It's no longer mandatory to eat pasta in a fancy restaurant equipped with hankies and lit candles: fast-food Italian is becoming a trend in the city, and businesses are now serving faves like gnocchi and fettucini in boxes, Chinese-takeout style. 

While places like Pasta Mondo on St. Clair West have been serving takeout Italian for years, the last month has seen the inception of new competitors changing a cuisine once reserved for sit-down affairs and making it more accessible.

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The newest pasta-to-go phenomenon about to hit Canada is Dal Moro's, a Venetian brand that opened last week on Yonge just north of Wellesley.

Dal Moro's makes all their pasta fresh in-house daily, and the fact that their customers have to eat out of cardboard containers doesn't seem to detract from the experience. 

Fusing high quality dining with quick service packaging, the restaurant doesn't just cook basic noodles smothered in red sauce; they also have trendy options like black squid ink sauce and frutti di mare. 

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Another newly-opened restaurant Pastucci's is operating the same concept in Etobicoke, serving a build-it-yourself menu of penne and rigatoni packaged in takeout boxes. 

Serving al dente pasta – noodles that are slightly undercooked – the brand's mantra is all about healthy eating, since al dente pasta is apparently better for you than the overcooked stuff.

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This new boxed-Italian trend is actually more about customization and speediness than packaging.

Taking high-carb pasta meals and offering gluten-free or vegetarian options, brands like Del Moro's and Pastucci's are capitalizing on a new world where busy eaters want to gorge on Italian classics while staying healthy at the same time.