If the mere mention of its signature dishes — tortellini with peas and prosciutto, pasta con gambretti, eggplant parmigiano, and so on — doesn’t make your mouth begin to water, you’re depriving your palate of one of Columbia’s longest-standing authentic Italian establishments: The Pasta Factory.

In the Beginning

A Columbia tradition for 44 years, The Pasta Factory originally opened at the Crossroads Shopping Center in 1976, founded by local entrepreneurs Mike Kroenke and Dennis Harper. In 1980, Richard Otto Maly, an MU alumnus and restaurant employee, bought the restaurant and subsequently moved it to its second, downtown location on the corner of Broadway and Hitt.