Seven kitchens within a ten-minute walk of Union Square make their own pasta, and they are not making the same thing. Two of them come from the same chef and cook opposite ends of Italy. One prints a list nine plates long, and another opens at 8am so you can eat pappardelle without booking anything. The Italian restaurant Union Square sends most people to is not always the one making the plate you want, so this is organized by dish rather than by room: what each kitchen’s pasta program actually is, and dishes printed on their own menus in early August 2026. Prices and shapes move, so check before you build a night around one plate.

Quick answer

For hand-rolled filled pasta from Emilia-Romagna, Rezdôra on East 20th Street. For Campanian shapes and extruded pasta, Massara on Broadway. For the longest fresh-pasta list, Novitá on East 22nd Street. For pasta after a market run without a reservation, Tarallucci e Vino on East 18th Street. For pasta that changes with the produce, Union Square Cafe on East 19th Street. Prices on these menus run roughly $25 to $38 a plate.

How to read a pasta menu near Union Square

Shape is the first tell. A menu that names its shapes precisely, gramigna, corteccia, anolini, tonnarelli, is usually rolling them in house or buying from one producer. A menu that says penne and stops is telling you something too.

Region is the second. Emilia-Romagna means egg pasta, filled shapes and long-cooked ragù. Campania means durum wheat, extruded shapes, and a lot of tomato and seafood. Rome means guanciale, pecorino and pepper. Same word, different cuisines.

Then there is turnover. A kitchen cooking to the Union Square Greenmarket, which runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 8am to 6pm on 17th Street and along Union Square West, moves dishes every few weeks. If you want that in more depth, the market-driven kitchens around the square covers who actually cooks that way.

Seven pasta programs, kitchen by kitchen

Rezdôra, 27 East 20th Street: Emilia-Romagna, filled and hand-rolled

Rezdôra describes itself as Emilia-Romagna cooking centered on house-made pasta, from Chef Stefano Secchi. The name means head of the household, the nonna who rolls the pasta by hand.

The current pasta section runs Strozzapreti at $35, Anolini di Parma at $26, Tagliolini al Ragù at $28, Doppio Cappelletti in Primavera at $28, Gramigna Giallo e Verde at $28, Cappellacci di Friggione at $26, Uovo Raviolo di Nino Bergese at $38, and a dish listed as Grandma Walking Through Forest in Emilia at $29. There is also a regional pasta tasting at $110, with an optional wine pairing at $90; the site says the entire table must take part and that it runs two hours.

Who it suits: anyone who wants filled pasta specifically. Dinner runs nightly from 5pm to 11pm, lunch Tuesday to Friday from noon, and there is a weekend midday service from 11:30am that is an easier booking than dinner. SevenRooms.

Massara, 913 Broadway: Campania, extruded and wood-fired

Same chef, different region. Massara is dedicated to the cuisine of Campania, and the name means matriarch in Campanian dialect. The kitchen works through wood-burning ovens and grills.

The pasta list is shorter and drier in style: Corteccia at $27, Candele at $28, Cheesemakers Raviolini at $27, Mezzaluna at $29, Paccheri Pomodoro at $25, Cavatelli Verde at $28, Triangoli at $27, Spaghetti Bottarga at $28.

Who it suits: someone who would rather eat paccheri with tomato done properly than a filled pasta with truffle on it. Dinner only, seven nights, 5pm to 10:30pm. SevenRooms.

Novitá, 102 East 22nd Street: the long fresh list

Novitá has the broadest pasta section of anywhere here, and much of it is labeled fresh on the menu itself: Tonnarelli freschi al cacio e pepe at $27, Gramigna alla carbonara at $29, Pappardelle con ragú d’agnello at $32, Paglia e fieno alla bolognese at $32, Spaghetti freschi con vongole at $32, Strozzapreti al pesto at $29, Ravioli di spinaci con mozzarella di bufala at $32, Gnocchi con costine di manzo at $35, and Tagliolini freschi all’aragosta at $36.

Who it suits: a table where everyone wants a different thing. Lunch Monday to Friday noon to 3:30pm, dinner nightly 5pm to 10pm. Five blocks north of the park; (212) 677-2222.

Zero Otto Nove, 15 West 21st Street: Salerno, and the pizza oven next to it

Southern Italian, describing itself as handmade pastas, wood-fired pizza, fresh seafood and classic Italian meat dishes. The pasta list leans Campanian and seafood-heavy: Rigatoni Salernitana at $30, Rigatoni Genovese at $33, Radiatori in Cartoccio at $30, Bucatini Cacio e Pepe at $28, Orecchiette con Broccoli di Rapa at $30, Linguine con Vongole at $31, Linguini al Nero di Seppia at $31, Tubettini con Polipo at $34.

