don't hesitate just go! But make reservations - it's small and bustling and was full of happy diners!

We were curious how an Italian eatery a little off the beaten path maintained a 4.7-star customer rating. We started with daily in-house baked rolls and the arugula and calamari salads. The salads and dressings were so good that we really needed the rolls to sop up the remaining dressing - Yum! I had their famous Linguine Mare Nero and my wife had the Tilapia alla Vongole w/butter and sage Capellini and we loved every bit of each. So tasty! So, we topped it off with a shared Tiramisu. So now we know their secret: EXCELLENT service (thanks Alfredo and team!) and attention to whatever your table may need along with perfectly prepared and seasoned classic recipes that are so hard to find. We came away from a memorable meal feeling very happy with our choice of Il Pastaio. This is truly great tasting Italian food. Highly recommend!

Il Pastaio is a very special place. Nowhere else in Boulder have I seen such love and care and passion put into a dining experience. The food is delicious; every meal I've ordered here has blown me away. The food is fresh, the pasta is handmade, and the sauces are so flavorful in the best way. I've never let my plate leave the table without first making sure I've eaten every morsel served to me. The service is so sweet and so intentional. Il Pastaio is family run, and they make you feel like family every time you can join them for a meal. The efforts they take to recognize and welcome each and every guest goes such a long way towards making it a special experience; whether you're eating there for the first time or the 10th time. Make sure to make a reservation, because this Mom and Pop Italian shop is well worth your time, and probably my favorite place in Boulder to have dinner!

Some of the best Italian food I’ve ever tasted. We sampled the gnocchi with Alfredo pesto sauce, the lamb with polenta and the Papperdelle Paglia e Fieno Portofino, which I highly recommend. All the pastas and sauces are made fresh and the variety is impressive. You’ll most likely meet the owner and his son who make the rounds ensuring you are enjoying your meal.

My husband and I had a great dining experience at the bar. The owners were especially nice and accommodating. We did not have reservations, but they are usually important. My husband had a delicious fettuccine. I had a half order of spaghetti with 1 meatball. Everything was so tasty. We wish we had room for dessert which was reasonably priced as well. This is the place for homemade Italian food when one is in Boulder. We came all the way from Chicago for this wonderful Italian restaurant.

All the pastas and proteins I’ve had here are fantastic but I particularly love the chicken parm and the pesto gnocchi. I would steer away from some less popular items like their salad though, the one with squid and endives was oily and kind of fishy. Service is super friendly and kind. Lovely local place that I return to time and time again.

Excellent food. We went there during lunch hours. Kinda buffet style where you get to pick one of the vegetables, one choice of lasagna and sauce per plate. All the vegetables are very tasty. We only had one choice of vegetarian lasagna on the day we went. However they said we can call them in the morning and find out the menu. Their food is out of this world. Lasagna was very tasty Update : April 2025 We went there during our visit to Boulder. Still love their food.

Delightful dinner with a beautiful environment. Everyone there took care of each table beautifully. The food was excellent and left me full! Will definitely be recommending to others and coming back again.

One of the best Italian restaurants we've been to. The pastas are house-made, the sauces are consistently excellent, and there are solid vegetarian options--which we really appreciate. We discovered this place by chance while wandering around Boulder and were lucky enough to walk in that first time. Since then, it's become our go-to spot for celebrating special occasions. The food has never disappointed, and the hospitality is always warm and welcoming. Recommended dishes: Chicken Parm Mushroom Ravioli Vegetarian Lasagna Gnocchi Spicy Aurora Sauce Pesto Cream Sauce Note: The restaurant is closed on weekends, so plan accordingly and make a reservation in advance.

Authentic Italian gem hidden away in Boulder. We've dined there dozens of times. The freshly made pasta and sauces are excellent. However this week their special was veal, cheese, ham in a square and fried. Sort of French wannabe looking like a waffle Just no Stick with what you are SOOO good at: Italien heaven. We'll be back!

