Since 1983, Pasta & Co. has been making fresh pasta for Austin customers and restaurants in a tiny orange house in central Austin. The shop is small, with just a few cases of fresh pastas, sauces, and frozen pasta entrees, and the staff is ready to help customers choose the perfect ingredients for that night’s dinner. The pasta case is filled with specialties like black pepper fettuccine, ricotta cavatelli, carrot conchiglie, and ravioli stuffed with combinations such as roasted Brussels sprouts and aged Gruyere or butternut squash with amaretti and sage. Most popular are the whole-wheat, spinach, and black-pepper pastas. And many of these creations are served in some of Austin’s best restaurants, from Eastside Cafe to Justine’s. A good portion of the shop’s sales are from the freezer case, which is stacked with trays of ready-to-bake entrees like lasagna Bolognese, cheese cannelloni, mushroom and eggplant manicotti, and chicken and artichoke baked penne. These dishes have become the go-to option for customers looking for housewarming and post-pregnancy gifts, since they’re easy to heat and always crowd-pleasers.
