Julia Child famously said, People who love to eat are always the best people. And studies show that Americans really love to eat pasta. We consume almost 6 billion pounds of pasta per year, proving that a heaping bowl of noodles is one of lifes great pleasures.

The shapes, sizes and sauce combinations are endless, from spaghetti to rigatoni to cavatelli. But are some shapes better than others? We interviewed Italian chefs nationwide on what you should and shouldnt order when pasta cravings come calling.

The Best Pastas To Order At A Restaurant

Spaghetti

Arguably the worlds most popular pasta shape, theres a reason its a carb lovers go-to. Spaghetti is definitely the best to order at a restaurant because it is a world-renowned shape. Many restaurants make their spaghetti in-house because of how iconic the shape is, making it very high quality, said Nadia Caterina Munno , a chef and author known as The Pasta Queen.

Its also incredibly hard to mess up when cooking. I usually order a longer noodle pasta like spaghetti. Theyre usually more difficult to overcook, and generally, theres a little more sauce to work with, said Craig Richards , chef and owner of Lyla Lila in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tagliatelle