Loring Pasta Bar

Since our anniversary was coming up and we wanted to try someplace a little different, we decided to go to the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown last week for dinner. Our wedding reception was held at the Varsity theater, which is owned by the same people that own Loring Pasta Bar, so they do all of the catering for the Varsity. The food was one of the many reasons I chose the Varsity for our venue.

It looked like they had rearranged some of the seating areas and added more balcony seating, but otherwise the Loring was pretty much unchanged from six years ago. (Has it been that long since we’ve been back? I guess so!) Anyway, we made a reservation, but it was probably not needed, as the restaurant was not that full and they have lots of seating. Though our table was very tiny, hardly enough room for our plates and drinks and it was in the walkway so John kept having people bump into his chair. For ambiance they had a band playing downstairs, and the sound levels were perfect. It was loud enough you could hear the music, but not so loud that you had to yell to converse.

I had the chicken ravioli napolitana, which had mozzarella and chevre cheeses, tomatoes, roasted garlic and olive oil on top. I really liked this dish. The pasta was cooked perfectly and it had rich flavors in every bite.

 John had the spaghetti with meatballs. Make that meatball. A gigantic meatball. The spaghetti was cooked to a perfect al dente.   The meatball had a nice spice to it too.

We ordered the crème brulee for dessert. It sounded so good, I could not pass it up. And it was excellent.

The service was good, though the server was a bit slow to refill the water glasses on a couple occasions.

By the way, we learned the hard way that the Loring pasta Bar offers valet parking for just $3. We did not see that until we were walking up to the door and have driven around the area and parked in a ramp for far more money.

Deals and Discounts: 20% off for students excluding Fridays and Saturdays 5-close.


Loring Pasta Bar
327 14th Ave SE,
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 378-4849
http://loringpastabar.com/