Pasta Bar in Köln

Great and fast service with lots of recommendations for dishes and wine pairings. Refined dishes with great ingredients. Price performance for the 3 course menu fits. Starter, main course and dessert can be freely put together for the price of the menu (theoretically also three desserts). This means that every taste can be satisfied. Cash and card payment possible. A recommended place for a special occasion or even a business lunch.

Tables are too narrow. The waiter was serving at the next table with her butt on our table. Time limit for using the table. Way too loud. The amount of food is not enough to fill you up. Prices way too high. Staff was friendly. Once and never again.

An absolute insider tip! From the starter to the dessert, everything was perfectly coordinated. I was particularly impressed by the warm atmosphere and the courteous service. You can feel that people cook with passion here. Highly recommended!

When we are in Cologne, we always come by here 😃. We still knew the store at its old location. We were in the new restaurant for the first time yesterday. The atmosphere in the new restaurant is also very nice and the service was also top. The food was a bit better in the previous store, maybe we can get it back to the old level. It was still very good and a very good price/performance ratio. We'll be back 😉

We were absolutely thrilled with our visit to the CARUSO Pasta Bar! The food was delicious and presented beautifully across all courses. The service created a pleasant atmosphere without being intrusive. The ambiance also left nothing to be desired thanks to the limited number of tables and understated yet stylish interior. The refreshing cocktails were also not to be underestimated. If we had to name one criticism, it would be the communication regarding the reservation. Our first request was canceled without any indication of other possible times, and the communication of penalty fees for no-shows via OpenTable could, in our opinion, be a little more attentive. Complaining at a high level ;) We'd be happy to come back and recommend you to others!

We love our regular evenings at Caruso. The churros with the aperitivo are a must, the pasta is always a pleasant surprise. Nice wine list and super friendly and attentive service! We always enjoy coming back - our dog also gets a quiet place with a water bowl.

Overall ok. The service was super friendly and really great. Unfortunately, the food got worse with every course. It was still ok, but not appropriate for the price. While a year ago we would have loved to come back the next day, we would currently not recommend the restaurant.

Yesterday “redeeming a birthday present” with very good friends, this time in the “CARUSO Pastabar”. Years ago we were at the old location - and we were very enthusiastic at the time. I would like to describe the evening like this: EXCELLENT! The service is excellent, boss Anna plays a big part in it, but so do the other very nice service staff. The pleasant atmosphere is excellent. OUTSTANDING (in bold) the wonderful, perfectly cooked and excellently seasoned food. The idea of ​​putting together the menu is wonderful, the wines are well selected. All four people at the table were very satisfied. It's a shame that you "probably don't have a chance spontaneously...", reservations with "patience" are required, which speaks for this exceptional restaurant with a good price-performance ratio. Definitely we will come back. 👍 Renewal/addition to my review after another visit on 02/25/25: Even “even if the boss wasn’t on duty today….” The service was excellent and the food was again OUTSTANDING, the assessment at the time was 100% confirmed. The wine was “particularly” good today. We'd love to come back.

It was a really disappointing evening, having to fight so hard to even get a reservation. The food was completely over-seasoned, as if flavor enhancers or soy sauce had been used. And that with every gear. There were five of us and everyone felt the same way. I don't understand the hype about this store. Never again.

Very good menu selection, especially suitable for vegetarians

Currently the best restaurant in Kölle! save! Grazie Mille! 💜

In the CARUSO Pasta Bar you can put together a three-course menu as you like for €55 (€49 veggie). This is really unique and great! This means you're super flexible, you can share with each other and you don't have to eat dessert 😉. The churros that I chose as an aperitif were fantastic. Not actually a fan of churros, I was totally impressed by this hearty version with wafer-thin slices of Belper tuber and aioli. The red mullet gave me holiday feelings and the lamb ragout also thrilled me and was my favorite. Drinks: Due to Lent, I chose a non-alcoholic cocktail. Very refreshing. Of course, there is also a great selection and advice on (open) wines. The service was mostly good. A waitress wasn't "at her best" that evening, but that can happen from time to time. We waited a little longer for the second course than for the other courses, but that was totally ok. With the 2-hour slots you really have enough time to eat comfortably and have a good time. By the way, there is also homemade limoncello. I'll try it next time 😊.

The restaurant is very nice, but the food does not justify the price

Excellent food and great service!

Optimal Contemporary Italian restaurant in Cologne. I was there for work and I love it I highly recommend, we ate very well, Italian food revisited in a modern key, excellent service by Italian staff

Good service, unfortunately all three dishes I ordered were either bland, overly salty or not harmonious... unfortunately not recommended for the price.

