Pesto Ristorante, the Italian cafe started by Alejandro and Norah Santoyo on Judson Road in 2012, opened its third location today, taking over the former downtown home of Bella on Houston, which closed earlier this year.

Known for the buttery, pan-fried shrimp that Alejandro Santoyo adapted after 18 years at the popular Italian restaurant Paesanos, Pesto expanded to Olmos Park in 2017, where it earned praise from the Express-News in 2018 for being “local, reasonable and familiar, just like a neighborhood restaurant should be.”