Pasta e Pasta by Allegro: Japanese-Style Spaghetti with 19 Sauces on East 2nd Street

Pasta e Pasta by Allegro is a casual Japanese-Italian pasta house on East 2nd Street in Little Tokyo, sharing a plaza with Sushi Gen. It belongs to the Allegro family of trattorias that started in Japan, and it cooks spaghetti the way many Tokyo pasta shops do, with seafood, cod roe and butter-forward sauces.

The format is simple and easy to read at a glance. Nearly everything on the menu is thin, wispy spaghetti cooked just past al dente, and you pick from 19 sauces sorted into tomato, garlic oil, cream and Japanese-style columns. Every plate arrives with a house salad in an onion dressing and a warm bread roll.

This guide covers what the kitchen is known for, current hours and contact details, the full menu with prices from third-party listings, what guests praise most, and practical tips on parking and timing your visit.

General Information About Pasta e Pasta by Allegro

The Allegro name traces back to Trattoria Pizzeria Allegro, which opened its first shop in Hyogo, Japan, in 2006 and grew into a dozen locations across the country. The Los Angeles kitchen focuses on wafu pasta, the Japanese school of Italian cooking that pairs dried Italian spaghetti with ingredients like sea urchin, mentaiko and squid ink. Sister restaurants operate in Torrance and Cerritos.

Inside, the room is dimly lit with wood and brick finishes, and the pace suits a quick lunch or a relaxed weeknight dinner. Service runs in two windows, lunch from 11:30 AM to 2 PM and dinner from 5 PM, Tuesday through Sunday. Seating is walk-in, and reviewers describe a digital waitlist at the front door.

The restaurant holds a 4.4 rating on Google from about 630 reviews and has logged more than 1,800 reviews on Yelp. The Infatuation scored it 7.7 in July 2026 and called out the “truly incredible tarako spaghetti with cod roe garlic butter.” Most diners spend $20 to $30 per person, and the free salad and bread make a single pasta a full meal.

Address

432 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Little Tokyo)

Phone number

(213) 265-7003

Online ordering

Takeout by phone at (213) 265-7003; delivery is listed through third-party apps

Google rating

4.4 out of 5 (about 630 reviews)

Opening hours

• Monday Closed
• Tuesday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 5–8:30 PM
• Wednesday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 5–8:30 PM
• Thursday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 5–8:30 PM
• Friday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 5–9:30 PM
• Saturday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 5–9:30 PM
• Sunday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 5–9 PM

Google Maps

Open in Google Maps

Services

Dine-in, takeout, outdoor seating, credit cards and Apple Pay, wheelchair accessible, kid friendly, vegetarian options, beer and wine

Price range

$20–$30 per person

Parking

Paid plaza lot on site; street parking and public garages nearby in Little Tokyo

Pasta e Pasta by Allegro Menu

The menu reads like a sauce chart. Pastas are grouped as Rosso (tomato), Olio (garlic oil), Bianco (cream) and Giapponese (Japanese style), with a short Allegro Special section on top. The anchors are the Uni Pasta at $24, the Tarako Spaghetti with cod roe, squid and garlic butter at $16, and the Mentai Japanese Cream with cod roe and mushrooms at $16.

Small appetizers keep things light before the pasta, from assorted olives at $5.80 to burrata at $8.80 and a Creamy Crab Meat Gratin at $10.80. If seafood and roe are not your thing, the Beef Ragu Spaghetti ($21), Carbonara ($16) and Genovese with shrimp and potatoes ($18) cover the Italian classics, and a Vegetarian Spaghetti ($14) comes in both garlic oil and cream versions.

The easiest visit is right at opening, 11:30 AM for lunch or 5 PM for dinner, when the waitlist is shortest. For takeout, call (213) 265-7003, and save room for the pie fresh from the oven with ice cream ($9.80). Prices here come from third-party menu listings and may have changed; a 2024 visitor reported the uni pasta at $28, so expect current prices to run somewhat higher.

Signature dishes and menu highlights

Menu categories at a glance

• Antipasti / Small Appetizers ($5.80–$10.80): burrata, assorted olives, prosciutto, beef stew, assorted salame, Jidori chicken gizzard confit, creamy crab meat gratin, bacon and tomato frittata
• Allegro Special ($21–$24): uni pasta, beef ragu sauce spaghetti
• Rosso / Tomato Sauce ($13–$21): arrabiata, bolognese, pescatore rosso, puttanesca, bacon eggplant mozzarella, nero di sepia, tomato cream with shrimp and spinach
• Olio / Garlic Oil Sauce ($13–$20): peperoncino with tuna and tomato, pescatore bianca
• Bianco / Cream Sauce ($14–$16): salmon spinach cream, chicken spinach cream, carbonara
• Giapponese / Japanese Style ($16): mentai Japanese cream, tarako spaghetti, bacon and mushrooms Japanese-style sauce
• Others ($14–$18): genovese with shrimp and potatoes, vegetarian spaghetti
• Dolce ($9.80): pie fresh from the oven with ice cream
• Beer and wine ($5–$9): Asahi Super Dry on draft, craft beers, Italian reds and whites by the glass
• Soft drinks and café ($2.50–$7): sodas, San Pellegrino, coffee, hot tea, iced tea

Pasta e Pasta by Allegro Photos and Reviews

Guests come back to the same few plates again and again. The uni pasta and the mentaiko cream draw the most mentions, with reviewers describing the sauces as rich and creamy while the noodles stay springy. Yelp alone holds more than 4,100 guest photos, and a good share of them are close-ups of orange uni cream and pale pink cod roe.

The second thing people talk about is the fusion itself. Diners call it a great blend of Japanese and Italian ideas, and they single out the squid ink pasta for its bright tomato flavor. The complimentary salad with housemade onion dressing and the warm, sourdough-style bread roll also earn regular praise.

Service is described as quick and friendly, which keeps the line moving at lunch. The wood-and-brick room feels cozy rather than formal, and with salad and bread included, portions leave most guests well fed for the price.

What guests are saying

Frequently Asked Questions

First-time visitors tend to ask the same handful of practical questions before heading to Little Tokyo. Here are straight answers on hours, ordering, prices and timing so you can plan the trip in a minute.

Location and Directions

Pasta e Pasta by Allegro sits at 432 E 2nd St in Little Tokyo, in the same plaza as Sushi Gen and a short walk from the Little Tokyo/Arts District Metro station. It is an easy drive from the Arts District, Boyle Heights, Chinatown, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Pasadena and Glendale.