Pasta is a menu mainstay, a best bet, a beloved classic. It carries trends deftly, offering a familiar, satisfying base for in-demand flavors and ingredients. That hasn’t changed. But today, we’re clocking a shift in how pasta is coming to market—with huge support from enthusiastic diners.

This is the era of the casualization of pasta, taking shape in a number of ways across the country and offering a roadmap for operators to new opportunity waiting to be explored. Today’s trend reflects a change in consumer preferences toward more relaxed and accessible dining experiences. “The casualization of pasta is proving once again that pasta is a culinary chameleon,” says Liz Moskow, food futurist and consultant. “Pasta is being embraced by Gen Z and younger Millennials as not just a comfort food, but a hip and versatile option for casual yet quality dining experiences. It’s emerging as an adaptable dish that works across price points and dining occasions.”

Credit: Mariel Frew

The Aglio Olio is one of six classic pasta dishes served for under $20 at the newly opened Love, Pasta, in Jackson, Mich.

A number of factors are giving rise to pasta’s new positioning. Early indicators of this trend bubbled up on social media a few years back, with classic, homey dishes like cacio e pepe and pasta vodka capturing the hearts and minds of younger diners. But the main driver here is a desire for affordable, simple, casual fare. Also breathing life into the trend is the pull of nostalgia—the romance of Sunday suppers and the unique comfort found only in a delicious bowl of pasta. This yearning by consumers is underpinning a few trends today, not just pasta, from the explosion of hi-lo foods to the proliferation of modern dive bars. It’s a stronger signal of shifting sands that requires attention from menu developers. A casual, easy approach to pasta development that puts value and quality in the crosshairs offers a sure-footed path to success.

THE NEW WAY OF THINGS

A crop of new restaurants has sprouted up, trading out traditional Italian-themed concepts that serve pasta to decidedly pasta-centric joints. Love, Pasta is a family-owned, handcrafted pasta restaurant and bar located in Jackson, Mich. Its menu features six pasta dishes, each immediately recognizable and craveable, from the Rigatoni Bolognese to the Aglio Olio. Most options hover under the $20 mark. Misi in New York is also pasta-centric, limiting its menu to pasta, vegetables and gelato. Buttery, cheesy pastas shine here, like the cacio e pepe-styled fettuccine with buffalo butter, Parmigiano “extra vecchio” and black pepper. Lillo Cucina Italiana in Brooklyn, N.Y., demonstrates the trend with its “Sunday supper-style” pasta dishes, with most priced around $14. Hospitality is on full display here, as the chef/owner greets guests and personally delivers plates of Spaghetti e Polpette, Fettuccine al Porcini and other comfort delights.

Credit: Pasta Sisters

Los Angeles-based Pasta Sisters encourages diners to mix and match classic pasta builds, such as Truffle Tagliatelle (left) and Amatriciana, with Italian bacon, red onions and pecorino (right).

Fast casual Pasta Sisters, with two locations in Los Angeles, captures the trend perfectly, zeroing in on value, quality and approachability with its menu of customizable pasta dishes crafted from the generation-spanning recipe box of the Italian family owners. Co-owner Giorgia Sinatra says they landed on the fast-casual model to keep menu offerings casual and accessible, applying sound back-of-house business efficiencies that ensure value remains front and center. “We incorporate touchpoints that feel elevated—like beautiful plating and a super-helpful staff,” she says. “Our menu features simple, housemade pastas and sauces to pair, plus a few desserts and side dishes.” Inventory is streamlined, dishes maintain consistent quality and diners can enjoy a meal with feel-good ingredients for less than $20.

That fast-casual model of quality and value has certainly worked well for Columbus, Ohio-based Piada Italian Street Food, which has been a pioneer in this casualization movement since opening in 2010. “Guests love the comfort and satiety of a warm bowl of pasta created just for them,” says Matt Harding, senior VP of culinary and menu innovation. “Our best-selling item is the Pasta Carbonara—even in Houston, even in August!” Although he’s been in the casualization of pasta game a long time, he sees big opportunity for menu developers today. “Pasta provides a blank canvas to deliver flavors that can push innovation but still provide the comfort of familiarity,” he says.

Indeed, classics with a twist are most welcome in this casualization movement. Alex Sadowsky, director of culinary, beverage and menu innovation, Twin Peaks, is looking to add pasta to his sports bar menu, but he wants to leverage the trend while “pushing the category.” It’s an exciting challenge to embrace. “I don’t want to do ‘just’ spaghetti and meatballs; I’m looking at maybe doing a funky twist on it, like pulling in a beef stroganoff sensibility,” says Sadowsky. “I traveled to Italy recently and returned inspired by what I saw there. Mortadella is incredible. Maybe I’ll take the idea of a mortadella sandwich and morph it into a pasta dish. Or take a Philly cheesesteak and move it into stuffed tortellini. You can get really inventive while still delivering on what people want in a pasta.”

PASTA AS EXPERIENCE

Along with the accessibility plays, another significant element of this trend is the positioning of pasta as a hip, snackable, sociable food. As a few late-night activations pop up, pasta has become the unexpected star of a nightlife trend, which helps reframe how it’s viewed by consumers any time of day. Artist Bianca Bosso is the force behind Spaghetti Disco, a late-night pop-up at New York nightclubs like the Georgia Room. Bowls of spaghetti and meatballs are served in paper bowls, carted out to the dance floor on giant trays to be swooped up by the hungry—and perhaps tipsy—masses. Partygoers clamor for it, giving pasta a rockstar position that is both fun and telling.

Credit: Suzan Culum

Midnight Spaghetti, a late-night pasta window in New York, menus casual takes on four classic pasta choices: Cacio e Pepe, Penne Rosa, Bolognese Rigatoni and Pistachio Pesto.

Stephen Werther, chef/owner of Suprema Provisions in New York, recently opened a late-night pasta window called Midnight Spaghetti, featuring weekend hours of service from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Again, diners are over the moon for $12 bowls of pasta, served casually in paperboard serviceware and limited to four choices: Cacio e Pepe, Penne Rosa, Bolognese Rigatoni and Pistachio Pesto. These late-night activations are surely signaling a larger movement afoot among younger consumers who value affordability, casual presentation and carb-heavy deliciousness.

Another fun pasta dining experience, but one that swings the pendulum away from late night to early bird, is found at New York’s Bird Dog, an intimate restaurant with a menu inspired by a unique blend of Italian and American South cuisines. Bird Dog features half-priced pasta during its late-afternoon happy hour, successfully moving pasta into the snack category—a feat worth consideration as both a value play and a means of capturing business during typically slower shoulder hours.

“The casualization of pasta offers a lot of new opportunity for chefs,” says Sadowsky. “Restaurateurs know all about pasta’s profitability. If you have a good process to make it work, you can really drive home that value. And guests love it. Listen to the consumer; they are begging for it.”