Melina's Fresh Pasta Shop

I purchased a few items today at the European Christmas Market only to get home and feel like I had been hustled. The lady in the booth told us the tiramisu was straight from Italy only to get home and realize that it was the same tiramisu that I had purchased from Costco a few days earlier. She also sold us a can of olive oil that Best by date was 11/21/25! We haven’t tried that ravioli that we also purchased but I am truly disappointed. As someone who like to support small business whenever I can I do feel like I was hustled for sub par products. Be aware and make sure you check expiration dates before purchasing from them.

I got 3 boxes of pasta and they were all delicious. I got cheese & garlic, fig & Gorgonzola, and sweet corn. The fig one was a little gritty because of the texture of fig but was still delicious. They all paired well with the creamy tomato sauce. I will say it was hard to pick up the unique flavors of each ravioli. I mainly tasted ricotta cheese in all of them. But still, the quality of the pasta is outstanding.

Our favorite local pasta! You can’t go wrong with any of their products.

We make our own pizzas at home with Melina's pizza dough. We buy 4-5 at a time and thaw one out overnight before we make our pizza. Every bite is delicious and we can make it extra crispy, just the way we like it.

Friendly staff and incredibly good pasta! I got the tomato sauce, meatballs, gnocchi, and spaghetti pasta. So good, our new favorite place! They also have cooking classes at another location which I hope to attend.

I have never seen this big of a variety of different styles and flavors of homemade pasta. The pizza dough is really good and they even have lasagna!! We have tried a lot of the stuff they make and have never been disappointed. If I crashed on a deserted island with a ship full of gnocchi from Melina's Pasta, I would happily accept my fate.

The best ravioli! So yummy!

If you're looking for a group activity, try a pasta making class at Il Laboratorio. We booked a class to make orecchiette, cavatelli, and gnocchi for a work retreat and it was a hit (even for the gluten-free participants!). It is hands-on, group-based, and ends with a product tasting. Carmella is a great host, providing instruction, guidance, and background information on the cooking classes she took in Italy to get her business started. We could also purchase additional pasta to take home, which was a bonus. We did this activity several years ago and the team STILL talks about it today. Definitely one of the best office events we have had. Highly recommend.

Picked up some frozen homemade spinach & cheese ravioli, and basil marinara sauce from this store at the Farmer's Market (also can find at a few other local shops with a freezer section, as well as the brick and mortar). I thought the ravioli and the sauce were both really tasty!!! The ravioli were filled with the perfect amount of filling, and the edges were sealed correctly so none broke apart while cooking. I would've liked the option to buy both fresh (not frozen), but really enjoyed them and will return to try some of the other flavors!! So many to choose from!

I had never heard of Melina's until a friend of my mother's from out of town spoke about it to my mom and wanted to try some of their pasta. Since I was going to be in their town in a few days and only live about 20 minutes from Melina's I decided to order some and bring it in a cooler so my mother could surprise her. I'm glad I ordered it ahead of time. It was a smooth process and allowed me to choose a few things to try on my own. I followed my GPS to the teenie-tiny building Melina's is located in. Walked in and was greeted by a big smile from one of their workers with a chef's coat on. She grabbed my box quickly from their freezer and answered a few of my curious questions. She seemed to love what she did! How refreshing! She welcomed my questions and was just an overall cheerful person. Tried some of their pasta about a week later. It was goodness in a string. There is NO comparison to store-bought pasta. Melina's pasta is delicious! Also, Melina's sauce- better than the rest. For real. I'm thrilled to have Melina's to go to for all things pasta (and sauces). I'm supporting a small, local business and it's delicious! Win-win!

This was my first visit to Melina's Fresh Pasta Shop and I couldn't be any more pleased! The young lady at the cash register, Vanessa, was super helpful, knowledgeable, and patient. I bought their pesto and it was HANDS DOWN the best I've ever had. Could I make pesto at home? Yes. Am I going to now that I've had this one? Absolutely not. I plan to go back next week and get at least three more containers to put in my freezer. I'm also going to try some of the pastas considering the fact that my mouth started watering just looking at them.

Delicious pasta. Had the raviolis - burrata and three cheese with garlic - and both were fantastic. The pasta had a nice chew and the fillings were fresh and flavorful. Would def go back to try other pastas.

Wanted to try this place since seeing it on the cover of Our State magazine. I was going to be in Durham today so I took my small cooler with ice to bring home a few boxes. Followed the GPS maps up to a small gray building with a small parking lot. Popped through the door and whoa, I was inside a kitchen. I must have looked surprised, a nice lady said " You're in the right spot". I closed the door as they pointed me to a freezer on the right with all the products for sales. They had multiple types of ravioli and several sauces frozen and packed to go. I got the pimento cheese as they were the featured item in the magazine and a lemon ricotta ravioli box. I came home and prepared the pimento cheese for dinner with Rao's marinara sauce and a salad with some crusty bread. It was delightful. Highly recommend picking some up if you are in the area.

