Charles Thee III got his first job at Auntie Pasto’s restaurant in Bellaire in 1997 after moving to Houston from Bermuda to study hotel and restaurant management at the University of Houston. Twenty-one years later, he opened an extension of the restaurant in Pearland where he lives with his wife, Kimberly, and his children.

“It was a good fit for me and for them,” Thee said. “I enjoyed seeing my Bellaire customers out at the grocery store and was looking for that same place to fit in in Pearland. When the space opened up where the former David’s Fine Meats was, I said, ‘Let’s give this a shot.’”