🍝Fresh Pasta in a Food Court? Dal Moros at The Mall at Millenia Serves Italy in a Box

ORLANDO, Fla. – At The Mall at Millenia in Orlando, one food court spot is redefining what fast food can be. Dal Moros Fresh Pasta To Go serves made-to-order, fresh Italian pasta in minutes — with a process and ingredients inspired directly by Italy.

“Dal Moros has been in the United States since 2021,” president David Caruso said. “The concept was created after a family trip to Italy where me and my father saw different local people making pasta in a fast casual manner.”

Dal Moros follows a build-your-own format: guests pick their pasta shape, sauce and toppings before everything is cooked to order. “Everyone’s used to build your own in the United States right now, whether it’s a burrito bowl, a salad bowl — why not a box of pasta?” Caruso said. “Based on all the combinations that we have, you have over a million different combinations that anyone can choose from.”

At Dal Moros, the pasta show happens right in front of you. Fresh dough made from just semolina flour and water is mixed and pushed through a large extruding machine that turns it into fettuccine, rigatoni, thick spaghetti and more, all day long. Caruso says they produce a couple hundred pounds of pasta daily at The Mall at Millenia location alone. He explained they use semolina instead of the bleached white flour you often find in the U.S., because semolina keeps more of the “good stuff” intact and is easier for your body to process, so you don’t get that heavy, lethargic feeling after a big bowl of pasta.

I started with Dal Moros’ homemade pesto, built on fresh semolina pasta. The pesto is made in-house with basil picked off the stem, pine nuts and cheese, then tossed with hot noodles and finished with more cheese and toasted nuts. Just from the aroma, I knew I wanted this first. As soon as it hit my tongue, all that fresh basil came through — so bright and fragrant. I love pesto because it’s so simple but amazing, and here the pasta itself is the star: it’s so soft, with just the right bite, and you can tell it’s made fresh and definitely not from a box.

Next up was a traditional cacio e pepe, served as an alternative to the creamy Alfredo many Americans expect. “A lot of times when you think of a cheese sauce, when you’re thinking of pasta, you’re going to think of Alfredo, which is more Italian-American,” Caruso said. Here, the classic sauce is made with pecorino cheese and black pepper, creating a silky, deeply cheesy coating on the pasta. When I tried it, it was so creamy and good. Italians really do simplicity so well — this is a really simple sauce and a really simple dish, but they do it right. You get that little hint of pepper and a whole lot of cheesy comfort.

The caprese pasta offers a fun twist: a mix of hot and cold elements layered over thick spaghetti that Caruso says translates to “fat spaghetti” in Italian. The bowl starts with Napoletana tomato sauce and bigoli-style noodles, then gets topped with stracciatella-style mozzarella (similar to the creamy center of burrata), fresh basil “liquid” and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. It’s warm, saucy pasta underneath and cool, stretchy cheese on top, with that sweet, tangy balsamic tying it all together. For me, it felt like a Sunday evening spaghetti-and-red-sauce dinner, but so elevated — like a childhood classic, all grown up.

The dish that stole the show for me was the Mama Rosa, Dal Moros’ take on vodka sauce. Caruso describes it as “our version of a vodka sauce” that blends a red tomato base with a creamy white cheese sauce so you “get the tangy acidity of a tomato sauce” and “the creamy cheesiness of a cheese sauce.” My bowl was loaded with chicken, smoky bacon and plenty of cheese over fresh pasta. One bite in and I knew this was the one. This is the Florida Foodie recommendation — when we come here, this is what I’m ordering. The smoky bacon with that creamy sauce is such a perfect combo. It’s already my ideal sauce, and those toppings take it over the edge. The portions are huge, too; this could easily feed you for two meals if you let it, but I was ready to finish it all in one sitting.

Even after all that pasta, there was still room for dessert. Dal Moros finished my tasting with a house-made tiramisu, layered with coffee-soaked ladyfingers and rich, creamy filling. Tiramisu happens to be my favorite dessert, and this one did not disappoint. From the first bite, I knew it was a good tiramisu — the cream is so smooth and luscious, and the balance of flavors is just right with a little chocolate on top. The texture is almost like a pudding-style tiramisu, with those ladyfingers soaked perfectly in coffee. I honestly don’t know how I had room for more, but I found a second stomach, and this cup was on its way to being empty in seconds.

Caruso said The Mall at Millenia was an obvious fit for the brand. “In the mall world, this is one of the premier locations that you can have,” he said. “We felt like we would fit well in a place like this and it will really help us grow our brand.” The open kitchen and pasta extruder draw in curious shoppers, and Dal Moros backs up the show with fresh semolina dough, house-made sauces and hearty, customizable bowls.

.With pesto, cacio e pepe, caprese pasta, Mama Rosa and tiramisu all on my table, Dal Moros proved that a simple box from the food court can be a true “box of happiness” — and a worthy stop on any Orlando foodie’s list. If you want to plan your own perfect combo before you go, you can check out their full lineup and build-your-own options on Dal Moros’ online menu