Pasta Cucina restaurants strive to make good food affordable
These days, when people eat out, they're looking for a good meal at a great price.
They still want to go to nice restaurants, says Mark LaVoie, vice president of food and beverage for Station Casinos. But it has to be affordable.
To meet the needs of guests looking for value, the company opened Pasta Cucina, an Italian restaurant specializing in fresh, handmade cuisine, with nothing priced more than $20. The restaurant opened in five Station Casinos properties last month: Palace, Boulder, Sunset, Texas and Aliante.
"In general, what we really wanted to do was offer really classic Italian cuisine while also presenting a value proposition to guests again," LaVoie says.
The ingredients used at Pasta Cucina restaurants are what you'd find at a fine dining restaurant, he adds. But the atmosphere is comfortable and casual.
The dining rooms vary in size, but each has new furniture, new decor and certain touches that will brand the restaurants in guests' minds.
Reservations are not necessary. The restaurants are open from 5 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Specialties: meat lasagna, $10.99; shrimp scampi, $14.99
Appetizers: calamari fritti, $8.99; tomato bruschetta, $6.99; spinach and artichoke dip, $7.99
Soups and salads: Caesar salad with grilled chicken, $10.99; insalata Italiana with salami, $9.99; minestrone soup, $4.99
Entrees: chicken parmesan with spaghetti marinara, $12.99; chicken marsala, $12.99; rigatoni and sausage, $11.99
Desserts: tiramisu and cheesecake, each $4.99
By SONYA PADGETT
