Thirteen tables. Think you can snag one?
This Columbus Italian restaurant keeps dinner intentionally small, with the owners close to the action and the dining room limited to just forty-eight seats.
Once you sit down, the table is yours for the evening. There is no rush to squeeze the meal into a tight window, which gives dinner room to unfold naturally.
The cooking reaches back to family roots in Abruzzo, and those recipes still shape what comes out of the kitchen today.
With only four dinner nights each week, reservations matter.
If thirteen tables are all you have to work with, would you plan ahead for one?
Only Thirteen Tables Make Every Reservation Count
Thirteen tables is the full dining room at Pasqualone’s, with forty-eight seats altogether. Reservations are required, and the restaurant asks diners to arrange them in advance.
Once you are seated, the table is yours for the evening. You can start with antipasto, move into pasta or an entrée, listen to the nightly specials, and stay through dessert without watching a reservation clock.
The scale keeps the room easy to picture before you ever arrive. Forty-eight seats across thirteen tables is far removed from a sprawling Italian dining hall, and there is no second dining room hiding behind the first one.
That smaller setup also works naturally with the restaurant’s family-style option. A table can begin with meats and cheeses, move into two pasta courses, then continue with two or even three meat dishes.
If you prefer ordering individually, the regular menu covers pasta, chicken, veal, appetizers, and desserts, while three to five chef specials add another set of choices each night.
A reservation here is not just a way to claim a chair. It gives you one of only thirteen tables for the whole evening.
David And Lori Pasqualone Keep The Restaurant In The Family
David and Lori Pasqualone are not distant names attached to the business. David owns and runs the restaurant with Lori, and he also works as the chef preparing the food.
Their roles keep the restaurant closely tied to the family name on the sign. David handles the kitchen, while he and Lori host the restaurant together during service.
The Pasqualone family story reaches back to Italy through David’s father, Otello. He was born in Collecorvino in the Abruzzo region, and the family still has relatives there.
Those roots have stayed close to the food. Pasqualone’s specializes in classic Italian dishes connected to recipes that have been in the family for generations, while many of David’s dishes draw inspiration from central Italy.
The restaurant itself was formerly known as La Plaia before becoming Pasqualone’s Ristorante. Today, David and Lori continue to run the Columbus operation under the family name.
With the owners involved directly in service and cooking, the restaurant stays personal without needing a complicated story around it. The family name, the kitchen, and the dining room all belong to the same operation.
Abruzzo Family Roots Shape The Cooking
Collecorvino sits in Italy’s Abruzzo region, and that town is an important part of the Pasqualone family history. Otello Pasqualone was born there, and David’s cooking still draws from the region where his father grew up.
The menu carries that Italian background across several categories. Antipasto can bring fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, prosciutto, cured meats, olives, pepperoncini, and imported cheese to the table before the main courses begin.
Pasta choices include tortellini, spaghetti, penne, fettuccine Alfredo, portobello mushroom ravioli, and gnocchi. Homemade Italian meatballs made from ground veal add another option alongside the pasta section.
Chicken Parmigiano keeps things classic with a breaded chicken breast, house red sauce, and Italian cheeses. Chicken Cutlet gives you another chicken entrée without moving away from the restaurant’s traditional Italian focus.
Dinner entrées are served with fresh garden salad and Italian bread, so the plate arrives as part of a fuller dinner rather than standing alone.
Veal Parmigiano appears on the meat side of the menu, while family-style dinners can include dishes such as veal parmigiana and pork brajiola as part of the shared meat course.
If pasta is where you want to stay, there is plenty to work through before looking at the specials. If you want several courses, the family-style format brings more of the menu onto the table at once.
Every Entree Is Prepared To Order By The Owner-Chef
Every entrée at Pasqualone’s is prepared to order by David, the owner-chef. The kitchen does not rely on a row of finished entrées waiting for someone to choose them.
You order first, then the plate is cooked. That applies across the regular dinner menu, including pasta, chicken, veal, and other entrées.
