Strati, Noodles and Company, and italian fast casual

I think Italian fast casual is a concept that somebody was going to try in america at some point. Obviously it works for other ethnic foods such as Mexican, Asian, and gourmet sandwiches.

I have noticed that Strati Wild Italian is quite dead on most nights. I drive or walk by there on most days. Now I am in no way saying the food is not good. In my opinion the food is good and perhaps all of those who have eaten there would agree.

I think the reason why fast casual Italian which there are a few companies with this concept around the country such as Piada are never overwhelmingly busy is due to the inexpensive cost of pasta at your local grocers.

I am in no way a chef and cannot cook traditional or homemade Italian food, but I can pick up a pound of pasta noodles at Kroger, Valu-Market, or any other grocery store for about $1. So in a pinch with my budget I can throw a quick meal together for cheap and in about 30 minutes at home and it will cost less than a fast casual joint and possibly give me leftovers for work the next day.

Also even though I may not be making Italian, I will say something like let's make pasta for dinner or I am going to cook Italian tonight. I believe it is a fail safe because of the cost. That being said when I want to go out for dinner, a fast casual Italian place may not sound the most exciting. Also I imagine how cheapo and easy I could make a pasta dish (although not exactly the same) at home. I always have about 8 boxes of pasta in my cabinets for an emergency.

This was just a thought for the wonderful world of Louisville Hotbytes. Please feel free to share your thoughts or not.

I think that you hit the nail on the head. When I see a pasta dish on a menu, whether it be casual or fine dining, my first reaction is often "Becky (my spouse/chef) can do that." When I dine out I want to order something that I can't get at home.

I certainly see your point but can't the same thing be said for hamburgers from places like McDonald's or Homerun Burgers? You can through one of them together at home quite reasonably also.

We haven't been to Stradi but have been to Noodles & Company several times. While I agree that some other dishes would be easy to make it home many of them aren't. It's always been quite busy when we were there so I think they are doing fine. That chain also has many other locations around the country and wouldn't be expanding like they are if they weren't doing good. They also not only have Italian noodle dishes but American noodle dishes and Asian noodle dishes also. Especially some of the Asian dishes are something you wouldn't try making at home. Some of the Italian ones are also outside the norm. The American dishes are the most common such as mac & cheese, buttered noodles and spaghetti and meatballs.

Fazoli's has been doing it (reasonably well, I suppose) for years, but it is a tough market. Italian (American-style) has been so integrated into the American diet over the past 50 years that I think you would have to have a dynamite product that is better than what you can make at home to make it really shine and work. I don't think the price of pasta has as much to do with it as the quality of the sauce or the meatballs or whatever your are serving on the pasta.

In the (read: my) pasta world, there is homemade pasta and then everything else, so whether I buy it in a box and boil it or a QSR does it, it's going to be the same pasta. What I am paying for is an incredible sauce.

What you want to do is figure out how to open a QSR Italian place that makes its own pasta and about 3-4 incredible sauces. Maybe a killer meatball. And go! (I'm available for consultation on that concept if anyone wants to make a go of it! )

Gotta agree with Jason and Mike on this. In order for me to get excited (or even interested) in Italian food out its got to be high end with pricey cheeses, hand made pasta and home made canolli. Anything else out just seems to be sauces with varying degrees of oregano and basil or cream sauces. And if I can make a good, satisfying sauce at home ANYONE can. Now, having said all that, I DO remember eating many a fine meal at Mama Grisanti's and wouldn't mind seeing them return.

I predicted this the first time I learned what their new concept was going to be. All anyone has to do is pick up any major business section of a newspaper in the last year and read it. Olive Garden and Sbarro's are both doing horrible according to their SEC filing reports, as is every other restaurant in this segment. The only one expanding according to the SEC reports is Fazzoli's. Thats it.

So sure it was a great idea, it was just about 20 years behind the times.

Dear wanna be restaurant owners, shoot me a msg before throwing good money down the drain. I have four concepts that would do great in the Louisville market. Im available as a consultant.

