Tavolàta Stone Way

It's been awhile since I've dined at an Ethan Stowall restaurant, but a recent ESR e-newsletter mentioned a dining campaign for BOGO pasta and gnocchi entrees off the regular menu on Mondays in January. I've enjoyed Staple & Fancy, Rione XIII, How to Cook a Wolf, Red Cow plus including the other two Tavolata sites in Belltown and Capitol Hill. The ESR restaurant empire has grown locally, as well as, ventures beyond the greater Seattle area, on the Eastside, and further east in Spokane, Boise, and midtown Manhattan in New York. This was the first time to dine at the Stone Way location (1/22/24). The Homie and I shared some HH menu items, the Chef's Choice Board and warm lemon zeppole with chocolate sauce. Then we each dug into our respective pasta bowls, Tonnarelli and Pappardelle. Both food and service were just okay. Compared to visits to other ESR restaurant sites, this was just overall a tad underwhelming. Just an fyi - street parking is a royal pain with all the nearby construction projects. Various seating are available throughout the restaurant: two tops to communal table plus bar counter and sidewalk patio seating. Other info to keep in mind: there is an automatic 22% service charge for dining onsite and 8% added to delivery and takeout orders. Happy Hour is daily from 4-6pm.

We went here on a Monday night for the Pasta BOGO. We ordered the bruschetta and the focaccia from the HH menu and the Pappardelle and Rigatoni from the main menu. Everything was good! The first time I had the smoked fish bruschetta was at Derby and every time I see it on an ESR menu, I have to get it! The focaccia was delicious as well. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Both pasta's were good, but we enjoyed the rigatoni the best because of the spicy sausage that makes this dish stand out.It was very busy for a Monday night and we saw people without reservations being redirected to nearby Ballard & Frelard Pizza. Parking is challenging in this area, but managed to find a spot 2 blocks away. There is parking in the building garage with reasonable rates. Plan ahead if you go!The music is quite loud, as was in the restroom. Our server Mason was prompt and courteous!

Definitely check out the happy hour here!! They have drinks, apps, and pastas on the happy hour menu at a pretty good price.We got roasted beets to share, and then I got the rigatoni pasta. The beets tasted fresh and had a nice balance of flavor, although I felt like the portion was a bit small. And the rigatoni pasta was super tasty!! I really liked how sauce that had a bit of a kick, and the sausage added a lot of flavor. The portion was pretty generous and I had enough leftover to have for lunch the next day. The full price menu is pretty pricy, but the happy hour is a great deal! It's a great way to try some of their pastas!

Modern, romantic, and well-lit interior. The 2 pastas and wine for $45 deal is amazing for the quantity of the wines and amount of pasta that you get! Ordered the rigatoni, pappardelle (which has an interesting orange flavor), and a smooth Bumpasaurus Cabernet.

How I heard of this place: When Tavolata (downtown) first opened, a good friend of mine was close with Ethan Stowell. We were treated to a Feast! Each fresh-made pasta dish better than the last. We loved it and returned often when the craving for handmade pasta hit. After a number of years, more restaurants and new additions to the neighborhood of old favorites, we were eager to try this spot.Type of cuisine: "Like the original, Tavolàta Stone Way is all about the pasta: Rigatoni, Bucatini, Gnocchi alla Romana and more. Join us on one of our two patios or at a table in our spacious dining room. We look forward to seeing you soon!Offering Takeout, Happy Hour, Outdoor Seating, Vegetarian Options, Gluten Free Pasta, Vegan Options."Ambiance: Similar to the recent trend of large restaurants taking up space beneath apartment and office buildings, this seems to be consistent here. Tavolata is longer than it is wide, seating available for hundreds at any given time. Clean lines, wooden furnishings and stone walls give it an air of cold, but the space is still welcoming. What I ordered: On this visit, we started with Sea Wolf Baguette ($8) -whipped butter, olive oil, aged balsamic; Our meal included Chickpeas ($11) - celery, sultana, parsley, lemon; Rigatoni ($16) - spicy sausage, tomato, marjoram, parmesan; Pappardelle ($16) - beef & pork ragu, tomato, chili, mint, orange, grana padano; and Tonnarelli ($16) - pecorino, cracked pepper, butter. What I loved: We all loved the soft, melt-in-your-mouth pastas, the sauces flavorful and robust. Even the happy hour portions satisfied our hungry bellies. The small plate, Chickpeas, was a surprising favorite among our diners. Why I loved it: Easy to get a seat in such a large space, especially after working hours. The food was as good as I remembered and we love that Tavolata is now closer to home.Cost: High

Ordered gnocchi Romana, rigatoni, pappardelle, crispy pig ears, and salami board. Came here because oink across the street was too packed. I usually filter out 3 star restaurants so this wouldn't show up, but I'm glad I came here. Not sure why reviews are so low, maybe I don't understand Italian food, but the food was quite good. The pappardelle was the best dish. The rigatoni was good but wayyyyyy too salty. Dishes were all a little spicy so small kids may have a hard time.

Our food was exquisite. Don't be fooled by the small-looking portions as it is all filling and with quality ingredients. Even the zeppole was, in my opinion, the best possible version of zeppole I've ever had. No fake-rating Hershey's syrup and funnel cake-ish dough here. Instead, we received light and airy lemon-infused pieces with a thick, dark chocolate dipping sauce. One star was removed due to the "pandemic surcharge" of 4% tacked onto the order. It's possible this was notated in the menu, but I don't remember seeing it until the bill came; if it's not posted beforehand, that's deceiving. Yes, times have been incredibly tough for the service industry for the past 2 years. Yes, everyone wants to make up for lost time and wages. And YES, government shut everyone down, thus contributing BIG TIME to the problem. A surcharge like this is kind of like a punishment to customers, who also have struggled for 2 years and yet are still out there spending money and supporting smaller businesses. Maybe the goal here was transparency, but personally I'd rather just see raised prices and not know about the behind-the-scenes upcharge. Surely, many other customers also feel this way.

"We always start with the Tavolata Salad, bread (last night it was a focaccia), and olives. So glad these are staples on the menu. Then onward to a pasta. Yowza!"

Get over here for the $45 pasta dinner for two WITH a bottle of wine! What a deal!We ordered crispy pig ears to start, and couldn't eat them because they were so chewy you'd have to swallow large unchewable bits. Our great server took them back to the kitchen, they refried them so that they were a little more crispy, but still not edible. Taken off the bill.We then shared a Tavolata salad, really good, and so large one person could not finish it.For pasta we had Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe, very tasty but too al dente, better reheated the next day. Also Papardelle with beef and pork ragu, really excellent, interesting flavors. We had leftovers for dinner the next day!Our server guided us to the Bumpasaurus Cabernet, and it was really good.

Pros: HH menu is very decent and this place has great atmosphere and service Cons: spaghetti and meatballs and rigatoni were both very salty not sure if it was intentional. It's way too much sodium.