This place has been around for a long time and I have heard so many recommendations, finally got a chance to try it and I understand the hype! A total hidden gem around the corner from 29th street mall, there are a total of ten tables inside and it's a squeeze but well worth it. We were able to call ahead for a table, but they do take reservations as well. All of their pastas and sauces are made in house, and every single one we tried was delicious. Great portion sizes for the prices, and entire plate is dedicated to the entree such as chicken in lemon sauce and chicken parmesan and another entire plate for the sides of pasta. Butter sage was good, the Alfredo sauce was amazing! Authentic, quaint and homestyle, come hungry and leave happy!

A cozy little restaurant serving up a wide variety of excellent pasta and sauces. It is clean, friendly and I highly recommend. Great place to take a date!

Delicious sauces. I got the eggplant parm this time and very happy with it. Pasta is homemade.

Home-y restaurant with food that reflects that. I keep coming back here when I crave pasta. The food: They make everything from scratch. The pasta is a perfect al-dente texture. The sauces all have a distinct flavor and very well done. Some favorites are Aurora, butter & sage, and pesto cream. The ravioli is stuffed with the right proportion - love their mushroom one. You can buy the pasta and sauce in bulk to take home. The dessert: Tiramisu is decent. The limoncello iced dessert in a glass is my favorite. Lunch vs dinner: Lunch is different where you pick a lasagna, plus sides up by the register. Dinner entrees options can be ordered al a carte any time during the day. Service: Average - nice and polite. It's always packed in there for dinner. Lunch is more relaxed.

My friend was celebrating a milestone birthday and invited me to gallivant around Boulder for the wknd. I booked this little Italian ristorante as a surprise dinner for the two of us and it was a grand slam home run. I searched numerous reviews from amongst my fellow Yelpers in Boulder and this gem was repeatedly a top-5. And also because my friend loooves Italian. Pro tip: they take reservations and they are strongly encouraged. Also, this little family-run restaurant is only open M-F, closed BOTH Sat/Sun (if that doesn't tell you how good they are)! We arrived five minutes early for our Monday 6:30p reservation and all 10 tables in this small establishment were packed. We waited at one of their two nice outdoor tables for less than 10 minutes before being seated - it merely provided just the right amount of time to get familiar with the menu. Staff was incredibly attentive and good-humored to boot. The general process is you pick from among a dozen sauces, from a half-dozen noodle types, and an optional protein (at additional cost). Recommendations were enthusiastically provided by both the experienced host and our waiter. We ultimately went with those recommendations: Verdicchio Pignocco white wine; Mushroom ravioli paired with Alfredo sauce and the Fusilli pasta with the Pesto Cream sauce and added chicken (+$6). The pesto was incredibly fresh-tasting and was a good pairing with the short/twisted ficilli to grab all of that delicious green sauce. But the real hit was the mushroom ravioli. We are both carnivores but so glad we heeded everyone's advice to get this particular ravioli. INCREDIBLE, especially with the alfredo. For desert, we were again recommended the top three items on the menu as those are all made in-house, including the chocolate mousse and tiramisu. We opted to split the mousse and it was equally divine - not too sweet, not too whipped, and with good amounts of cocoa bitterness. Parking is free/easy in this little strip mall. This is hands down the best pasta I have ever had (despite having previously enjoyed a handful of other homemade pasta joints) and with entrees running around $25-30, it was also reasonably priced. I can't wait to come back... some day.

Make reservations in advance if you can - it's tiny but delicious and worth it! The Arabbiata sauce is no joke spice but delicious; the marinara is incredible if you can't quite do spice though. We go here 1-2 times every time we're in town. It's super cute inside!

Very small place and if you go at a really busy hour, I would make a reservation. Food was really good and the prices were reasonable. The the papardelle with shrimp was fantastic! We would go back when in the Boulder area again.

Great family owned business. Our meal was all pasta: Fresh homemade pastas with your choice of sauce. Incredible service, you can tell the staff and family are proud and invested. Clean, Cozy small space with only a few tables and feels so nice and authentic. We felt special to have to opportunity to be present and welcomed. Reservations recommended but not necessary.

Best Italian restaurant in Boulder, hands down. This is a family-run restaurant has some of the best freshly made pasta and sauce that I have found, and service is top notch!