Very good menu that changes regularly. Very nice staff. Very pleasant atmosphere. All around a great restaurant. We always like to come back and look forward to the new creations from the kitchen.

A wonderful restaurant with excellent food. The service staff is super friendly and attentive. You just feel comfortable all around. Gladly again and again! Every visit so far has been a highlight without feeling too fancy or upscale. The food is great. Tastes great, sophisticated and complex without overwhelming you. Simply perfect! Thanks for that!

Delicious and top service...we'll be back! :-)

The service was great, the food was okay, good but not outstanding. The ambience seems better and more comfortable on the website than in reality. What we underestimated is booking a time slot. The starter came quite quickly, but we had to wait quite a long time for the main course, which meant that time just slipped through our fingers. At the end it was a case of “quick, quick” including pouring the bottle of wine down the drain, as you would then be mercilessly thrown out. It's nothing for us, that's what we learned. Anyone who has an appointment afterwards anyway, e.g. wants to go to the cinema, might be happier with a time slot like this than we are.

The food was largely good and very good. You have a time window of two hours. It's a shame when more than 50 minutes of waiting time pass between the starter and the intermediate course and then the kitchen "no longer has time for dessert". The room is quite busy and the service is very friendly. We paid €160 for the menu (three courses €55), a glass of Frianciacorta (€10 per glass), a glass of wine (€7.5 per glass) and three bottles of water (€5 each) for two.

Upscale pasta restaurant. Good service! Not cheap, but still in the upper range.

If you like great food and nice service, you have to visit this restaurant. It was just an experience and we had a very good time. Every course was really perfect. Thank you for the good time!!

Caruso Pasta Bar was a fantastic dining experience, offering great value and quality—especially from an American tourist’s perspective. At €55 for a three-course menu, it felt like a great deal compared to similar dining experiences back home. The restaurant itself is a small, intimate setting that we absolutely loved. However, the tables are quite close together, so if you visit, expect a cozy atmosphere where you’re fairly close to other diners. Despite this, the ambiance felt warm and inviting. The service was stellar—friendly, attentive, and engaging. Our server went above and beyond, taking time to chat with us about Naples, Italy, and share insights about the dishes and drinks. It was clear that the staff genuinely cared about creating a memorable experience. The wine selection was extensive and thoughtfully curated, and the cocktails were reasonably priced and expertly crafted. The Espresso Martini was perfectly balanced, and the Hugo Spritz was light and refreshing—both absolute highlights. We started with the cauliflower appetizer, which was delicious and beautifully presented. The marinated salmon, while enjoyable, could have been improved by serving it on a cold plate, as the slightly warmer temperature detracted from the dish. The pasta dishes stole the show. Each showcased exceptional technique, with perfectly balanced and complex flavors. The agnolotti and fusilloni were our favorites—both creative, well-executed, and absolutely delicious. These dishes alone made the visit worthwhile. Dessert, while decent, didn’t quite match the high standard set by the rest of the meal. The goat cheese-flavored ice cream was interesting but slightly overpowering and didn’t pair well with the bland sponge cake it was served with. Our only other critique was the water surcharge, which felt overpriced at €5 per bottle. However, this was a small issue in an otherwise excellent dining experience. Overall, Caruso Pasta Bar delivered elevated, creative cuisine with outstanding service, standout pasta dishes, and a charming, intimate atmosphere. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a memorable meal!

Overall, highly recommended! A small point deduction for the food because two of the three dishes were a bit too fatty and a bit too salty for my taste... That doesn't have to be the case with such good compositions... The hammer: monkfish starter, mega-tasty, very original composition

The food was beautifully presented, the portions were small, but unfortunately the taste got worse from course to course. I had visited the restaurant several times about two years ago - back then they were interesting creations, balanced in taste and truly original. Today, however, I got the impression that - unfortunately - new valuable ideas have only been replaced by exaggerated originality: why, for example, is there nowhere to find goat's cheese ice cream, which is the core of the dessert here? Of course: it sounds great, but unfortunately the taste is a complete disappointment. In any case, we were unanimously of the same opinion: not a restaurant that you still have to go to. The prices were quite high for that. I assume that with this quality - and above all: this price-performance ratio - there will no longer be long waiting lists for a table in the restaurant in the future. Maybe I'll give it another chance, but definitely not this year.

They require your credit card just so you can book a table

This restaurant is an instant mood changer with its delicious food, cozy environment, and super helpful, friendly team. My special thanks go to the chefs, who do a fantastic job!🤤

Great concept and very good unusual food. Something special in Cologne. Thank you!

