by Kezia Kamenetz There's something special about Italian food—no doubt about it. And there's also something special about Italian restaurants; they just have a way of making you feel at home. It feels like the right Italian restaurant is the perfect place for a romantic evening or to celebrate a special event. Here are the top It...
by Nick Panzarella If you're strolling down Kelvin in Rice Village, you'll eventually encounter an upscale coffee shop that seems in line with the entire Village vibe—that is until you realize the customers inside are all speaking in Italian. And those customers aren't just one Italian family in Houston by rare accident. You'll notice grou...
Get the limoncello ready because B4-U-Eat's newsletter reports that former Arcodoro Ristorante Italiano chef Giancarlo Ferrara is getting ready to debut a restaurant of his own. Amalfi Ristorante Italiano & Bar is expected to open this spring in the Galleria area, "just doors down from The Palm," according to B4-U-Eat. Ferrara is a Sal...
The English translation of Avanti is "forward," which is an apt exhortation for the aggressively pleasing approach in design and cuisine Avanti Fort Worth has made with its debut in Cowtown. A mainstay of Dallas' restaurant scene, first opening in 1989, Avanti has remained close to its Italian roots with its Fort Worth branch, opened in Ma...
by John Rigg The Rossa family has been involved in the restaurant business for decades, operating five restaurants in Boston and now—thanks to the efforts of Roberto Rossa and his staff—three in Houston. Antonia's Italian Ristorante, which is named for Rossa's grandmother, has locations in Katy, Sugar Land and Cypress. "Being in the business my w...
An Italian restaurant that recently closed up shop in Amarillo, Texas, appears to have left behind a sign explaining in graphic detail exactly why it went out of business. "You sorry assed, rednecked sacked of goat sperm had no idea what you had here!" reads the "We're Closed" sign. "Good luck with your pre-packaged frozen shit food in thi...
March 3 is the date North Italia has set to open its doors at BLVD Place Phase II, making it the second Fox Restaurant Concepts restaurant to open at 1700 Post Oak. The Phoenix-based Fox opened True Food Kitchen in the same development last July. North Italia, the second location in Texas after Austin, boasts a menu built on hand-made...
On a warm saturday evening at the Hilton UH, 12 talented young chefs of "La Piccola Cucina" battled it out for a great cause: supporting the programs of the Italian Cultural and Community Center Language School. The following four teams, listed in order of final placement, took part in a competition designed to challenge the youths' culinary and n...
Salvatore Albelice, born in Catania and raised in Milan at a very young age opened his first "gelateria" in Milan. Then, in 1982 he decided to move to USA where he first open Sunbelt imports,inc., a local distributor of Italian-branded coffee and coffee equipment and in 2014 he opened the first Italian Cafe in Houston. If you enter at Fell...
A new restaurant is taking over Bess Bistro's vacant space on West 6th Street: Sophia's from owners Matt Deichl, Jonathan Gillespie, and James Brown of BDG Hospitality. The name is meant to evoke actress Sophia Loren and modern Italy aesthetic. Set to open in late spring, Sophia's is pegged as modern Italian-American supper club, serving p...
A plate of spaghetti, a glass of wine and thou. It's still enough for most of us, and even in Santa Fe we can still get it at Piccolino, a small, friendly Italian-American place on Agua Fria Street. Best of all, the spaghetti and the wine, as well as dozens of other classics ranging from deep-fried calamari and braised lamb shank to chicke...
A new Italian restaurant is planned to open where another Italian restaurant closed in February. Campisi's Restaurants, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based company, is planning to open at 4414 82nd St., Ste. 218. That was the previous location of Zio's Italian Kitchen until it closed suddenly in February. Zio's had a sign on its door that read, "To...