I got the eggplant parm and it was so yummy. The sauce was so flavorful and the handmade pasta is so fresh. I was very impressed and the staff were all super kind. I got it to go but the inside was adorable:)

Inside a cute store/restaurant, the fresh pasta was great! Tried the Pollo alla Francese (4/5), Rigatoni with Pesto (3/5, could use less basil and more cheese/nuts), Papperdelle paglia e fieno portofino (5/5, super tasty and favorite dish), the Flan (4/5, they moved our table so this one was free!), and the tiramisu (4/5). Overall, a nice intimate place with amazing service and kind people. Would recommend!

I love this place! The pasta is made fresh and they are kind enough to list it on their menu from smallest and most delicate pasta to largest. I usually get the pairing of pasta with sauce. Most recently I got Alfredo with bolognese sauce. It came out piping hot. Perfect. In the future I'll skip desert. The cannoli was fine but nothing special. Really the pasta is the show here. Make a reservation. There is very little seating and it fills up fast!

i made an order to pick up, I was greeted by the nicest people, very friendly and attentive! the restaurant is clean and authentically decorated. I ordered the spinach ravioli and 2 meatballs on the side. WOW! absolutely delicious!

Food service outstanding. I picked up a sheet pan lasagna for a gathering at home tonight. I was ready and they provided extra sauce and their delicious homemade rolls!!

We're visiting from out of state and searched Italian nearby. So glad this came up and at first we thought, there is no way this could be good, it's set in a strip mall and the only tables are high tops. We were wrong, from the moment we stepped inside the service was exceptional. We brought our babies so high top tables and little babies isn't easy but they had booster seats for the tables to accommodate us. We all ordered different dishes and each one of yet couldn't stop commenting on how amazing our food was. Food was so fast, service was impeccable and the food was divine. We already talked about going back again because it was that good. I had to eat with one hand since I was holding our newborn for avoid him getting fussy and the chicken was thin enough to cut only with a fork. The creamy pesto sauce for the pasta is something I'll be dreaming about for days. Thank you for a wonderful experience and memorable comfort meal. Highly recommend!!

The vibes of Il Pastaio are unmatched. The food is wonderful and I cannot recommend their butternut squash ravioli enough. We came last for a business dinner and colleagues birthday and they offered a free dessert which she took graciously. We did find a hair on one of the pasta dishes, but they rectified the situation immediately and were more than happy to resolve our concerns. Service was great and food was delicious, we will be back for sure!

Il Pastaio is hands down the best Italian restaurant in town. Their Chicken Francese, Chicken Parmigiana, sautéed mushrooms, homemade pasta/ravioli and sauces (especially the aurora) are all top-notch and are giving some of my favorite places in NYC a run for their money. Every dish we've tried here has been outstanding. It's a small, family-owned restaurant where you can tell how much love they put into it and that's exactly what makes a restaurant like this so amazing! Everyone is always extremely friendly and that's just the cherry on top.

Overpriced. The service was friendly but the food left a lot to be desired. My sauce tasted like Febreze.

This place is incredible! Do yourself a favor and make a reservation at least a day ahead because it's a very small restaurant but it's worth it! The pasta is homemade and so yummy. My husband had the chicken Parmesan and it was perfection. I can't recall the name of my dish, but it was pasta with Alfredo shrimp and mushroom and holy moly. It was incredible. The staff was very friendly and the food came out super fast. I would highly highly recommend!

Always so delicious, their choices of pastas and ravioli to bring home and cook are also incredible.

