Houstonist Bites: Raia's Italian Market

Houstonist headed out to Washington Avenue this past Sunday afternoon to try the newest Italian restaurant cum grocery store, Raia's Italian Market. With an untested location in a brand-new building and the time-tested juggernaut Nundini's only a few blocks away, it would appear that Raia's has a lot to overcome if it wishes to succeed in a market already saturated with Italian restaurants (Candelari's, Spaghetti Western, Star Pizza, Collina's, Patronella's, and Cavatore are just a few that spring to mind in the immediate area). The first issue we noticed with Raia's was that there is no signage as of yet. This may be a minor nitpick to some, but it makes the restaurant rather difficult to find, especially considering the fact that it's tucked into the bottom floor of a two-story strip center, away from the street. However,... [read full story]