As we hear about more of our favorite L.A. restaurants closing, it’s easy to question the viability of the mom-and-pop going forward. Labor costs, among other things, is one of the oft-cited scapegoats.
That said, the picture isn’t completely apocalyptic. There are restaurants out there that manage to offer sustenance to owners, workers, and customers alike and still make money.
One of them is Pasta Sisters. This popular West Side red sauce spot opened its first deli-sized, three-table Mid-City location in 2015 before expanding into its much larger home in Culver City a few years later on a sun-soaked and cinematic corner of the Helms Bakery District.
As it approaches its 10th anniversary, business appears to be better than good, with lines consistently out the door and down the street during peak times.
What’s most striking about this business is that it manages to take care of its employees without skimping on benefits, while keeping menu prices affordable and importing high-quality Italian ingredients, like 100% Italian flour, tomatoes, and olive oil during this high-inflation epoch.
You can still get a real sit-down meal for just under $20. No surcharges or junk fees to pass the cost down, either.
How they started
Pasta Sisters consists of matriarch and lead chef Paola Da Re, son Francesco Sinatra, and daughters Giorgia and Francesca Sinatra, all of whom hail from the northern Italian city of Padova. While Paola was nannying, news of her magnificent gnocchi started spreading through local Italian circles, and L.A.-based restaurants began commissioning her to make them.
That led to a family-based pasta-production side hustle and, ultimately, their store in a Pico Boulevard strip mall. A few tables out front were added, simply because it was easier, red tape-wise, to open an eatery than a food production business.
While that was never meant to be the focus of the business, hungry customers kept coming, and Pasta Sisters kept growing. But how have they managed to thrive when so many eateries haven’t?
We asked Giorgia Sinatra to tell us about their operation, evolution and overall philosophy. Here are the key takeaways.
Keep it simple
It starts with the menu. At Pasta Sisters, guests pick a daily pasta (spaghetti, tagliatelle, pappardelle, gnocchi) and pair it with their desired sauce (tomato basil, arrabbiata, pesto, bolognese).
That didn’t originate as a marketing strategy, Giorgia said. It was more of a shoot-from-the-hip approach in the first phase of their business when their aim was food production.
“If someone wants to stop by, they literally come in, we tell them what we have, and they can choose. So, we said, let's just give them the option to pick the pasta and choose the sauce…That was literally what we had in-house,” Giorgia said.
That afterthought ended up being one of their strengths.
After that, the name of the game is volume, volume, volume. No, this doesn’t mean fast food. The pasta is all handmade and the sauce cooks for up to nine hours daily. Because diners order at the counter, the restaurant is able to save on service. And the level of volume gives them leverage with distributors, Giorgia said.
Raise your game
Fast-casual, low-price or not, they look for ways to outperform people’s expectations. Not only is their food good, but they elevate their plate presentation, forming their pasta into a “tower” like you might get in a five-star hotel. Their interior aesthetic is equally polished. Guests in the deli area are greeted by a large sculpture of bending, undulating wood evoking the fresh-made pasta, as well as hand-crafted green terracotta tiles and custom dining tables made from reclaimed wood.
Stay thrifty (like the Italians)
“We opened Pasta Sisters because we wanted as many people as possible to experience how good my mom's food was,” Giorgia said, "not because we wanted to be millionaires."
She says it’s a very Italian, less capitalistic mindset. “It's bad because Italians are known for not paying taxes and all those things, but that's not the case,” Giorgia said. “The Italian way is that you spend what you can afford…You don't spend one penny more than what you have.”
In other words, they don’t mess with credit or debt.
Find mentors
Francesco worked in many restaurants before Pasta Sisters and learned a lot from many chefs and business owners of well-known establishments, including Angelini, Madeo, and Papa Cristo’s.
“He worked in so many…but Angelini is still a mentor for my brother…When he has questions or, even just for a chat , he always calls him,” Giorgia said.
Use the power of virality (or hope it finds you)
Back in the Pico days, the family was more than pleased with what they had already accomplished. Then BuzzFeed called, asking to include Pasta Sisters in an L.A. “best value” pasta video.
“We’re not social media people; we’re not YouTube channel people. We didn’t know anything,” Giorgia said. The video gained some 20 million views, and the next day they were slammed. “My brother remembers the day almost like a nightmare.”
They had to hire about 15 people over the course of a few days. Customers had no place to eat and sat wherever they could, even at the laundromat. It almost broke them.
The video “brought many good things. But I think it also brought some bad things,” said Giorgia.
They lost old customers for new ones, and some of the personal touch, among other things. “Fancier Beverly Hills-type people” started showing up.
One of them was the owner of HD Buttercup, the Helms Bakery furniture store, who told them about the open space in Culver City formerly occupied by Evan Funke’s dissolved Bucato. It was a 2,200-square-foot increase from their Pico location.
That led to a sit-down with the landlord, who they convinced of their potential as renters with a plate of the Tomato Basil pasta, their most simple dish.
Take care of staff
Having loyal, reliable, long-term employees is part of the success formula. When your business runs efficiently, you save money all-around, Giorgia said.
Therefore, management somehow never says no to vacations — even during the holidays. “Sometimes we joke about it that their schedule is our schedule…But we’re going to make it work,” Giorgia said.
Pasta Sisters pays 50% of the health insurance premiums for hourly employees and 100% of the premiums for salaried employees who can choose whatever plan they like, including the most costly Blue Shield Platinum. Management does extend coverage to family members, though they don’t cover those costs.
When COVID hit, they were reluctant to send their staff home, so they went looking for areas in the restaurant that needed work done, things that were impossible to do while open seven days-a-week, like refinishing all the tables. “It wasn’t, of course, what they had before, but at least it was enough,” Giorgia said. The restaurant also offered free lunches and dinners to employees.
Their business model, cash flow and lack of debt positioned them to come out on the other side. And among the 70 or so employees, all but two returned to work. “We like to share our success, because they are part of our success,” Giorgia said.
While the family takes pains to be nice to everyone, not everyone has been decent back. In 2022, burglars lifted a bolted-in safe that contained a prized diary/Italian cookbook that belonged to Paola’s mother, the only thing she had from her. The family offered a $5,000 reward, but nothing ever came of it. They lost a precious memento of home — the type of environment the family aspires for both guests and, importantly, employees.
“I think of the loneliness sometimes that we have in L.A. — a lot of people feel lonely — and, I always hope that they would feel less lonely, and feel part of something bigger than just a shop or a restaurant.”