This little shop just opened up over the weekend, but they've been selling their pasta through different stores and at farmers markets in the area for a while now - This was my first time trying their pasta though. They've got jumbo ravioli, which all sounded incredibly amazing, gnocchi, and cut pastas (spinach linguine, spaghetti, fettuccine, whole wheat shells, and pasta sheets). The lady working the register was really nice and offered look in the back if there was anything missing from the freezers that I wanted. There's also a sauce & cut pasta deal for $10, which I ended up getting. I went with the spaghetti and tomato basil sauce while my friend grabbed the spinach linguine and caponata sauce. The building is fairly large, but the actual "shop" space is mostly just two freezer cases in the front. It seemed they only offered frozen pastas and sauces which you might want to keep in mind if you want to eat right away or on the go (but it's nothing a quick zap in the microwave can't fix!) If you haven't cooked fresh pasta before, just know that it takes a much shorter cooking time, so keep an eye on that pot! I timed my spaghetti out but it seems to have gotten a bit past al dente in the four minutes, so I suggest going for a shorter amount of time if you're doing the spaghetti since it's such a thin noodle. My friend said her spinach linguine turned out perfectly chewy though. I found the tomato basil sauce to be a bit one dimensional in flavor, and a touch too sour for my taste. It was also fairly thin, so take into account a longer simmering time if you want a thicker, more substantial sauce. I topped it with pecorino romano to up the salt content, and it ended up pretty tasty! I'll definitely come back, but I think I'll "splurge" for the filled ravioli next time. It definitely seems worth the extra few dollars - the only thing is, how will I choose?!

Staff is so nice, selection is plentiful, seasonal and interesting. They carry locally made sausage and sauce, too. Parking is easy. I could have been in and out in less than five minutes had I been able to make a decision! Four stars instead of five only because I really can't afford to buy all that I want because of the cost/packaging. In trying to feed my family of four, I have to buy two packages of pasta... it's more than I need, but not enough for another meal. I wish they offered a slightly larger package. I buy it when I can, but it's expensive to buy it all the time. I have loved every variety I've tried!

I like Melina's ravioli. I first tried Melina's after a visit to the Durham farmers market. I recently visited their brick and mortar location off of Durham-CH road. It is a small place and there was a friendly lady there to greet me who I believe was Melina herself. (I bought ravioli again). I like the lemon ricotta flavor in particular. Very light and refreshing. I would like to try the pizza dough at Melina's fresh pasta. If she decided to make premade pizzas I would definitely buy that too. I am a big lasagna fan, so I am going to give that a try very soon as well.

I know of Melina's after a visit to the Farmer's market. I've tried a few of the fresh pasta (spinach linguine, fettucine), and a couple ravioli. I like their spaghetti & sauce combo - I think for $10? you got to choose 1 pasta & 1 sauce. I really enjoy the pasta, probably fettucine the most. It's so hard to go back to the boxed dry pasta after having this. Ravioli was also good, but I think I need to up my game and really make some kind of sauce, or caramelized onions, to give it an edge to shine through. One time my ravioli weren't crimped fully so they burst open while being cooked, but I think it was just that one time. I'm planning to try the rest of the menu whenever I have a chance!

It is not the price it is the quality. My wife and i had been looking forward to securing some Pimento Cheese Ravioli. Tried twice at Weaver Street and acme upon game this weekend Very exited. we live 5 hours away so it is a trip. Not a negative consumer but really honest to god I could have eaten the box the "Ravioli" was in and it would not have had a different taste. Very disappointed in seeing the article in OUR STATE Magazine and their support. Who is paying Whom? WDK

Food Service Ambiance Wine was all 5 star we had a fantastic experience. We will be back.

I was hesitant to try this place at first, but very glad I did. So far, I have tried half a dozen of their jumbo raviolis (lots of selection). When you buy 3 or more boxes of ravioli, you get $1 off every box. Regarding the ravioli - we typically cook them and place them either on top of bed of salad with light dressing or on carmalized onions or lightly dressed with herb butter, or under a bed of homemade butter cherry tomato sauce; point is we tried to do something light to compliment and not compete with the ravioli because they were very good. The fig and gorganzola one has a nice sweetness. The mushroom one was really good and mushroomy. But the best one has to be the lemon one. That was not what I would guessed when buying them. The lemon one was so fresh, vibrant, explosion of citrus expression, playful, fun, and crazy good. That's a must try; highly recommend.

I love having access to homemade authentic pasta. The $10 pasta/sauce special is our go-to. The various ravioli flavors are great as well. Love the lemon ricotta!

Was driving by one day and happened to see this shop. Fresh Pasta! So I stopped and am very glad I did. I've only tried the ravioli so far, but it's delicious! I've had the 3 cheese, Greek (which is lemon ricotta) and mushroom. All of which are terrific. The day I bought the Greek, no one in the shop knew what it was; we all thought it might be spinach and feta. Glad they didn't know because I probably would not have tried it. But again, delicious. This place is well worth a visit.