Super tasty menu and great service! We'd love to come back

Homemade pasta and beautifully presented. Somewhat small portions. Friendly service, good wine advice

The taste of the food didn't convince us at all. The ambience seemed unappealing. The acoustics were so bad that you could hardly understand the person you were talking to. We just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. We expected much more in this price range.

Nice atmosphere, good service and food. Italian, but the menu and dishes slightly adopted for German taste probably. Among aperetivos, churros were very good, suppli just fine, calamari fritti was not amongst the best I have tasted out of Italy. Pastas were fresh and fine. Book well in advance

The dishes are delicious, beautifully presented and can be put together as desired in the menu, but they are not a taste explosion. Staff is friendly. Right at the beginning you are informed that the slot lasts 2 hours and there is enough time, but there is still a feeling of rush and the tables are placed very close to each other.

Very nice atmosphere and high quality food. I can only recommend the restaurant

We had a reservation for three people at 6 p.m. and were greeted very friendly. All the staff were very attentive and accommodating. A friend was lactose and gluten intolerant. CARUSO Pastabar has prepared a menu especially for you. I thought €55 for a 3-course Michelin menu with a starter, main course and dessert, which you can choose from a menu, was okay! Especially since the quality of the food was very, very good!

Great and creative food, excellent wines, excellent limoncello, very competent and attentive service. Reservation fee for no-show, 2 time slots: 6-8 p.m. and from 8:30 p.m

A little corner of Italy in Cologne. Very high quality ingredients and dishes: I recommend the paccheri with tuna because they were SPACE! Staff almost all Italian (and bilingual) and very friendly; small but well-kept location. Perfect for a date or even for an evening with friends. Small negative note: they "force" you to have a 3-course menu at €55/pp (excluding drinks) where you can choose a combination of 3 as you like between starters, first courses and desserts (if you want, you can choose 3 first courses). This makes the experience more expensive and "challenging" (also for the stomach) and therefore will make me come back less often :( I would love to come just for an appetizer and a first course, but they don't offer this option.

- Fantastic food, very creative and seasonal - friendly, not too intrusive service - nice concept with the 3-course menu - Time slot of two hours is sufficient and absolutely not stressful

We were and still are completely thrilled! All 4 courses were a dream at the highest level. Every bite is a pleasure and the following applies to the homemade pasta: al dente is not an expression at all. I would come back any time just for the excellent cheese plate at the end. Plus more than moderate prices, a nice wine list, top service and a very friendly and competent team. We haven't been this excited about a visit to the Michelin-starred restaurant for a long time. From now on it is an absolute must for every trip to Cologne. Thanks for the great evening!

Food, service and ambience were very 👍 👍 👍

Rip-off, expensive and not fancy. Not of high quality and quantity, unfortunately a disappointment. Dessert was not tasty at all

Great evening, the food was delicious and the service was also very good.

Best Italian restaurant in Cologne The new sessional card is awesome...as is the service! I'm already looking forward to the next time!

Good quality and nice staff. What bothered us were the time slots 6-8 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. This is not appropriate for the quality of the food and the price level. This should be reconsidered.

We spent a wonderful evening at the Caruso Pasta Bar. We really like the menu concept. The scallops with hazelnut couscous and peas were very tasty. The paccherie with seafood in a fruity tomato sauce was an absolute highlight. The Scarmoza Ravioli Nerano with zucchini and yellow tomato sauce were also very tasty. Keep it up! Everything was great on my second visit too! I can absolutely recommend the Pisco Sour. The vintage sardine with kumquat and dill was phenomenal. The truffle onsen egg and the pumpkin ravioli were perfectly seasoned. I received a warm welcome and felt very entertained. Thank you for the hospitality and the great evening!

A restaurant for special occasions or when you just want to have a good time. Very tasty dishes, friendly service & everything you need to experience a special evening!

New favorite Italian restaurant in Cologne. Delicious aperitivo selection (the truffle churros are to die for) and the pasta is perfect - it couldn't be better. Plus a good wine recommendation and the very, very best homemade limoncello. 2 meal times slots are the only thing I don't like that much. If you just have to choose 8:30 p.m., then you can stay a little longer after your meal.

I have rarely eaten so badly for so much money in my life. I absolutely cannot understand the very good reviews. I love pasta and from culinary travels across Italy following the slow food guide, I had very high expectations. Caruso Pastabar has nothing to do with the pasta I ate in Italy. The biggest disappointment was the pasta with the ox cheeks. I expected braised aromatic meat and homemade special noodles. I got a kind of beef broth with 4 cubes of boiled beef, which was quite salty and had 5 noodles floating in it. Overall, the whole evening was a huge disappointment. From the smell of frying at the entrance to the stress due to the time slot - they were turned out shortly after 8 pm - Caruso didn't convince me at all. Definitely won't be coming back.

