Gigi’s Pasta, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (inside Western Market)
Two weeks in, lines are already long almost every day at Gigi’s Pasta, a Western Market food hall stall with a fringed yellow awning and enough garlands of plastic lemons to decorate every restaurant on the Amalfi Coast.
“Build your own pasta bowl” is not a new concept, but Gigi’s has set itself apart with a retro aesthetic and a focus on made-to-order fresh pasta.
Constandina Economides and Stephanos Andreou, the Greek American couple who own Gigi’s, ran the downtown lounge Barcode and the fusion izakaya Sakerum, both now closed, as well as Tokyo Pearl, a Dupont Circle sushi bar.
Gigi’s is their first foray into Italian food and the fast-casual format. Before opening, the couple bought a pasta machine— then another one when the opening day crowds exceeded their expectations.
“It’s generally the freshest pasta you can get,” Economides says. “Those pasta machines are constantly making pasta from when we open to when we close.”
To build your own pasta bowl, start with a choice between freshly cut radiatori, spaghetti, rigatoni, or gigli, which are similar to campanelle. Then pick a sauce—marinara, basil pesto, arrabbiata, or vodka—and a protein (if desired) like braised meatballs, roast chicken, or sweet sausage. (There’s also charred rapini for vegetarians, and polenta as a gluten-free base). Add-ons include burrata, whipped ricotta, crispy pancetta, and Calabrian-chili oil.
In addition to customizable bowls, Gigi’s has a menu of chef’s specialties, like “Selene’s Cochiglie Chicken Pesto,” named after the owners’ daughter, and gigli with wild mushrooms and truffle crema. Every bowl comes with a small slice of focaccia. There’s one salad option (caprese) and one dessert (cannoli), but it’s really all about the pasta here.
If you visit during the weekday lunch rush, your 1:30 PM meeting might have to wait a bit. Economides says you might wait longer here than you would at your average fast casual counter. Lines can be long, and fresh pasta can’t be rushed.
“We’re positioned in a food hall, but we’re not like the other fast food places where you can get your food in two minutes,” she says. “Everything is fresh, everything is made to order.”
Ike Allen covers politics, food, culture, and transportation in DC and writes the monthly Hidden Eats column for the magazine. He grew up in DC.
