Sitting in cushioned wicker chairs, diners are faced with twisted branches of metal trees holding lanterns, surprisingly placed stairways, and walls fashioned to appear old and crumbling at The Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown. Musicians sit on a raised circular stage while jazz scales and tapping feet keep the tempo of the dining experience slow and relaxing, but not dwindling.

A tall candle lights the restaurant’s menu that features, you guessed it, pasta. A rich cheese tortellini is among the more simple of the dishes and doesn’t fail to delight. The most ordered dish at the restaurant is the roasted chicken and mozzarella ravioli, covered in a Napolita sauce of crushed ripened tomato, fresh basil and garlic. A sprinkling of chevre and a price tag of $14.50 complete this popular dish.

Prices range from $12 to $28, but the latter is only if you’re ordering the 20 ounces of New York Strip Steak. Among the raved-about pastas, restaurant-goers can also discover tuna, lamb, and steak. Right down to the complementary bread basket and garlic butter, everything The Loring Pasta Bar offers is sure to please.

Be sure to check out the bathroom — a little nook tucked in a corner that has European style rooms for each bathroom and dimly lit lamps overhanging the deep basins for sinks. Walking to and from the table, diners are able to peer around corners and see the whimsical and entrancing décor.

Sometimes the restaurant features salsa dancing with live music and in the midst of bustling college life, The Loring Pasta Bar is perfect for those ready to step it up and salsa or sit down and relax with some pasta.

Kaia Preus, staff writer