It was my first time at Caruso. Great ambience, great service, great dishes... Unfortunately the only thing was that the espresso didn't come close to the one in Italy... We'll be back soon!!!

The food was very good. The staff was also professional and friendly. All good and to be expected given the higher prices. Very good Pisco Sour. Urgent tip to the team: Improve your exhaust system. My clothes and everything about me smelled extremely like grease and cooking after my stay.

Very high quality food and great service!

If you want to have a nice evening, we can recommend the Caruso Pastabar. We had reserved a table for 6 p.m. The evening was very rainy, which is why we were glad that we had been asked to come in beforehand. The service was very pleasant and competent. The atmosphere seems warm and you feel comfortable. The concept is interesting because you can't just choose starter/main/dessert from the menu, but you could also order 2 starters and 1 main course or 3 desserts. We traditionally ordered starter/main and dessert. As a starter we chose the scallops with pea cream, which we highly recommend and tasted good. The main course Maccheroncini with rabbit ragout and pappardelle with salsiccia ragout. We can absolutely recommend both dishes. The pasta al dente, both ragouts nice and spicy. Dessert was rounded off with a tartlet and brioche. Yummy! The dishes were all very nicely presented. A good wine and everything is very harmonious. We would love to come back 😊.

If you are looking for a special restaurant, you have come to the right place. Interesting and very tasty flavor combinations, no matter what you choose from the menu, every dish is an experience! In addition, the concept is unique; you pay by the number of courses, not by the dish.

Visited for the first time and completely impressed. Organization, service and food perfect. You have to make a reservation and there is only menu. Parking difficult.

Dear Anna, Dear Marcello, After 5 years I was in Cologne again and definitely had to visit your new restaurant. We sat very comfortably at the large table and admired the beautiful floral decorations. I find the concept of choosing 3 courses individually sensational. The food was - as always - amazing! In terms of taste: Nonna's cuisine has been reinterpreted to the highest standard. 🔝 The service was also sensational. An incredibly attentive young woman looked after us charmingly. 👍🏻 The wine was great. 🍷 The price/performance ratio is also absolutely great! EUR 50 for 3 sensational courses. 🤩 My colleagues celebrated me for this local recommendation. 🥳 Thank you for this great evening with you. We'll be back!

We ate there for the first time on Friday and were very impressed. The dishes are super tasty and the staff is very friendly.

Were there for the second time and are always thrilled. The food is great and so is the service. Simply delicious pasta!

Really extraordinarily good. Food, wine, drinks and service were excellent. I really like the system

Good food and service. Decent atmosphere. A bit overestimated and overhyped all in all. Good taste but portions could easily be bigger

Very great food with a wonderful concept. Small menu from which you can put together your own menu. Wonderful service and sophisticated taste whether pasta or starter.

Tasty but a bit pricey. You can only have menu there is no other option. Service begin 20.30 and all people order at the same time thats why you need to wait a bit longer. After long waiting time you can enjoy but wait once you finished the starter you need to wait again. even for desert you need to wait :) I got it, its your concept but can be a bit faster.

Dog was OK 😊👌 Very friendly service and delicious pasta varieties!

Service friendly and attentive. Good selection: fish, meat, vegetarian. But why should you specify a reason in advance when making a reservation (birthday) if it is absolutely not taken into account?

Perfect! The food is outstanding, the service is consistently friendly and competent in its advice. We'll definitely be back!

You have to do that first! Such good food and absolutely great and consistently friendly service. We would be happy to come back at any time.

We had a wonderful evening. The food was delicious and our waiter was very attentive and nice. I also liked the fact that you can freely combine the three courses from the entire selection, e.g. B. can choose a second main course instead of dessert. We would love to come back.

Really good restaurant in the Agnesviertel with excellent service and excellent food. You should definitely try the appetizers too! We will definitely come regularly!

Great food with variants that are not typically Italian. It was a great evening.

Outside dining for three, one of us a carnivore, two not. Wine recommendation, a sicilian rosé was terrific. Bread water and 3 course option for all with appetiser of fried zuchini flowers. we had a varied spread of delicious food, the puddings also interesting, we tried one of each available and are happy to recommend each and every one. Atmosphere great on a quiet street, occasional cyclist. Service in 3 languages with charm and wit.

Overrated! Ambience is non-existent. The service rushes you through the menu and the food is nice but nothing special. The meat was tough, the pasta was ordinary, the dessert was okay but somehow not really harmonious with its many components. For 50€ I have sat and eaten much better at an Italian restaurant in Cologne!

