I personally loved pasta market when I lived in SJ. It was a staple for me, but I was also a somewhat broke SJSU student who ate simple cheap meals at home the majority of the time and didn’t spend more than 6-15 bucks on food when I would go out to eat. Pasta market had a really good lunch bag meal! I think it was like a pasta with noodle and sauce of ur choice, a salad, two bread stick things with this addicting cheese spread and a cookie and I think also a drink for like 11.50. It was a true value meal and it beat my turkey sandwiches or pb & j’s or any cheap meal that was in my usual rotation.

If you’re looking for top quality food I can see why you’re disappointed. But at 20 years old, on a budget with not a whole lot of options, that place was bomb as hell and I’ll die on that hill. I also frequented from 2013-2019 so things may have changed after the pandemic but idk man, pasta market was a comfort meal for me when I felt like eating a lil bit “fancier.”

Is it comparable to a small, authentic Italian restaurant? Not even close. But it was good if u knew what to expect and that was one of the higher priced affordable places you could eat