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Fast Casual Pasta Coming to Downtown Food Hall

Fast casual pasta is coming Downtown.

MONA Fresh Italian Food, the concept from Sidney Degaine that launched in 2018 in the Energy Corridor and received high marks from Houstonia, will open its second location at Understory, the food hall going into Capitol Tower and set to open later in 2019. MONA will have 525 square feet of space, and is the perfect concept to be part of a food hall. Essentially, guests get in line and order a pasta bowl like they’d order a Subway sandwich. Only the pasta here is handmade by Degaine, and it’s outstanding.

“We believe Understory at Capitol Tower is the perfect combination of architecture and location for MONA to be even more successful,” said Degaine. “MONA’s concept is developed to provide high quality and healthy food with quick service within a perfect time frame for the business crowd.”

Previously on our Understory check-in, we learned that The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation was bringing its fast-casual spinoff Mama Ninfa’s Tacos y Tortas to the building. Also coming in: East Hampton Sandwich Co. and Boomtown Coffee.

Understory promises a morning to night high-level culinary, retail, and cultural experience that includes high-speed WiFi, mobile charging stations, games, and more. It’ll be accessible both from street level and in the downtown underground tunnel network.











Timothy Malcolm
Timothy Malcolm
After spending his life in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City, Timothy Malcolm left the East Coast in July 2018 to become the dining editor of Houstonia. He brings with him a wife, daughter, and a pair of hiking poles that are collecting dust in a closet inside his Heights bungalow. Along with writing about food and drink for Houstonia, and eating and drinking his way through the city, Timothy is the author of an upcoming travel guide titled Appalachian Trail Road Trip. His work has also appeared in Backpacker, October, Paste, and publications across the New York metropolitan area. Now that he’s not hiking mountains, Timothy collects yacht rock records, visits ballparks, and trusts the process of his beloved 76ers.