We were there for the first time yesterday - and definitely not the last time. The food was amazingly good, you couldn't do it better. We had a vegetarian and a normal menu (we chose a scallop, seafood and tuna carpaccio course) and everything was delicious. The “service” (Anna, the owner) was super friendly and warm. We will be back!

We love this restaurant. After discovering it a few months ago, we have been there many times and have never been disappointed. You can tell that the owners run the restaurant with love. You can feel this with every employee, right down to the kitchen staff.

Been there for the second time and it was again an absolutely beautiful and delicious evening. This time we were able to sit outside, which really made the evening perfect. Every dish impressed us. Overall, highly recommended 👌🏼

Incredibly delicious food with great service and a lot of heart. Every visit so far (there have been numerous) has been a 10/10!

I haven't dared to make a reservation there yet. If you cancel at short notice you will pay €50 per person. It's somewhat understandable, but a bit steep. Something can always happen.

A truly lovely experience. The service is friendly, welcoming and accommodating. The food was fabulous; extremely fresh, with a unique direction that hits. I can also recommend the cocktails and wine. Prices also reasonable. We will always come back.

Very well eaten and very well served. Grace! The food was very good and tasted very good. Exceeded my expectations. We were in Cologne for the second time and in a restaurant for the first time. All I can say is that we thoroughly enjoyed these two hours! grace

We always come back here. The quality is right, the people are super nice and you really get a great experience.

One of the best restaurants I have been in a very long time. Highly recommended

Very good and diverse selection of Italian delicacies with a modern twist. Both the bar snacks and the appetizers and pasta dishes were very tasty across the board. The only deductions from the B grade are for the somewhat longer waiting time between courses and the not particularly comfortable chairs at the high table.

Great evening - with imaginative and varied, well-seasoned and perfectly portioned dishes, good wine and particularly attentive, super friendly and flexible staff.

As always, a pleasure to be a guest at the Carusos. It was a great evening and the service was more than accommodating ☺️

An absolutely great experience with perfect food, friendly, professional service and culinary delights. Recommended!

Good dinner experience with Italy restaurant in Cologne. All foods are delicious.

Always happy, always great! Great service and simply delicious. Thank you for the lovely evenings with you!!

Great menu with dedicated service - definitely a place to visit again. When we visited, it seemed a bit “overcrowded” - despite booking two months in advance, three people were seated at a table for two, which seemed a bit crowded to us. The service was good, but also slightly stressed. Overall, we still had a nice evening here!

Our favorite restaurant, incredibly tasty and unusual food and the team creates a great atmosphere where you simply feel good. We love it there

Rarely have I experienced such great service. The food is very tasty and coordinated. Great wine list and really nice and attentive service.

A nice restaurant. We ate a good menu for 50 euros. At the beginning you choose your starter, main course and dessert from several dishes. All dishes were on point. Tables are allocated twice in the evening. For a longer stay, I would always choose the 2nd layer. Only the waiting time between the starter and the main course was a bit long. Nevertheless, we were more than satisfied.

Wonderful location! Delicious food with good wine recommendations from the courteous staff. And at moderate prices! That something like this still exists!

Greatly enjoyed my dining experience at CARUSO Pastabar during a recent visit to Germany. As an English-speaker, I was able to dine without any major issues which is always welcoming to see. I was treated a little differently but it was acceptable. The food was delicious and I am glad I selected the 3-course meal option. The only minor issue I encountered was with the water situation, as I was surprised to see myself being charged for water that was presented as being from tap (not sparkling or still). When ordering I requested tap and it arrived in a jug that I assumed would be tap. Nonetheless, I would certainly recommend a visit to CARUSO as either a local or visitor to Cologne.

A wonderful menu and actually deserves a star

Great service! Super delicious food! I can especially recommend the octopus as a starter 😍

Super tasty food, very nice service and beautiful location. Completely calm. Price-performance unbeatable. I'll come back here

Relaxed atmosphere with a direction towards star level. Changing menu that surprises and delights you every time

We had a great evening. The service was great, the food was delicious. We ate in the late shift so we could end the evening in a relaxed manner.

Food, drinks, service, ambience - everything is perfect here. The food was simple and sophisticated at the same time, the wine (Primitivo) was also delicious and the service was always attentive and courteous without being intrusive. In short: it couldn't be better.

I'm very excited. The food was really great and special. The atmosphere is very pleasant. The service was super nice. Absolute recommendation

A chic little restaurant. There is a 3-course menu with wine recommendations (if desired). It was so incredibly delicious!! The wines went very well and you get water topped up all the time. The waiters are warm and very friendly. We felt completely at home and recommend the restaurant 100%. We will come back!