The annual Houston Pasta Festival debuted last year and it’s returning on Sunday, May 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. The venue is the Bayou City Event Center at 9401 Knight in south Houston. Tickets are a reasonable $35 online or $40 at the door. Parking is free; so is entry for kids 10 and under. Kids also get an opportunity to attend a complimentary cooking class and learn how to make ravioli. The “Kids Corner” sessions are hosted by the Italian Cultural & Community Center and two are being held: one at 1:30 p.m. and another at 3 p.m.

The Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Texas (IACC Texas) organizes the Houston Pasta Festival. IACC is a non-profit organization that “promotes trade relations between Italy and United States and encourages the development of Italian business in Texas.” That work includes helping local consumers get access to authentic Italian ingredients, including cured meats, wine, cheese and, of course, pasta.

The festival showcases several well-regarded Italian restaurants from Houston and the surrounding areas — but also eateries that traditionally serve other types of cuisine. (One of the great culinary debates to this day is whether Italy or China invented pasta first.) In addition to the unlimited food and wine samples, there’s a cash bar on site.

Here are the participating businesses:

• Art Institute of Houston
• B.B. Italia Kitchen & Bar
• BOH Pasta
• Bollo Woodfired Pizza
• Cane Rosso
• DR Delicacy
• Fresco Café Italiano
• Grotto
• Harlem Road Texas BBQ
• Mala Sichuan
• Mia Bella Trattoria
• Mina Ristorante
• Pecorino Toscano (Italian cheese consortium)
• Pepper Twins
• Pizaro’s Pizza
• Ristorante Bellisimo
• ROMA
• Tortoni Ristorante Italiano

Visit the Houston Pasta Festival website for more details and to save $5 on admission by purchasing tickets online rather than at the door. Check out the video below to see what last year was like.

Disclosure: The Houston Pasta Festival is a current Houston Food Finder sponsor. Without support from the local food community, this publication would not exist. Writer Phaedra Cook is a True Italian Taste ambassador and received a week of food education in Italy in 2017 thanks to IACC. 

Phaedra Cook

Phaedra Cook has written about Houston’s restaurant and bar scene since 2010. She was a regular contributor to My Table magazine (now closed) and was the lead restaurant critic for the Houston Press for two years, eventually being promoted to food editor. Cook founded Houston Food Finder in November 2016 and has been its editor and publisher ever since.