Even more unlikely, the restaurant is now back.
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"What we have is a wonderful restaurant, something that my wife and I and our community can be proud of," explained Raffa. "Of course, we had thoughts of, 'Should we rebuild it, should we redo it? Is it going to flood again?'"
Harvey dumped five feet of water in the restaurant.
"People started showing up, you know," Raffa said. "Thirty, 40, 50 people a day for a few days after we were able to return to our building. It was just a community effort to put it all together."
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Now, Tony and his family realize they made the right decision when they moved to Texas from Massachusetts in 1980.
"It was an experience of gratitude for the people and how much they came to help, and how much they wanted to be a part of this," expressed Raffa.
Since reopening, Raffa's continues to serve the Kingwood community their delicious dishes.
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Did someone say food?! Houston food lovers, unite!