Pasta Luna restaurant on W. Broad shuts down
-- Pasta Luna has served its last penne.
The Italian restaurant at 8902 W. Broad St. in western Henrico County closed last week after nearly 15 years in that location.
Executive chef Peter T. Caserta blamed economic reasons for the restaurant's demise.
"We had a long run, a good run," he said. "But location has changed everything; everything has shifted to more out west."
During its tenure, Pasta Luna was the recipient of numerous readers' choice awards for favorite Italian restaurant.
In 2005, Caserta opened a second Pasta Luna, in Midlothian. In late 2007, he changed the name to Rigatoni.
That location closed in January 2008.
As for his next move, Caserta said it's all based on the economy.
"So many restaurants are way off [their profits]," he said. "We thought we'd take a rest. But we may come back when the economy gets better."
-- Melissa Ruggieri
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Reader Reactions
My husband and I used to stop at Pasta Luna to eat on our way back to NC from NJ. I am sorry to hear it has closed. But, from reading the comments, it seemed to have gone downhill!!! We always had great food there, we are Italian, we know how Italian food should be cooked, and that is why we would make a special stop to eat there. We used to bring food home with us for friends who had eaten there too. It was always the highlight of our trip back to NC, stopping at Pasta Luna to have great food, big portions and friendly servers. Sounds like something started going very wrong there.
A company I worked for had their annual Christmas party at this place and believe me when I tell you, I was not impressed.
The service was lousy, the food wasn’t that good (but who was I to complain? It was free) and for it to be a company party, it wasn’t planned very well.
Sorry that people had to lose their jobs but as far as the restaurant closing as a whole, no skin off my nose.
I never cared for their “family style” way of serving. One of the joys of eating out is getting exactly what I want and not having to find the lowest common denominator that eveyone will eat.
I have been to this restaurant about 4 times and the food NEVER was good to me. I am surprised they were in business this long. It won’t be missed. Come to think about it, why does the dispatch consider this news anyway? Lots of restaurants in this area are going out business. This is NOT news!!!
Look here, as a rule, Italian restaurants are a rip-off. Anyone can boil pasta and top it with sauce, etc. Good riddance “Pasta” Luna, go sell spaghetti o’s someplace else.
I must echo the sentiments of others here: Pasta Luna started its slide into restaurant oblivion years ago. Years ago, when I first moved to Richmond, Pasta Luna was a dining destination. My first meal there was, as I remember, pretty good. I think I had some pumpkin ravioli. Expensive for what it was, but still decent. However, both subsequent visits over the years revealed deep flaws in the administration of their business. Servers were inattentive and borderline rude. Substitutions were made for key ingredients without first checking with the customer (note: shrimp are NOT an acceptable substitute for scallops). We waited to get silverware while our food sat getting warm at the table.
There are too many good restaurant values in this city to pay hard earned money to be taken for granted and treated poorly. I can get my abuse for free, thank you.
Oh, well, Pasta Luna… you can blame your demise on the economy, but really it was your business practice which led to this end.
I ate there for a business lunch about four years ago. Needless to say, in the four years since, I haven’t been back. Why? The service was absolutely terrible. Our waiter had a snotty attitude, very condescending, almost arrogant…like he was doing us a favor by deigning to bring us food. I was tempted to remind him who was wearing the suit and talking business and who was schlepping spaghetti.
Normally, I would have given the place a second chance because anyone can have a bad day. But the entire staff acted just like our waiter. Pasta Luna is one of maybe three places that I have gone to once and never gone back. Service really is everything.
Despite Peter’s comment regarding the location or economic times, the average at best food, plus the average at best service, combined with higher than average prices are what drove them out. There are far to many lower priced, higher quality Italian options in town that don’t have the “chain” type feel to them.
Maybe I was wrong…
After looking at customer reviews, it seems that the food and service was the reason this restaurant kicked the bucket.
Why is this even newsworthy? Many restaurants and retailers have shut their doors in the past few months.
Never been there, but I’ve heard it was expensive. That’s probably the main reason it’s shutting - people are starting to realize how much of a ripoff it is to pay $25 for a pasta dish. Be frugal and fix your own food!
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