Wonderful find! Small inside but very cozy ambiance and the food is absolutely delicious! Pasta is all fresh and sauces are amazing. Make sure to get some dessert. Unique gelato flavors. Just a great experience all around

Such a lovely place to go for lunch. (We haven't yet visited for dinner, but will do so in the near future.) Lunch is counter service, while dinner has table service. Lunch consists of an entree, a side dish, a little salad, and a good roll. Choose from one of five entrees. (For example, the last time we visited, the options were beef lasagna, turkey lasagna, veggie lasagna, ravioli, and beef stroganoff, with two different red sauces to top the lasagnas.) Choose one of five side dishes. (The side dish options were broccoli, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and scalloped potatoes.) The salad consisted of nicely dressed mesclun greens, topped with a bit of good bean salad and a couple of slices of Roma tomato. The roll was a substantial artisan-style roll. The food is all cooked from whole, fresh ingredients. The pasta is made from scratch. This is real food. The real deal. Yum. A word about service. The first time we visited, we walked up to the counter and asked the young woman to explain the lunch procedure to us. What we were anticipating, having experienced this at soooo many places in Boulder, was either a deer-in-the-headlights inability to coherently explain even the simplest thing, or a sullen and/or annoyed mumble. What we experienced instead was a pleasant young women who provided a full and useful explanation. And beyond that, her attitude made us feel welcome, rather than like annoyances. Thank you for that! The food. Excellent. Home cooking executed perfectly. Couldn't have asked for a nicer meal. And, I must mention, nothing was too salty. Much less salty than nearly all other restaurants, which was so very nice. Thank you for that! Maceo's beef lasagna was tender and delicious, the arrabiata sauce spicy yet balanced. The scalloped potatoes were delicious. The beef stroganoff (which I never would have thought to order in an Italian restaurant, but which looked so good that I couldn't resist) was delicious. Filled with beef and mushrooms and onion in a beefy cream sauce. Exactly like I would have made it at home. The salad was a nice accompaniment, the greens fresh and the bean salad tasty. (I'm usually not the biggest fan of bean salad, because it tends to be too vinegary, but this bean salad wasn't vinegary at all.) And the substantial roll really added to the meal. (And was good, for rude people such as myself, for absorbing the stroganoff juices.) The cost? $16.00 (which includes the tax). Worth every last penny.

I've eaten here in the past for lunch and recently went for dinner for the first time. We all loved our food! I went with my wife, kids (9/10), and my mom. The food was all delicious and the wine was quite good. The service here is extremely friendly. The restaurant is very small and intimate.

Best home style Italian food in Boulder! Menu has everything you need and nothing you don't. The service is wonderful and you feel like family... It is a true escape!

This place is so cute! The day we went they had lasagna, salad, delicious rolls and a variety of vegetables. I had meat lasagna, Brussels sprouts, salad and bread; my husband had the vegetable lasagna, broccoli, salad and bread. You get a great value for your money. The staff is so sweet and friendly, and the cafe has a warm and cozy feeling. My husband said it reminded him of a restaurant in a Miyazaki movie. The lady who served my lasagna said, "It's not going to cut into a nice square because it's just out of the oven. That's how you know it's extra delicious!" It was!

This restaurant is a well kept secret in Boulder, Colorado! They make their own fresh pasta and the food is really excellent! I am totally hooked on the lemon chicken dish and I've had a hard time ordering anything else because I love it so much! Their lunch specials offer a three course meal where you can choose your main dish and vegetable, along with a wonderful fresh salad and bread roll for less than $15! I really love this place and you will too!

Best Italian food in all of Boulder! I miss visiting this restaurant dearly now that we've moved. It's on my short-list of restaurants to return to next time we visit. It feels like your family is cooking for you, very intimate and wholesome. Ravioli is great and so is the bolognese! You can select your own pasta and sauce when you order to create the dish you most desire. Highly recommend!

We love the fresh pasta, the sauces, the meatballs, and our favorite is lasagne. It is a tiny restaurant, so reservations are a good idea. It is VERY good!!!

This is a hidden gem in Boulder. Family run restaurant and they treat everyone like family. Food is AMAZING!

Fantastic food, excellent service, great vibes, classic intimate family restaurant, hidden gem.

This unassuming Italian Restaurant in Boulder is fantastic. Although the small dining room was full, we were offered a small table for four outside the entrance with a promise of a little something extra for sitting outside and being the first of the season to do so . Everything we had was delightful be the fan favorite was the fusilli with pesto cream sauce (not pictured). The owner's son came to check on us and offered us a free Tiramisu at the end of our meal which was quickly devoured!