I've eaten at Strati several times in the past few weeks, and I'll disagree with a few of the opinions expressed. I think the food is light years beyond a place like Fazoli's, and the ratio of quality to price is actually a bit shocking (in a good way). Every time we've eaten there it's been less than $20 for lunch for two. My wife has already said she'd be happy eating lunch there once a week.

I have, though, noticed that the level of business is on the low side. I'm not sure what I'd pin that on, although the menu board and the ordering process is a bit odd. Once we got the hang of things it wasn't a problem. I haven't tried a spaghetti squash dish yet but I see that as a selling point for the healthy eating crowd. I like spaghetti squash and have cooked it at home a few times, but you need an axe to split it open. I'm assuming the owners have the capital to keep Strati going for a while and I'd bet on it eventually coming in to its own.

I'd peg the problems of both Sbarro and Olive Garden on greedy investors trying to milk those companies for all they are worth rather than a statement of disinterest in Italian cuisine. I still see a waiting line at Olive Garden on Friday nights.

Point taken, but part of that line at Olive Garden is manufactured. I've been to the OG on Hurstborne on Saturday lunch and have been asked to wait despite entire sections of the restaurant being empty. Maybe they were down a server or two, but an entire section? On a known, busy lunch? I smell a rat.

It's a tough segment that's for sure, but with the right product, no segment is unreachable.

. . I like spaghetti squash and have cooked it at home a few times, but you need an axe to split it open. .

Off the subject, but stick a spaghetti squash in the microwave for a few minutes until somewhat soft. Cut off both ends before cutting in half. Finish cooking in the oven or microwave.

I have, though, noticed that the level of business is on the low side. I'm not sure what I'd pin that on,

Italian was the first ethnic and international food Americans were introduced to. Italian food was edgy in the 60's and 70's. Went mainstream in the 80's. And started declining rapidly by 2000 when other international cuisine arrived on the scene.

Quite frankly although it may not be "authentic" as an earlier poster stated any house wife or husband can boils some pasta, throw some sauce on it and serve it with a loaf of garlic bread.

These days consumers are eating Ethiopian, Mexican street food, sushi, and every other regional variant under the Sun. Italian just doesnt excite the way it did when it was the first and only thing on the scene.

I beg to differ, Doug. I think along the line of Chinese when I think of ethnic restaurants. I grew up in North Dakota and my little home town had Chinese restaurant in the fifties. In fact, the first Chinese restaurant opened in San Francisco in 1849.

Of the three "concepts" brought to us by the Wild group (Wild Eggs, Wild 'Ritas, and Strati Wild Italian), I think Strati is by far the weakest.

This post is offered by one who has visited Strati once but offers no credence to others who base their opinion of a restaurant on a single visit.

I beg to differ, Doug. I think along the line of Chinese when I think of ethnic restaurants. I grew up in North Dakota and my little home town had Chinese restaurant in the fifties. In fact, the first Chinese restaurant opened in San Francisco in 1849.

I think it all depends on what part of the country you were brought up in. In upstate New York where I was brought up Italian was definitely the norm decades before Chinese restaurants came on the scene. I would guess that probably the East Coast was mostly Italian because that's the part of the country they immigrated to in the West Coast with where the Chinese foods became popular first..

[Robin Garr]

I think it all depends on what part of the country you were brought up in. In upstate New York where I was brought up Italian was definitely the norm decades before Chinese restaurants came on the scene.

As a teen-aged baby boomer, I spent summers in and around NYC in the '60s, and there were tons of both Italian and Chinese restaurants there then. Of course you had the Ellis Island thing going on, but the city was full of a world of immigrants and the restaurants to serve them.

My recollection of Louisville in that same age was that we had Italian (tons of pizza, mostly, Calandrino's, Lentini's, Highland Pizza, Joe Z's, Mario's); we had limited Chinese (Hoe Kow at Bowman Field was the big one), and really lame "Mexican" (the Chile Bowl on Broadway and the Old Walnut Chili Parlor, which featured canned tamales as an add-in. )

We've come a long way, I'll say that. But there have been at least strands of the major ethnic cuisines for a long time. All of those were post-WWII, though. I doubt that our grandparents had any of that at all.