DINING REVIEW: Pasta-farians

Rasta Pasta, a new restaurant on Tejon Street, sounds like something my college roommates would have cooked late one night, probably while high.

Roommate No. 1: “Dude, you know how Rasta and pasta, like, rhyme?”
Roommate No. 2: “Huh?”
Roommate No. 1: “Wouldn’t it be sweet if there was a place that served pasta with all kinds of gnarly Caribbean sauces?”

Long, intense discussion would have ensued late into the night. Then nothing would have happened.

But, in the case of the real Rasta Pasta, something obviously did. The local chain, which has a location in Breckenridge, one in Fort Collins and the latest addition in Colorado Springs, serves Jamaican-inspired pasta over a background of righteous reggae beats. As a short history on Rasta Pasta’s Web site notes: “No one really knows why Dan (The Founder) decided to go with a Caribbean theme, but speculation has it that since Rasta rhymes with pasta, and Dan likely enjoyed some Rastafarian traditions, it all just came together.”

Actually, for such a strange idea, it came together pretty darn well.

The vibe at the Colorado Springs locale is naturally easy-going. A crowd of small tables dressed in bright, tropical tablecloths are scattered across a bare concrete floor. Bunches of bananas hang above the steaming open kitchen next to a bar fringed with corrugated metal to make it look like a beach shack. Red Stripe beer bottles serve as vases on the tables. Bob Marley portraits gaze approvingly from most of the walls. If you are jonesing to listen to Jobob Miller or Burning Spear, this is the place.

And the pasta, as weird as it sounds, sorta works.

By weird, here is what I mean: A plate of cheese tortellini ($8 at lunch) comes sautéed with pineapple, grapes, Caribbean spices and banana. Tortellini Jamaica Mon is the kind of dessert-meets-dinner debacle you always find (but never try) at potlucks. But here the results are good. The rich but slightly bitter ricotta in the tortellini is complemented by the fresh, bright sweetness of the fruit. I ordered it hoping it would be an easy dish to make fun of in print, and found instead that it was my favorite of the four entrees on our table.

Not quite as weird, but just as good, is the Natural Mystic, a sweet and savory pineapple curry sauce served with jerk chicken over pasta ($7 at lunch).

Some things sound weird, only to disappoint with how normal they are. The signature Rasta Pasta — jerk chicken, green onions, diced tomatoes and a tomato-y garlic sauce ($7 at lunch) — tastes like a very  Italian dish. The Seafood Alfredo ($10 at lunch), swimming with shrimp and minced clams, did not seem to have any Jamaican inflection at all. (It was a hit anyway. The shrimp were plump and perfectly cooked, and a friend who ordered it raved over the rich clamminess of the whole dish.)

What Rasta Pasta lacks in sophistication it makes up for in service. Vegetarian, whole-grain or gluten-free pasta options are offered for almost every dish. The servers are super friendly and the prices are good. Bargain-priced lunch portions can be ordered any time of the day. The bar has Bristol brews on tap — always a bonus. And Rasta Pasta’s Rum-flambéed, caramelly version of Bananas Foster, called Bananas Marley ($4), is a terrific way to end the meal.

The only place Rasta Pasta skips a beat is in seasonings. Dishes that are marked “hot” are often disappointingly tame. The kitchen is happy to bump up the spice, but the jerk seasoning seems to be dominated by heat, without the savory back beat of other aromatic spices.

A better spice rack would make this already-grooving spot really sing.

RASTA PASTA
3 stars out of 5
(Funky and friendly)
Location: 405 N. Tejon St.
Contact: 481-6888, www.rastapastacs.com
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily
Entrees: $6-$14
Vegetarian: Plenty
Alcohol: Full bar
Credit cards: Yes