Popped by here yesterday on a friend's recommendation and was not disappointed! Goodness- so much to choose from. I went with the mushroom ravioli and pimento cheese ravioli and they were both delicious. The woman who greeted me was friendly and helpful. I want to go back and try the greek ravioli and the cannolli kit. As another reviewer noted these are flavorful and well-crafted; I'd lean toward lighter sauces or even just some olive oil and grated cheese so as not to take away from the products. This is a really excellent addition to our local food scene.

Love Melina's! So far we've had the pizza dough, pesto, gnocchi, and a few of the pastas and all are delicious. Price is very reasonable for fresh handmade pasta as well. We are very lucky to live close to the shop and it's also sold at many of the local grocery stores.

So delicious! Purchased the cannoli kit, spinach linguine and also fig/goat cheese ravioli. Cannot rave enough about how incredible these items were. Will be back for sure!

This review is for Melina's at the South Durham Farmer's Market: we really enjoy them! We try not to buy too much pasta because once I pop I just can't stop. However! Melina's pasta is so fresh and in really reasonable amounts-the 1 lb pasta is already divided into four portions, making our dinners really easy. We've stuck with the spinach fettuccine, which go with everything. They have directions on the packets, as well as the "best by" for the freezer and fridge, which is awesome. Our personal favorites are the ravioli-which are sooooo delicious and a great price. The mushroom are the best--so earthy and savory. The fig and gorgonzola are a close second! I love incorporating this local and fresh option into our meal plan now!

Incredibly good pasta. We tried several varieties of pasta as well as sauces, all of which were extremely good. The cannolis were pretty disappointing considering how good the pasta was

Very rarely do I cook at home, Simply because cooking for two is as expensive as eating out, at least based on how picky/bougie I am. Some friends of ours dragged(or drug but without drugs) is to The Saint Nicholas European Christmas Market, an event that the title is bigger and more well planned than the actual event, Quite disappointing for a tenth year event but I digress. There was steam rising from one side of the room, with a cute but simple sign behind it, Melina's Fresh Pasta. There was the Lemon Ricotta ravioli to sample, In fairness I was starving so almost anything would have been good, but these were phenomenal. I bought and just now prepared and inhaled the Fig and Gorgonzola ravioli and will for sure be getting more of them and their other offerings. They are sold frozen so I guess I can say I now eat frozen food.

I HATE the new method of packaging ravioli. It is a product I have enjoyed for several years. I like to have a serving of four raviolis at a time and I freeze the packages so that I can enjoy them over a period of a week or more. When the raviolis were attached to one another and protected by paper in groups of six, this was simple to do. Now, with them all detached and jumbled together, freezing is a disaster and even if not frozen, I think it would be difficult to use only four at a time - too much handling and sticking. I will not buy this product again until you go back to the old method or work out another way to make it easy to freeze and to keep the raviolis separate from one another. Nancy T. P.

Love the pasta here, bought some spinach and cheese ravioli along with the tomato basil sauce. Took it home and I was lucky to get one plate of it!

Did the pasta making class, and it was a great hands-on experience! We learned how to make different kinds of cut pasta as well as ravioli. Of course, we also got to taste the pasta, and it was delicious! Very authentic--just like pasta I've had in Bologna, where Melina learned.

This is absolutely delicious, authentic Italian. My family and I just relocated from Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, where the Italians reign over the local food scene and you cannot find better fresh pasta. At least that's what I used to think until I tried Melina's. I couldn't be happier to discover this local gem!!

My husband and I took a road trip to Durham last weekend. One of the places we had planned to visit was the Farmers market and we are SO glad that we did. We purchased their Lasagna Margherita, Spinach Gnocchi with marinara sauce,Ravaoli & Potato-n-onion Pierogi... OMG the pasta is so good that we are already planning our next trip (which is a 3 hour drive for us) with a larger cooler to stock up!! YUM, YUM, YUM!!!

We get Melina's pasta through our CSA, and have never had one we don't enjoy! The gnocchi always cook up tenderly, and the ravioli are generously filled - no skimping here on flavour or quality. Prices might seem high but the experience of a masterfully made fresh pasta is nothing like what you get with a box of dried pasta; it's an indulgence that's worth enjoying!

Something I don't understand about this place. You now have a retail store with a lot of space. Why then is all the pasta and sauces frozen? You would think they would have a fridge for fresh not fresh frozen. To me it's a big difference. Heck I can buy fresh pasta in Harris Teeter. If they can figure that out I'll be back.

I'm kind of a pasta addict and I LOVE Melina's handmade ravioli, fettucine, and sauces - all available at the Carrboro farmer's market and other locations. She also sells lasagna "for those who don't want to boil water" (LOL), which I haven't tried. The giant ravioli with fillings like spinach, mushroom, butternut squash, are my latest pasta passion - these are not even distant cousins of the dried out-excuse-for-ravioli you can get at Harris Teeter or even Whole Foods. I used to go to the farmer's market mainly for vegetables. Now I go to see what kind of ravioli Melina's selling this week. (She's also selling at Southern Season now, but I kind of hate to give them the mark-up; they earn enough on their overpriced wine.)