Mama's Pasta and Brew

Mama's Pasta and Brew An Ohio State tradition! There was large windows and a full service menu was served to OSU students and teachers. The Emmanuals were the owners.

HISTORY - 23 CAMPUS PLACE

(At the corner of Pearl Alley and Campus Place)

In the 1940's a restaurant called The Pantry operated in the alley off High Street. A pool hall and an barbershop were open for business across the alley. I have had folks come in to Mama's who said they worked at The Pantry in the 50's. In the 1960's, a Mom and Pop restaurant called Roma's served spaghetti dinners on red

and white checkered tablecloths. In 1975 the current wood paneling and bowling alley bar was installed and a Bar called Froggy's was opened. They used to have great burgers and fries. When you turned 21 you were given a cheap bottle of red wine. I had one here and promptly gave it back to the alley. In 1977, Gene Szaronas opened Mama's Pasta and Brew. He had just recently graduated from OSU and a lot of his friends from the Greek community frequented Mama's to help the business get going. Ester, the five foot accordion lady who sang way off key started to play at Mama's and was a huge success. Tuesday nights were crazy. Gene likes to still make an appearance and still has a lot of pride and good memories for the business he started. In 1981, Pat Hitesman purchased the bar and operated it in a wacky fashion. Pat was quite a character and had just as many regulars who were also off the wall. In JANUARY of 1983, Terry Fahy bought the bar and struggled to get it going in the direction he wanted it to go. Now 26 years later, Mama's has become a legend and outlasted over 25 other bars who are now gone. Terry introduced
outdoor activites, rafting trips, softball sponsorships, golf outings and various other road trips so all the regulars had social activities to do around drinking and eating at Mama's. A special thanks goes to Michael Malone Smith and Sean O'Neil who convinced Terry to buy dart boards. We have now had competitve dart leagues for over 24 years. I consider it an honor when so many alumni always come back to Mama's. They can almost always see a face and a smile at the bar they know. The waitresses and the bartenders always are glad to see you and have great personality's. We have over 200 people who claim to be regulars. I call some irregular regulars. There have been at least six couples meet at Mama's and subsequently get married...Who knows you may be the next victim. A special mention goes to the Hall of Famers. The Hall of Fame induction at the annual Christmas party is my favorite night of the year. It is great to see someone's face light up in a huge smile and everyone in the bar screaming and yelling in support of that person. We have over 40 people in the Hall of Fame now. Every person in the Hall of Fame gets to cast votes for the next years class.....

In closing I am honored to have the privilege to own Mama's and to have met so many fantastic
people. You should come to Mamas' and discover its magic!

05/03/2025

Mama’s lives forever in our heart

Great day at the Memorial. It was pretty hot
06/02/2023

Great day at the Memorial. It was pretty hot

05/30/2023

It is so sad to see so many ex Blue Jackets playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs
Vegas has 2 of their best players the crappy Blue Jacket management let get away

05/29/2023

Whitewater rafting on the Gauley. Friday Sept 15 th. Let me know if you are interested

09/05/2022

Go Buckeyes

Great win over Notre Dame

07/10/2022

If you want to raft Sept 9th with us, I need deposits by July 31 st. We have room for 4 more

06/22/2022

Keep Mama’s alive in your hearts

10/13/2021

Mike Lowary has finished the book he is writing about Mama's. He will have copies at the reunion. The price is $15. If you cannot make the reunion, I can order one for you. Just let me know.
Mama's reunion is Friday October 22nd at the Whetstone Park of Roses party pavillion

10/13/2021

Hello Mama's nation
October 22nd is the reunion.
Please let me know if you plan on coming
Whetstone Park of Roses Party House
6-10

01/17/2021

Hi Terry,

I think we may have discussed this previously, but I am finally getting around to starting the project of writing about Mama’s. I have a list of questions shown below which I am readying to send to as many of the former patrons of Mama’s that I can contact. I won’t start this venture, however, without your approval. If you are on board I will have another list of questions specifically for you regarding the origin and history of this stellar establishment. I would also welcome any suggestions you might have. My thinking is that even if this never makes it into the form of a book, which is my goal, at least we will have a compilation of stories and comments from the many folks who call Mama’s Pasta and Brew home. Let me know your thoughts.

Stay safe and well,

Mike Lowary

September 17, 2020
Hello,
You are receiving this because you are in some way associated with the late great establishment know as Mama’s Pasta and Brew. I am going to attempt to tell the story or a least a story of this wonderful watering hole. As a start to this project I thought I would send a list of questions out to those who knew the place. I am hoping that information garnered from those who choose to respond to this might allow me to paint the proper picture of this place. My knowledge (but not my affection) is somewhat limited. My hope is to string together enough stories and anecdotes as to paint a proper picture of this bar which meant so much to so many. While I hope you will answer the questions below, please do not limit yourself to my questions. If there are other things that you wish to share, please do so. I look at these questions as the jumping off point for a swim in a sea of nostalgia for Mama’s.
What year did you first encounter Mama’s?
What was your age or stage of life when you first encountered the bar?
What was you drink of choice?
Favorite food?
Favorite server/bar tender?
What activity did you participate in? Softball, darts, rafting trips, other?
What friends did you initially meet at Mama’s?
What memorable parties did you attend there?
Most famous person you saw there?
What was your favorite football game watched there?
What was your favorite experience or memory there?
Favorite alcohol influenced story or anecdote?
What do you miss the most?
Tell me more, anything related would be helpful.

Send stories to me ; [email protected]

11/04/2020

Great News

Hello Mama's I have reserved the Whetstone Shelter House by the Park of Roses for Friday night October 22, 2021 for a Mama's Pasta and Brew reunion. Let's hope we can get a lot of Mama's old regulars and friends to join us.. More details to follow

10/02/2020

Hello Mama's
Mike Lowery, one of our Mama's regulars has been writing weekly articles about the Buckeyes Football team for years. He has graciously offered to write a book about Mama's history and stories of the many folks who visited Mama's over the years.

Here is the letter he wrote me and would like as many people as possible to respond and answer the questions he has posed.

Hello,

You are receiving this because you are in some way associated with the late great establishment know as Mama’s Pasta and Brew. I am going to attempt to tell the story or a least a story of this wonderful watering hole. As a start to this project I thought I would send a list of questions out to those who knew the place. I am hoping that information garnered from those who choose to respond to this might allow me to paint the proper picture of this place. My knowledge (but not my affection) is somewhat limited. My hope is to string together enough stories and anecdotes as to paint a proper picture of this bar which meant so much to so many. While I hope you will answer the questions below, please do not limit yourself to my questions. If there are other things that you wish to share, please do so. I look at these questions as the jumping off point for a swim in a sea of nostalgia for Mama’s.

What year did you first encounter Mama’s?

What was your age or stage of life when you first encountered the bar?

What was you drink of choice?

Favorite food?

Favorite server/bar tender?

What activity did you participate in? Softball, darts, rafting trips, other?

What friends did you initially meet at Mama’s?

What memorable parties did you attend there?

Most famous person you saw there?

What was your favorite football game watched there?

What was your favorite experience or memory there?

Favorite alcohol influenced story or anecdote?

What do you miss the most?

Tell me more, anything related would be helpful.

You can send your answers to me and I can get them to Mike.
There are lots of great stories...So please send them
Terry [email protected]

Address

23 Campus Place
Columbus, OH
43201

Opening Hours

Monday 11:30am - 12:30am
Tuesday 11:30am - 1am
Wednesday 11:30am - 1am
Thursday 10:30am - 1am
Friday 11:30am - 1am
Saturday 5:30pm - 1am

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