Slightly off the beaten path, behind an unassuming red awning, is a Shreveport restaurant with a cheerful vibe and truly fantastic food.
A member of the staff at Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe assists customers Friday, May 30, 2025, in Shreveport, La.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe, owned by Gioacchino and Natalie Brucia, opened in 2016. The restaurant plans were already in the works when his father, chef Guiseppe Brucia, decided to retire and close Ristorante Guiseppe, his popular Shreveport restaurant nearby.
Chef Brucia’s recipes live on at the pastacaffe, where you can often find him helping out or visiting with customers.
Chef — as he is affectionately called — went to culinary school at the age of 10 and graduated at 13.
“After World War II, kids would go to three-year trade schools in Sicily and live there,” Gio said. One of the trades was culinary.
A diner looks up at photos of celebrities eating spaghetti at Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., Friday, May 30, 2025.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
The restaurant
At Guiseppe’s Pastacaffe, the atmosphere is friendly and casual. The front dining area is a wall of windows and a wall decorated with fun black and white photos of pasta-eating celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. The music of old Italian classics plays in the background, and the utensils offered are a fork and a spoon for twirling your pasta.
Fresh pasta at Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., shown here Friday, May 30, 2025. Pasta ready-to-cook can be bought by the pound at the restaurant. The top tray is tagliolini made with spinach. The middle tray is spaghetti. The bottom tray is fettuccine.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
They make everything from scratch, and you can tell.
Handmade pasta
Guiseppe’s Pastacaffe has several different cuts of artisan handmade pasta and the pasta dishes come in healthy portions.
Gluten-free fettuccine with pomodoro sauce from Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., shown here Friday, May 30, 2025.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
Their wide gluten-free fettuccine that tastes like the real thing — the best gluten-free pasta I’ve ever had. And the fresh diced tomato sauce with basil served over the pasta was light and flavorful.
Tagliolini made with spinach with a tomato cream sauce, prosciutto, and mushrooms from Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., shown here Friday, May 30, 2025.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
The phrase “that is divine” literally came out of my mouth when I tried the tagliolini, made with spinach tagliolini, pomodoro, cream, mushrooms, and proscuitto. “Our Tagliolini is our signature pasta. I always told people that you can name the restaurant ‘Cafe Tagliolini,’ because that’s how popular it is,” Natalie said, adding that the tortellini and the classic lasagna are also favorites.
Beef-stuffed tortellini with an Alfredo cream and peas and proscuitto from Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., shown here Friday, May 30, 2025.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
The beef tortellini with alfredo cream, peas, and prosciutto cotto was tasty, creamy, and hearty.
Fresh pasta at Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., shown here Friday, May 30, 2025. Pasta ready-to-cook can be bought by the pound at the restaurant. The top tray is tagliolini made with spinach. The middle tray is spaghetti. The bottom tray is fettuccine.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
And you can buy their fresh made pasta by the pound and cook it at home.
Salads, paninis, desserts
Traditional cannoli with chocolate chips and fresh strawberry cannoli from Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., shown here Friday, May 30, 2025.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
The variety of fresh salads include the classic Caesar, caprese, Venetian, antipasto board, and salmon carpaccio.
You can also order panini sandwiches, including meatball, salame, quatro formaggi, and speck.
There is a kid’s menu with four options: lasagna, rigatoni alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, and cheese panini.
One of the most popular desserts is the affogato — vanilla gelato with a double shot of espresso, and they make fresh tiramisu, strawberry cannoli and traditional cannoli with chocolate chips.
A bottle of a spirit served at Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe in Shreveport, La., sits on display at the restaurant Friday, May 30, 2025.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
Guiseppe’s Pastacaffe serves adult beverages, including creamy Italian daiquiris and spritzes. Natalie said this time of year the Aperol spritz or limoncello spritz made with Prosecco are popular cocktails.
The extras
In addition to your meal, the Italian hospitality and great customer service makes you want to return to Guiseppe’s Pastacaffe.
The pastacaffe has some extra offerings too like catering, and a ‘Grab and Go Fridge’ full of tiramisu, drinks, packaged uncooked pasta, and three different sizes of take and bake lasagna pans – which feed from four to 24. Just find what you need and head to the checkout.
They recently added some private dining space off the first floor atrium lobby of the office building where they are located.
From Sicily to Shreveport
Chef came to Shreveport from Sicily via Washington DC. His cousin Vincent Campanella who was living in DC would vacation in Milan and ask Guiseppe year after year to come be a chef so he could open a restaurant there. Guiseppe said his wife finally commented, “Oh, what do you need to do? Go over there. If you like it, we come to America.” He sold his restaurant in Milan to his brother and went to DC.
Their DC restaurant was going well and received the top 3-star ratings from a newspaper food critic, but Guiseppe didn’t care for the long commute back and forth to work and was determined to return to Italy.
His cousin suggested instead they check out Shreveport, where he had relatives. Now we have all benefited from such favorite past dining spots as Olive Street Bistro, Cambridge Club and Firenze’s.
It’s no wonder the food at Guiseppe’s Pastacaffe is so good. Chef holds 15 gold medals from participating in cooking competitions in Dallas and elsewhere over the years.
“If you do love something, you need to put your heart in it no matter what. If you don’t, forget about it,” chef Brucia said.
Giuseppe’s Pastacaffe is located at 920 Pierremont Road, Suite 110, Shreveport. Lunch specials are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday through Saturday and include a fresh pasta dish and a salad for $12.