Imagine plates and plates full of pasta coming from all directions, complimented with garlic bread and salads, maybe even a touch of sorbet. All-you-can-eat pasta nights make this doughy fantasy a reality three days a week in State College.
Monday: Grub day
If an early-week craving for a carbohydrate boost hits, four area restaurants will provide that spicy high -- The Corner Room Restaurant, Ferrara's of Little Italy, Mario & Luigi's and Shoney's Restaurant.
David Weaver, general manager of The Corner Room Restaurant, 100 W. College Ave., joked that a wheelbarrow is sometimes necessary to help his patrons out the door on Italian Day at The Corner Room. And people kept the revolving door spinning while the Italian-style placemats added to the ambience.
For $4.95 at The Corner Room, patrons can eat all the pasta their stomachs can handle, chosen from a menu boasting five different pastas and five different sauces.
The pasta, which can ooze with a red-pepper pesto sauce, comes complete with a single serving of soup or salad and garlic bread. An intermezzo of lime sorbet is served to cleanse the palate between courses.
At Ferrara's of Little Italy, 125 S. Pugh St., owner Jack Sherlock said he has offered the all-you-can-eat pasta night for about a year now and isn't kidding when he says it is all you can eat --and, hey, alcoholic drinks are on the house for over-21 munchers.
"Sometimes we get football players who come and eat five plates," Sherlock said. "If you say all-you-can-eat, you can't limit it."
Ferrara's special runs from 4 until 9:30 p.m. The $4.95 price features a choice of five types of pasta and six sauces. The sweet-tasting marinara can be layered over angel hair for a change from the spaghetti blahs. Unlimited salad is brought to the table with a hearty supply of Italian bread.
Mario & Luigi's, 112 S. Garner St., was full of students hungry for an all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner that would cost them just $3.95. The sauce choices included a thick-but-not-chunky Neopolitan or a thinner marinara and bread in a basket to sop up the sauce.
The special is available from 4 until 11 p.m., said manager Tracy Hall.
"This is a marketing thing. We try to get students in here to increase our sales on certain nights and it does," Hall said, adding Mario & Luigi's all-you-can-eat record -- so far -- is eight servings.
John Thomas, owner of Shoney's Restaurant, 1900 S. Atherton St., said his restaurant also has an all-you-can-eat spaghetti special from 3 to 11 p.m.
Shoney's spaghetti was traditional -- the meat sauce could take a homesick student back to the way Mama makes it.
Thomas said the success of the pasta special at the Shoney's Resturant in Altoona prompted spaghetti night at the State College location.
"We like to offer something different on Mondays," he said. An all-you-can-eat food bar featuring soup, salad and fruit is included in the $4.99 price if the consumer has enough room left for the extras.
Tuesday: Bust a Gut
On Tuesdays, all-you-can-eat pasta night at Ye Old College Diner & Bakery, 126 W. College Ave., is better known to its staff as "Harry's day off," said owner Dan Pivirotto.
The Diner started its pasta night because Tuesday is the prep cook's day off and pasta is easy to prepare, Pivirotto said.
"In a college town, that sort of thing goes over well, a lot of food for very little money," he said.
The Diner's pasta -- if you can finish the enormous portion --can be eaten for $4.95 from 5 to 8 p.m. and includes a salad and the Diner's sourdough bread. The Diner offers three different sauces, including a vegetarian marinara made from a 15-year-old recipe, and linguini as its standard pasta.
Wednesday: Hump-day Munchies
When midweek hits, if another night of leftovers doesn't make your mouth water, head out to Home Delivery Pizza Pub, 1820 S. Atherton St., where all-you-can-eat pasta is $3.75 from 5 to 9 p.m.
The cozy, dimly-lit room housed a choice between three types of pasta -- ziti, rigatoni and spaghetti -- served with bread. The special began three years ago, said manager Dave Meyer, and the people keep coming.
Meyer said the pasta night was started in an attempt to attract business on a normally slow night.
The customers do come hungry -- the record is nine servings in one night, he said.
But while the area offers a plethora of pasta choices and a bevy of sauces, here's a tip for even the most dedicated carbo-junkie: Don't go all-you-can-eating three nights in a row.