Awesome food, amazing service, you got the food very fast, inside was amazing and it felt like real Italy, have a tradition which could make u win a bottle of night each night, so the easiest 5 star ever made

I just finished a fantastic meal here. Chicken fettuccine Alfredo was very well seasoned and fresh. The tiny little dining area has a family feel to it, come early or with reservations or you might wait or eat at the kids table (the two person bar). Great service, great food and reasonable prices. I highly recommend.

Pasta perfect. Kind and hospitable ownership present in service. Clean cared for, welcoming and of the best character! Regards

The food is always prepared perfectly. Il Pastaio is a small family run restaurant with exceptional service. The chicken parmesan is the best I have ever had.

Yum!!! We're from NY, are Cyclists and got married in Italy - we're serious about carbs ;) The pastas and sauces are homemade and that's what makes it special - hearty, rich and so flavorful. We shared the seafood soup which is a special dish only available on Fridays - chalk full of seafood - and the good stuff! Shrimp, muscles, clams, and one big prawn. Could easily make this a meal. We both got linguini - the boy w pesto and me w the basic (tomatoe, garlic and basil). Oh and the bread is soft and chewy too! If you're new to altitude, or doing something outdoorsy or just want authentic Italian food - look no more. Tho make a ressie if you can. We went Friday at 4pm and they were turning away people without bookings past 5pm.

Four of us had the best dinner. Minestrone soup to start. Then sautéed mushrooms and calamari salad. Then I had the chicken francaise, my wife had fettuccini matriciana ( tomato, onions, pancetta), one of us had ravioli zucca (butternut squash filled), and one of us added salmon to their pasta in a red sauce. It's all fresh pasta, and it was all al dente. Two cannolis to finish up. A masterful dinner, and at a good price to boot.

Try something different tonight. Linguini shrimp Alfredo sauce. It's very good and creamy. I would recommend.

Went here for the Valentine's Day dinner. At $75 per person set dinner I expected a lot more. A small cup of soup, which was good, a very small portion of ravioli that was also good. But the main dish was very disappointing - I was served a couple of boiled brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes with my veal parmesan. No pasta. And for dessert a champagne glass of cream and one macaron! The food was ok, but for the price I paid I left feeling a little dissatisfied.

Authentic and incredible Italian dishes. Family recipes that are worth a special trip. I got the take out homemade pasta and sauces for a cold and snowy winter weekend. Amazing.

Yea, so I have been back here like 4 other times since that first time. HANDS DOWN the best Italian, maybe under the radar place in Boulder. The Pollo alla Francese is LITERALLY Insane. Chicken lightly cooked with lemon butter sauce. I now only order this with rigatoni with basilico sauce. Crushes it.

II Pastaio is excellent! The service was wonderful and the food was superb. We can't wait to return. I highly recommend this restaurant. I wish I was a restaurant critic so I could better describe the freshness and delicious flavors of all of our meals. I highly recommend II Pastaio.

Amazing! Well well. Delicious food and wine. Great family owned atmosphere and service.

Oh my goodness, what a gem in this strip mall. Small space with 10 tables inside and 2 tables outside the front door. All food is authentic, pasta made fresh in house and sauces so simple but so delicious. We were in town on a vacation and so happy we found this spot. Reservations really necessary since such a small space. The antipasto was perfect for our party of 4 and loaded with goodies. The warm dinner rolls are HUGE and slightly sweet. All dishes delicious. Too full for dessert but bought one to go..for later in evening! Boulder residents take note..this is a special treat.

Excellent food , busy place but serving desk very patient and friendly. Has to buy whole lunch and not entrees from lunch sections separately. Quality and taste to the par

I love this place! They have a great lunch special as well as fresh pastas that you can take home. So good! I love to support this business.

Unpretentious solid Italian food. Fresh pasta and a few interesting entrees. Love the ravioli in particular b/c of the wide variety of fillings. Tried the eggplant and chicken. Solid eggplant parm. House wine is nice touch. Don't forget to get pasta / sauces to go so you can enjoy at home.