Who it suits: the group where one person wants pizza. Monday to Thursday noon to 3pm and 5pm to 9:30pm, Friday to 10:30pm, Saturday 5pm to 10:30pm, Sunday 4pm to 9pm. 212-242-0899.

Isabelle’s Osteria, 245 Park Avenue South: a broad house list, three blocks off the square

Worth being straight about the geography: Isabelle’s is not on Union Square. It sits on Park Avenue South at 20th Street, three blocks north-east of the park on the Gramercy side, which is a real walk rather than a corner you stumble onto.

What it offers on the pasta front is range. The restaurant describes its cooking as homemade pastas and seasonal dishes, and the current menu names Bucatini, Spaghetti, Rigatoni alla Vodka, Lumache, Tagliatelle Bolognese, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Bucatini Carbonara, Shrimp Linguine Fra Diavolo, Mushroom Lasagna and Orzo di Mare. That is a wider spread than the single-region kitchens above, which is the point: it is the list you want when the table cannot agree, or when somebody at it wants spaghetti and meatballs and will not be talked out of it.

Who it suits: a group, and a group with a plan. Reservations go through OpenTable and Resy only, release 30 days ahead, and take parties of up to ten. There is also a three-course Restaurant Week dinner at $60, Monday to Friday from 5pm, until Restaurant Week ends on 16 August 2026. The restaurant does not publish daily hours, so call (212) 388-1145 to confirm the night you want. To see how the pasta section reads this month, view Isabelle’s current menu.

Tarallucci e Vino, 15 East 18th Street: the unbooked option

One block from the park, open from 8am on weekdays, which makes it the pasta you can eat without planning. The menu lists Spaghetti al Pomodoro, Pappardelle alla Bolognese, Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara, Orecchiette, Spaghetti al Limone, Rigatoni, Linguine alle Vongole, Lasagna al Pesto and Nonna Michelina’s Chitarra con Pallottine, which is the one to ask about.

Who it suits: anyone walking off the Greenmarket at 2pm with bags and no reservation. Monday to Thursday 8am to 10:30pm, Friday 8am to 11pm, Saturday 9am to 11pm, Sunday 11am to 10:30pm. (212) 228-5400.

Union Square Cafe, 101 East 19th Street: pasta that moves with the produce

Two blocks north of the park, and the pasta section reads like a seasonal report. Current dinner listings include Agnolotti ai Mais with sweet corn, summer truffle and Asiago; Strapponi alla Contadina with melted zucchini and mint; Spaghetti al Pomodoro Fresco with confit tomatoes and blistered Sungolds; Rigatoni alla Norma; and Mafaldine all’Anatra with duck ragù, pistachio and amaro. Each pasta carries two prices on the menu, $24 and $34 in the case of the Rigatoni alla Norma.

Who it suits: someone who wants to taste August specifically. Dinner daily 5pm to 10:30pm; OpenTable; (212) 243-4020.

Where each of these sits on the map

Everything above is north of the park except Union Square Cafe and Tarallucci e Vino, which are two blocks and one block up respectively. Rezdôra, Massara and Isabelle’s cluster around 20th Street, Zero Otto Nove is on 21st between Fifth and Sixth, and Novitá is furthest at 22nd. The 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W all stop at 14th Street-Union Square; from uptown, the 6 at 23rd and Park Avenue South is closer to the 20th-to-22nd Street group.

If you are eating early rather than at eight, the eight rooms sorted by how late each kitchen runs covers the same blocks by the clock instead of by the plate.

Frequently Asked Question

What does a pasta course cost near Union Square right now?

Roughly $25 to $38 a plate on the menus listed above, as of August 2026. The floor is Paccheri Pomodoro at Massara at $25 and Anolini di Parma at Rezdôra at $26; the ceiling is Uovo Raviolo di Nino Bergese at Rezdôra at $38 and Tagliolini freschi all’aragosta at Novitá at $36, both of which carry either an egg-yolk technique or shellfish. Restaurant Week prix-fixe menus, which run until 16 August 2026 at participating restaurants Monday to Friday and Sunday, can fold a pasta course into a set price instead. Menus change; confirm before you order.

Before you order

Pick the region first and the room second. If you want filled pasta, it is Rezdôra. If you want dried shapes and tomato, it is Massara or Zero Otto Nove. If you want choice, it is Novitá or Isabelle’s. If you want whatever came off a truck on 17th Street this week, it is Union Square Cafe.

For the wider question of how a pasta course fits into an Italian meal, the course-by-course ordering guide is a useful companion, and how many dishes to order for a table settles the argument about sharing.

Editor’s note: Isabelle’s Osteria is affiliated with this publication. Restaurants were selected using the criteria described above.