The restaurant also shops daily at local markets around Columbus. Those shopping trips support both the regular menu and special requests that need ingredients beyond what is already planned for service.
If you have a particular dinner request, Pasqualone’s asks for roughly two days of advance notice. That gives David time to look for what is needed before your reservation.
The made-to-order setup pairs naturally with a dining room of only thirteen tables. Each evening serves a limited number of diners, and the kitchen works through those orders one plate at a time.
You can keep things straightforward with pasta or Chicken Parmigiano, choose from the night’s specials, or arrange something in advance when the request can be accommodated.
Dinner here starts in the kitchen after you order, not before you walk through the door.
Nightly Specials Keep The Four-Day Dinner Schedule Interesting
Pasqualone’s serves dinner Wednesday through Saturday, and David creates three to five chef specials for each evening. Those additions give the four-night schedule a little movement without changing the core menu that stays available through the week.
Those specials sit beside the regular menu rather than replacing it. You can still order familiar pasta, chicken, veal, antipasto, and dessert while considering whatever else David has prepared for that night.
Because the specials change, one evening can bring choices that are not there on another visit. The restaurant keeps the exact number small enough to hear alongside the main menu, with three to five additions each service.
Special dinner requests add another possibility. With about two days of advance notice, David can shop for ingredients and prepare a requested dish when he is able to source what is needed.
That works especially well for diners who already have something specific in mind before making the trip. Otherwise, the nightly specials give you a few additional options once you arrive.
The four-night schedule makes each service compact. Wednesday through Saturday, the same small dining room opens for dinner, David returns to the kitchen, and a new group of specials joins the regular menu.
Traditional Family-Style Dining Turns Dinner Into A Longer Affair
Family-style dining at Pasqualone’s follows a multi-course structure built for sharing.
The first course is antipasto with meats and cheeses. Next comes primi piatti, usually two pasta dishes. The meat course follows, with two selections being typical and three also possible.
Veal parmigiana and pork brajiola are among the dishes Pasqualone’s gives as examples for that meat course. The format lets the table try several preparations instead of everyone staying with a single entrée.
The antipasto can include fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, prosciutto, Genoa salami, soppressata, capocollo, imported olives, pepperoncini, and imported cheese.
Gluten-free diners have several possibilities too. Most dishes can be prepared gluten-free, and the kitchen keeps gluten-free pasta and flour available. Vegetarian pasta dishes can be prepared with fresh vegetables, including fettuccine primavera.
Dessert keeps the meal going with cannoli, imported gelato, or sorbetto. Espresso, cappuccino, coffee, iced tea, soft drinks, and bottled sparkling or still water are also available when you want something alongside the final course.
Since the table remains yours for the evening, family-style dining can move from one course to the next at its own pace. You can share antipasto, work through the pasta, reach the meat course, and still leave space for something sweet.
Four Nights A Week Give Diners A Small Window To Get A Seat
Pasqualone’s serves dinner Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are closed.
The restaurant is located at 5766 Emporium Square, Columbus, OH 43231.
Those four evenings are the entire weekly dinner schedule. Reservations are required, and the dining room holds forty-eight people across thirteen tables.
Once your reservation begins, the table stays yours for the evening. You can order from the regular menu, consider the three to five nightly specials, choose family-style dining, or arrange a special dinner request in advance.
The restaurant also accommodates private dinner parties, with its dining room able to handle groups approaching fifty guests.
Private-party menus are arranged with the restaurant, giving larger groups another way to use the same small dining room outside a standard table reservation.
A night here can stay simple with one entrée and dessert, or stretch through antipasto, pasta, meat dishes, and something sweet at the end.
David is still the owner-chef in the kitchen, Lori remains part of the hosting team, and the family’s Abruzzo roots remain tied to the food.
Four nights, thirteen tables, and forty-eight seats keep Pasqualone’s on a very different scale from a large Columbus dining room. Once you have the reservation, the evening is yours to settle into.