DO YOU LIKE ITALIAN FOOD?

If you like Italian Food I have discovered the place in The Woodlands. In fact I realized that I had been there before many years ago when it was located in the Cornerstone area of FM 1960. Via Emilia, is located on the southeast corner of Kuykendahl at Woodlands Parkway. Domenico Orioli was born and raised in Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, where he lived for 22 years. While in Italy, he was involved in the transportation business. In 1948 he decided to start a new adventure in Venezuela where he met and married his wife Elda Orioli, also originally from Ravenna, Italy.  The Orioli family moved to Houston in 1999 to open the first Via Emilia location on Cypress Creek Parkway (FM 1960), where Carlos’ son Enrique Orioli joined the family business. Via Emilia served Houston diners for over 11 years before moving to their current location in The Woodlands. They have over 3,000 bottles of wine in their temperature controlled wine cellar, with over 250 different wines. All their pasta is home made, their lasagna was awesome, the best I have ever had. When they were on the FM 1960 location. Elda “Mama” Orioli and her husband made sure everything was just perfect. He passed away a few years back. Our waiter Brian (old Brian he calls himself as two work there), who has been with the restaurant for years told us “Mama, who is now in her late 80’s still comes in 5 days a week and sits on a stool in the kitchen supervising and making sure everything is done just right. He said she also is involved in making much of the pasta by hand. You can call and make reservations but it is not required. The best part about it is that this Mom and Pop business costs much less than the large Italian Restaurant chains.

Awards & Recognitions

Voted Best Italian Restaurant in The Woodlands – Living Magazine, August 2014
Certificate of Excellence Award – TripAdvisor, 2014
Diner’s Choice Award Winner – OpenTable, 2014
Customer Satisfaction Award – Talk of the Town, 2014
Certificate of Excellence Award – TripAdvisor, 2013
Diner’s Choice Award Winner – OpenTable, 2013
Customer Satisfaction Award – Talk of the Town, 2013
Top 10 Restaurants in The Woodlands – Houston Press, 2012
Customer Satisfaction Award – Talk of the Town, 2012
Voted 3rd best Italian restaurant in Houston – Khou Channel 11 News, 2010