KATY, Texas — There’s a restaurant in the Houston area with arepas, empanadas, and burgers so big, it is nearly impossible to devour in a single sitting.
A Venezuelan family is serving it up in a Katy community known as “Katyzuela”. Their restaurant is built on two things – delicious food and good people.
There is a lot of big flavor cooking at the small diner off Westheimer Parkway in Cinco Ranch.
The biggest of all is a burger made with ground meat, chicken, pork, and topped with a fried egg.
It is an El Kourmet made-to-order specialty that customers savor.
Ramon Castro, a Venezuelan native, is a regular there.
“When you taste the three meats together. It’s awesome,” Castro said.
But he admits he has a taste for a variety of offerings on the menu, and he is not just buying for himself.
“Every Saturday and Sunday I’m here buying empanadas for my family. This is a lifestyle.” Vielma said.
Owner, Jose Vielma, built El Kourmet on family. Its history can be found some 2,140 miles south of Katy, in Merida, Venezuela, where Vielma got his first taste of running a restaurant 15 years ago.
“It’s not easy but the Venezuelan population supports me,” Vielma said.
Those other people he’s referring to still support him today. Many of them are Venezuelans who have also settled in Katy’s Cinco Ranch, known to some as “Katyzuela”.
“People say, hey Katy. Katy. Katysuela. Venezuela,” Vielma said.
“When I moved here, I heard about Katysuela, and I said, hey, this is my town. This is exactly what I want,” Castro said.
According to the latest Census American Community Survey (2022) for metro Houston, 73% of people with Hispanic origin have Mexican heritage, 8% are Salvadoran, and 4% are Honduran.
But in Fort Bend, Venezuelans make up a larger share. While residents with Mexican (66%) and Salvadoran (8%) heritage make up the majority of Hispanic people, Venezuelans rank third (5%).
“It’s nice to go to the many places and find, you know, these people from Venezuela,” Vielma said.
Vielma says he realized it several years ago when he rolled a food truck and began selling Venezuelan street food. His business really took off.
“On the food truck. We had too many people. We need another place, you know, to expand the business,” Vielma said.
Fast forward seven years, he has expanded to three brick-and-mortar restaurants, two in Katy and one in The Woodlands. Vielma employs between 20 to 25 people. His success, he says, comes mostly from word of mouth.
“He made it real. He did it because he’s good. When you’re good and you’re doing the good things, you’re going to grow. You’re going to have it,” Castro said.
He also credits a close group of people who always have his back.
“My family, my wife, my children. They are with me, and every day say, let’s go. We can do it,” Vielma said.
Vielma is just getting started. His goal is to make El Kourmet a Texas tradition and eventually expand into a national franchise with at least one restaurant in every city in the United States.