Deano’s Pasta in Somerville offers freshly made pasta and other items made from locally sourced ingredients.

By Bridget Frawley

Off of Garfield Avenue in Somerville is an industrial bright red and white building featuring various murals of assorted pasta and factory machinery. 15 Garfield Ave. houses both a pasta factory where over 100 different types of dry, fresh and frozen pasta are produced each day, but also a shop open to the public to purchase pasta and sauces.

“I think people might get a little intimidated by the size of the building or the look of the building that they think it’s more manufacturing or industrial,” co-owner of Deano’s Pasta Hala Matarazzo said. “We make everything we sell. We make all of our sauces, our pesto, all of our pastas. We make everything right there.” 

Deano’s Pasta is co-owned by Dean and Hala Matarazzo, and it’s been in the family for four generations since 1947. Dean’s grandfather started the shop in Medford, Massachusetts when he moved from Italy. The location then moved to Charlestown to increase the scale of their production, and they now call Somerville home.

“People can walk in and they can pick up a few ingredients and go home and make a restaurant quality meal at home,” Hala said.

Dean and Hala partner with hundreds of restaurants, specialty stores and farmers markets across Massachusetts and parts of New Hampshire to sell their product. Hala has been involved with the business for 30 years and comes into the shop seven days a week.

Hala and Dean Matarazzo.

Operations at the shop starts before the sun rises by loading the trucks with fresh pastas soon to be delivered to their restaurant partners. Hala and Dean do not use distributors, but instead do direct deliveries with their own staff of drivers and trucks.

Hala also delivers both frozen and fresh pasta samples to restaurants and markets, particularly in the North End.

“We do that to keep our relationships with all of our chefs and restaurants and specialty stores,” Matarazzo said. “We know everybody by name and they’re dealing directly with their pasta makers.”

Some customers from Rhode Island, New Hampshire and surrounding areas visit the shop with coolers to stock their fridges from pasta from the shop. Dean and Hala also host events in the shop’s parking lot to attract new and returning customers.

Ingredients are sourced locally, even down to the embroidery on their uniforms that were from an embroidery shop in Somerville.

Deano’s Pasta and their seven sauces and pestos are currently being sold at the Somerville and Wayland Winter Farmers’ Markets. 

“It’s the relationship that we have with our team and our customers and our chefs, that’s what makes it fun and special,” Matarazzo said. “Also being able to connect with people over local, delicious pastas that we’re making. It’s nice connecting through food.”

Visit the Deano’s Pasta website at: https://deanospasta.com/.