Wise Startup Blog

Gainesville is really flourishing now. We have a new pasta shop that just opened, in Lucas Pasta, 101 Downtown is a great new restaurant, and of course we have our old favorites like Dragonfly which keeps raking in the dough.

So last night, Stephanie, my girlfriend, suggested we check out Lucas Pasta. We live right around the corner, downtown, so we walked over to check out the new restaurant.

It’s located on University and 6th Street, where the AOIMedia office used to be (Gator Growl). They converted the office building into a restaurant, and after countless Alachua County Government forms later, they now have a kitchen.

The restaurant reminds me a lot of a Pinkberry or Red Kiwi yogurt shop you might find in California. The closest Gainesville restaurant would perhaps be 101 Downtown, given that they’re both pitched as being trendy, in the South Beach kind of way.

Lucas Pasta Menu

So the menu is pretty simple. You pick out your type of pasta, whether it be fettuccine, spaghetti, rotini, penne, whole wheat pasta and tortellini. Once you choose your pasta, you choose your sauce, pesto, marina, lemon and mint, alfredo, etc.

I went with tortellini with pesto and Stephanie got fettuccine with lemon and mint. My tortellini with pesto was amazing, but the lemon and mint was a little too bland for our tastes. We could smell the mint, but couldn’t really taste it.

After sprinkling on some parmesan cheese, it tasted much better.

Lucas Pasta as a Restaurant

So the restaurant itself is more of a ice-cream shop type. There is a counter, where you can order, and a couple of chairs for waiting for your food. It has a bar to sit and eat, but the way it’s configured right now, I’d say it’s more of a take-out restaurant.

It has a nice modern feel, expensive furniture, and a great piece of art on the wall (I’ll need to take a picture next time I’m there).

I’m not sure if they do any sort of Gainesville Delivery but they need to make that very clear, perhaps look at Gator Food as an optional service.

Lucas Pasta Suggestions

What would I do if I owned Lucas Pasta? Well for starters, I would install more seating, and perhaps look into expanding onto the patio. Right now it felt uncomfortable to sit and eat, and I felt like I was being more of a nuisance to them than a guest.

Also, since the restaurant just opened, it’s crucial to create loyal customers as soon as possible. For anyone that walks into the restaurant, I would ask them “how did you hear about Lucas Pasta?” and I would offer them a coupon or some incentive to get them to return.

Walk-ins are free for a restaurant, so you need to capitalize on them and keep them happy and wanting to return.

Also, the location is a bit askew, and you might say it’s a bad location. You can’t really tell the restaurant is open from the outside, so I would put up a big plackard or stand telling people to come in. There isn’t much foot traffic, so the sign has to be big enough for people to see it when they drive by.

The owner told me their busiest hours are between 12-2 and 6-8, meaning it’s all working people going to the restaurant. What that tells me is they need to go to all of the local offices and introduce them to their product. Perhaps bringing over a couple big containers of their pasta to all restaurants downtown, and give them a coupon or incentive to come in. “All downtown restaurants get $2 off any meal.”

Building up your core business is essential right now, and downtown there aren’t many good choices for lunch. It’s either an expensive sit-down restaurant or Quiznos.

Lucas Pasta in Gainesville

Lucas Pasta is a welcome addition to the Gainesville epicurean community, and I look forward to returning, and hopefully I’ll see some nice changes next time I swing by.

Lucas Pasta is located on University Road and 6th Street, right across from Central Florida Office Supply and next to Hookah Hut, where the AOIMedia used to be.