Most people would be hard-pressed to argue with the fact that good Italian food in Austin is extremely hard to come by. There may be a small handful of restaurants that a small handful of people may swear by, but when it comes to basic Italian dishes that are affordable and taste great the options are pretty slim.

When I first heard about Regal Ravioli, a brightly colored trailer on east Sixth street, I didn’t give it much thought because I instinctively figured ravioli from a trailer just didn’t have much potential. However, upon glancing at the menu my interest and taste buds were sparked.

With the abundance of cheap pasta and sauce available at your local grocery store it can be easy to forget the joy and satisfaction of eating fresh handmade pasta. Zach Adams, owner and man behind the food at Regal Ravioli, understands the importance of freshness. He makes a point to source as many ingredients locally as he possibly can (Italian sausage from Peach Creek Farms!) and uses them to hand craft ravioli and gnocchi on a daily basis. I literally watched Zach start with a pile of flour and create a batch of his mushroom ravioli from scratch. The minute the ravioli was pressed it was immediately dropped in boiling water and cooked before my very eyes all in span of about 20 minutes. If that’s not impressive I don’t know what is, which brings me to the rest of the menu.

Consisting of a mixture of crimini, oyster, shitake mushrooms and goat cheese, the mushroom ravioli came topped with the cheesy and creamy fontina veloute sauce. As an avid meat crusader I surprisingly found this dish to be very enjoyable. If you’re a mushroom lover this dish is for you. The flavors of the mushrooms are complex and the goat cheese gives the ravioli a rich texture loaded with goodness. If I were a vegetarian the mushroom ravioli would be absolutely perfect.

The sausage ravioli was incredible, the stuffing a mixture of spicy Italian sausage, roasted green and red bell peppers, ricotta and mozzarella cheese. Unlike most of the ravioli you can buy in a store each ingredient is stands out on its own. The sausage has a subtle spicy kick that strikes a nice balance with the cheeses. The peppers add a little crunch to each bite. Yum.

Finally I had to taste the sweet potato gnocchi, and I was not disappointed. Gnocchi is very similar to a dumpling, and while a simple dish, it can be easy to mess up. The gnocchi had a slightly sweet but not overpowering flavor from the potato and each bite melted in my mouth. You could easily eat this gnocchi all by itself! The lamb Bolognese on top was something you might not expect to work with sweet potato gnocchi but it was excellent.

Regal Ravioli is in fact very good Italian that doesn’t get tied down by sticking completely to the classic format, and next time your looking for quick, affordable, and delicious Italian fix I highly suggest checking out Regal Ravioli!

Visit their WEBSITE for the menu, hours, and more!

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