It’s been 35 years since one of Houston’s most enduring Italian institutions opened its doors; a restaurant whose recipes trace back thousands of miles away—not in Europe, but in Hawaii.
So if you’ve ever noticed a small “Aloha” sign above the bar, that’s why; a little tribute to where it all started in Hawaii before making its way to Bellaire, which owner Bob Sutton calls a little island in itself. According to Sutton, Auntie Pasto’s anchored itself in Houston after previous owner Tom Dietrich visited an old friend and colleague who opened the Italian restaurant in Honolulu. Designed to be a destination for “Little Italy dining” in Hawaii, Dietrich thought it could he could try to do the same in Houston’s melting pot of a food scene.
Since then, the quaint Italian eatery has brought its own flavor of Little Italy dining to the city for decades.
“We’re doing something right. I can’t tell you exactly what is, but we’ve got to be doing something right,” Sutton, the restaurant’s third owner, told Chron. “I think a big deal is consistency…Our little joke is that the worst thing about Auntie Pastos is nothing ever changes. What’s the best thing about it, possibly? Nothing ever changes.”
It’s a sense of consistency shown in Auntie Pasto’s’ iconic red-checkered tablecloths and mainstay menu items that have been kept in tact, even after its move to its current location. The Italian restaurant did expand to Pearland, but that location has since closed.
“Most of the menu’s been around for a long time. When it started, it was very close to how Hawaii’s [menu] was. Over time, that changed a little,” Sutton said.
“Because of where we are—Gulf Coast, Louisiana and other states around—there is a lot like the crawfish that we get. I’m not sure if crawfish is a super Italian thing in Italy. Probably not but around here, oh yeah…So you kind of have to go with what you want to honor and represent from the past but you’ve got to look at where you are.”
Blending a bit of Tuscany with Texas, those fusion flavors come out in its crawfish ravioli, crawfish and jalapeno fettucini, crawfish minelli and Italian quesadillas. And those are just a few of the many flavorful options that have kept generations of families coming back to the cozy restaurant.
“Our support from the locals…that’s what keeps us going, so we’re just thankful for that,” Sutton said. “It’s like a little neighborhood that happens inside of here all the time. I love walking through here when it’s busy and just hearing people laughing or talking to the guys across the next table over. To create a space where people just feel comfortable? That’s what we shoot for.”
Dining and Cooking