The Old-School New York Pasta Shop Still Using 100-Year-Old Vintage Equipment

Sometimes it seems like there's no place in this modern world for the way things used to be. Rapid technological advancements, along with capitalism incentivizing the pursuit of money above all else, often result in older traditions being discarded as soon as they cease to be profitable. There are exceptions, like the Lexington Candy Shop which turned 100 in 2025 and still serves its Coke the old-fashioned way, but on the whole, well, it's tough out there. Luckily, we still have Queen Ann Ravioli & Macaroni, a New York pasta shop that still uses old-fashioned machinery dating back a century to produce its wares.

Located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn (a neighborhood once known as the borough's own Little Italy), Queen Ann Ravioli first opened its doors in 1972 and is still going strong over 50 years later. It's currently managed by one George Joseph Switzer III, who married into the family business and inherited it from his father-in-law. He's the one who tends to the old machines used to make the shop's specialty pastas, including one from 1909 he claims is the oldest such machine still in use in the country. "I sometimes have conversations with the machines," he cheerfully admits in a Business Insider video. Those conversations typically involve asking "Why are you doing this to me?" if they're not working or "thank you God" if they are. Whether you work with cars, computers, or pasta machines, if you've dealt with finicky equipment, you can probably relate.

How come Queen Ann is still around, even as plenty of small businesses like it close down? Well, it's not exactly easy, as you can imagine. Although the business brings in $2 million dollars a year, anyone who's familiar with the cost of living in New York City will tell you that that's not necessarily a princely sum. Switzer himself spoke frankly to Business Insider about the challenges of running an Italian pasta shop in an area where many of the clientele are moving out and where the competition is utterly unconcerned with handmade quality or older ways of life. "When I was growing up in Brooklyn, you were closed on a Sunday," he said. "But when the mall opened, now everybody's open on a Sunday."

In those circumstances, what else can you do but keep making great pasta? And so they have. Whether you're looking for smooth, tender ravioli in a rich sauce or any number of specialty pastas you can't get from other stores, Queen Ann has you covered. It remains defiantly old-fashioned — that is, there is a real possibility that they will run out of a certain pasta before the day is done — but that's not such a bad thing, is it? If you don't have the time to make fresh pasta 300 times a year and you don't want to worry about sealing mistakes ruining your ravioli, why not buy it from the pros?