BNA Magazine

Mirko Spinella is an Italian American born in Messina, Sicily in 1975. “I grew up in Italy and cooking has always been a big part of my family. I’ve been cooking most of my life.” He immigrated with his family in 1993. He worked for Universal for a long time, but his first experience in the service industry was with his catering company. “It was really hard at first because we had to find kitchens to rent to make all of the food we were going to serve.”

After having success with his catering he decided to take a step further. It was October of last year when he and his brother Fabio were looking for a location and they found the old cinnabun and carvel ice cream location on Azusa Ave. and that’s where Mirko opened the Pasta Bar and his brother opened The Cookie Mill.

Spinella Pasta Bar offers great authentic home made Italian recipes at affordable prices. “We make everything fresh everyday, we don’t have heat lamps anywhere here. We use our family recipe and make fresh sauces every morning and everything on the menu we make to order.” All their food is made with fresh spices and the finest ingredients. They take a great deal of pride in the taste, presentation and freshness of their dishes, and if that isn’t enough, you can get the pasta of your choice with the sauce of your choice all for five dollars including tax.

The restaurant is a family affair where Mirko works together with his sister Naomi and their mother with his brother along side them at The Cookie Mill. At The Cookie Mill they bake fresh cookies and serve ice cream. They are quickly gaining recognition throughout the local community for their famous fresh ice cream sandwiches, which you can customize with the cookie of your choice and the ice cream of your choice. Spinella Pasta Bar and The Cookie Mill are located at 1165 E. Alosta Ave. Azusa, CA 91702 for more information you can call 626-852-5756 or visit www.spinellapastabar.com