Pasta By Hudson: Here's What Happened After Shark Tank

When Brandon Fay appeared on season 11, episode 17 of "Shark Tank" with his NYC-based fast-casual pasta bar Pasta By Hudson, he was neither new to running a restaurant nor was it the first time that viewers had seen him on television. In fact, Fay was something of a veteran in the industry: He had worked as the Managing Director at one of the country's busiest restaurants, Trattoria Dell'Arte, and had his very own Sunday morning cooking segment on CBS New York called "Cooking with Brandon." But it was a trip to Venice and his daughter Hudson, who Fay claimed "has loved pasta ever since she began to eat solid food," that inspired Fay to begin his own Italian venture (via Pasta By Hudson).

Fay was walking around the city of canals with his family when he came across a quaint pasta bar that seemed modest by its looks, but which had a queue of hungry eaters waiting for hours outside. Tucked inside were all kinds of freshly made pasta with rows of sauces that could be picked and mixed together, everything packed and served steaming hot in Chinese takeout boxes. The concept was so simple yet delicious that his three-month-old daughter was an instant fan. Fay took this idea of no-frills fresh pasta bars back to New York City in 2018 and opened Pasta by Hudson in the eighth busiest subway station in the city, at 59 St-Columbus Circle's Turnstyle Underground Market.

Fay took the Tank by storm with his energetic pitch and hoped to sway the Sharks into investing $150,000 in exchange for a 10% stake in Pasta By Hudson. While his enthusiasm and gusto certainly grabbed everyone's attention, it was his pasta that truly won the potential investors over. Groaning with satisfaction, Mark Cuban said that he would be ordering Pasta By Hudson every night of the week if he knew it offered spaghetti squash. Barbara Corcoran went on to claim that Pasta By Hudson's side of cheesy meatballs was the best she had ever eaten, subsequently offering the entrepreneur an entirely different deal to what he'd proposed: a 50% stake in a company that sold only those yummy meatballs online.

Not all the Sharks wanted a bite of Pasta By Hudson, however. Daymond John backed out citing his personal troubles with acid reflux that made eating (and therefore investing in) pasta extremely tough — though he did appreciate Fay's idea nevertheless. The fact that Pasta By Hudson was only just about to break even and was yet to become a franchisable business also put Mr. Wonderful off the table. Eventually, it was in Cuban and Lori Greiner that Pasta By Hudson found its investor(s). Fay ultimately accepted a joint deal with Cuban who put up the $100,000 for 20% equity and Greiner who agreed to invest $50,000 for a 10% stake.

Pasta By Hudson seemed to have had a pretty successful run on the show, but whether or not his deal with the two Sharks actually materialized after "Shark Tank" remains unclear. Pasta By Hudson appears neither on Cuban's portfolio of companies at the time of publication, nor on Greiner's. In fact, things took a rather drastic turn for Pasta By Hudson in the months after the show. Pasta By Hudson's "Shark Tank" episode aired on March 27, 2020, which was around the same time New York implemented a citywide lockdown due to COVID-19. Although a lockdown meant that "Shark Tank" viewership was at a record high, it did little to benefit the brick-and-mortar pasta bar. "We must have had several hundred thousand people jump to our website that night," Fay told The Observer, "but the world was shut down," meaning there was no way to eat outside or order in.

The abrupt closure of restaurants also meant that Fay had $7,500 worth of inventory sitting in Pasta By Hudson's fridge that would soon perish. Not one to be deterred, however, Fay fired up his facility and used his inventory to feed frontline workers during the pandemic. Fay later thanked Greiner for her support during this time in a Facebook post, who also often chatted to healthcare workers over video calls whenever Pasta By Hudson stopped by to deliver hot meals.

While the immediate weeks after "Shark Tank" are usually filled with a surge in sales and new customers for most businesses, Pasta by Hudson had a tougher time. Even though Fay's work with frontline workers got several people talking about Pasta by Hudson, the Columbus Circle outlet never opened its doors again. But that wasn't the end of Fay and his pasta bar, as Pasta by Hudson found a different neighborhood in Chelsea at the end of 2020 to serve its fresh pasta and cheesy meatballs.

The brick-and-mortar pasta bar in Chelsea expanded its menu to include a wider variety of Italian offerings. The restaurant continued to offer the option of combining different handmade pastas with a choice of sauces and extras, but it also added sides like garlic knots and a range of regular and heart-shaped pizzas. The menu even featured a cheeky pizza named Mr. Wonderful after Kevin O'Leary, topped with meatballs and mozzarella. Pizzas aside, diners could also order alcoholic beverages like wine and draft beer, as well as desserts like cannoli and chocolate mousse to finish off the grand meal. Fay would also shake up the menu for Pasta by Hudson's boozy Sunday brunches, replacing the pasta with breakfast egg sandwiches, bottomless mimosas, and wine-based slushies.

Sadly, this location closed in March 2024, a first sign of the business's larger problems. Despite a praise-worthy "Shark Tank" appearance and publicity from its generous work with healthcare workers, all signs point to Pasta by Hudson no longer being in business.

Though loyal customers of Brandon Fay may have hoped the Chelsea pasta bar's closure was temporary, it remains closed as of April 2025. While Fay hasn't given any official word on the business ending, its website is down, and its Instagram was last updated in 2023. However, not all is lost just yet.

The Perry Club, an Italian restaurant and bar owned by Fay, is still open. Offering drunk pizza making, a three-hour open bar, and a speakeasy nightclub called The Red Room, it's an innovative far cry from his original Pasta by Hudson dream. On Instagram, it advertises itself as the "big sister" to Pasta by Hudson, capitalizing on the original business's publicity from "Shark Tank" and Fay's own fame. And, yes, it also sells Fay's famous cheesy meatballs.

On his LinkedIn, Fay is still listed as the active president and founder of Pasta by Hudson as of April 2025, but there are unfortunately no signs of the business bouncing back. While the status of Fay's grab-and-go pasta concept remains murky — and likely dead — the chef himself continues his dream of providing fresh, delicious Italian food to hungry New Yorkers through The Perry Club, which, as of April 2025, boasted 4.3 stars on Google Reviews with over 193 diners weighing in.