“Pasta Jay’s” officially announced it was opening its doors Sept. 8. The restaurant is an Italian-based eatery filled with food options from pizzas, to sandwiches, to classic pastas.

I went to the restaurant on opening day along with my family. Surprisingly, when we showed up not very many people were there. However, even though the restaurant was definitely not packed at all, it still took us about 30 minutes to get seated. I didn’t really think this was a big deal though, considering it was the first day it was open to the public.

After being seated, we were immediately offered water glasses. The only complaint I have here is that the glasses they use for water are incredibly tiny. I could drink the entire cup with two sips. But I suppose that’s just the price you have to pay for not wanting to purchase an over priced soda at any restaurant.

Next, our waitress brought out our garlic bread. I’m a sucker for bread in basically all of it’s forms, so naturally I love it when restaurants offer it alongside a meal.  While the bread wasn’t endless, “Pasta Jay’s” does a pretty great job with portion sizing, so there was more than enough for the entire table.

After a few more minutes of waiting, our food arrived to the table. I was totally ready to dig in to my Chicken Parmesan, until I noticed the the noodles in my pasta were ice cold. I had to call the waitress back to the table so that she could replace them, and I don’t usually do that. However the chicken that came along with my meal was excellent, and gigantic.

Another person I was with decided to get the pizza. Initially, it looked delicious. But after the first bite it became apparent that the crust on the pizza was quite charred. I took a bite and could really only taste a burnt flavor.

For it’s first day in business, I wasn’t too terribly impressed by what this restaurant had to offer. I hope that “Pasta Jay’s” improves the longer it’s in Hays. I do think it will get better in time, though.  Overall, I give my visit a 6/10.