DINING OUT: Pastabilities
Syracuse restaurant twinkles with promise of good warm meals during winter months
By Julie McMahon

Pastabilities literally shines during the winter. The lighting display can be seen from the streets of Armory Square and entices customers to this already uber-popular downtown Syracuse restaurant.
Reservations are recommended at this hopping spot — and they’re easy to make online. The business uses the Toast application to handle its reservations and takeout orders. We were seated within five minutes of our reservation.
Of course, once seated, we started with spicy hot tomato oil, the restaurant’s famous staple and on-the-house appetizer, served with its homemade stretch bread. This is what we came for, we were reminded after our first bites. The oil is delightfully spicy with just the right kick of heat. We each remarked that we had a different take on the heat, with one of us noting it had inspired perspiration, and the other barely affected at all. Delicious, either way.

Both the spicy hot tomato oil and stretch bread can be purchased across the street at Pasta’s Daily Bread, for patrons to make their own takes on the restaurant’s popular dishes.
The tomato oil has taken on such a life of its own, it’s also available to purchase at many local grocery stores. The restaurant in 2024 started making a spicier version that it sells too. For this and other reasons, the restaurant was featured on Food Network by Guy Fieri for the second time, in 2024.
Alongside the spicy hot tomato oil, we enjoyed a couple of drinks from Pastabilities’ lengthy drink menus with seasonal specials. We went for the Pom-Berry Sangria and a glass of Chianti.
The sangria ($14) was dry, tart and fruity — a good blend of winter spices highlighting the classic drink. The Chianti was a nice Italian wine ($9), also dry and easy on the palate.
For an appetizer we ordered the Spiced-Pear and Apple Burrata ($16). Some of the fruit in the dish was fresh-sliced, and the other fruit was reduced with balsamic vinegar and spices, making for a really tasty compote-like spread. The moist, delicate burrata pulled apart seamlessly. It was served with salted greens and nuts. The arugula and nuts all came together with the fruit and cheese to make for a flavorful, sweet and salty bite. This dish ended up being a comforting winter salad, one of the highlights of the meal.

For our entrees, we chose the chicken parmesan special ($29) and a classic pasta, a fettucine with Hot Tom Alfredo ($21), which was a mix of the restaurant’s enterprise sauce and a classic alfredo.
This is in the section of the menu titled “Guest-Created Sauce Combinations” and it’s no wonder customers put these two sauces together. The hot tom oil makes for a spicy, modern twist on a classic Italian dish. Topped with Locatelli cheese, the dish is extra indulgent, but the spicy hot tomato oil cuts the alfredo, making it a little light and easier to digest what would be a very rich sauce.
This entrée highlighted that the spicy hot tomato oil in all its diversity really is a thing to behold.
The chicken parm was very good, too. Two large — breaded and fried — chicken breasts with melted mozzarella were served atop a bed of linguine and tomato sauce.
The chicken was breaded and fried to perfection. The tender and juicy meat with a light breading and sautee made for a lighter dish than it looked like with the two massive cuts of meat. A nice healthy topping of mozzarella added moisture and a nice saltiness to the dish, making it melt in your mouth. The sauce itself was fresh and light, a classic tomato sauce.

The pasta in both of our entrees was fresh and al dente, excellent, proving it really makes a difference to have fresh, homemade pasta.
The portions for both entrees were way too big to finish in one sitting. If prices appear a bit high, know that you’ll end up going home with leftovers. Nothing is basic here — what appear as basic dishes have a special flare and are made in huge portions, so you won’t be disappointed.
Our bill came to just over $100 with drinks, an appetizer, entrees for two and a dessert. Our server Nikki was attentive and kind, checked in on us regularly but wasn’t intrusive. Disco music played most of the dinner. The din of other diners picked up throughout the night, to make for a lively atmosphere.
Everything came out quickly with a little bit of a wait for dessert. This gave us the perfect chance to digest and take in our surroundings.
We finished our meal with a light dessert, a salted caramel pot de crème ($7), which lived up to its name with the prominent flavor of salted caramel. The dish was delightfully caramel-forward in the drizzle on top and in the crème itself. We enjoyed a cappuccino ($5) along with dessert. It was well-made, coffee shop quality.
Ultimately this salty, creamy, small but mighty dessert was the perfect ending for a delicious meal.

Pastabilities
315-474-1153
311 S. Franklin St., Syracuse, NY 13202
Lunch: Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Dinner: Sunday through Thursday, 4 – 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4 – 10 p.m.
info@pastabilities.com • pastabilities.com