When Johann “Hans” Sitter lost everything he owned after a bad business deal in Monaco, he decided to start a new life in Houston in 1996. “It was the toughest day in my life when I had to leave Monaco, but I have to say now, 22 years later, it was the luckiest day of my life,” Sitter said. Sitter is a fourth-generation restaurant owner from Austria, and up until he left Europe, had owned 17 restaurants over the years. “Restaurant is in my bloodstream,” Sitter said. Some of the Austrian recipes at King’s Biergarten are 150 years old, he said. Some of the eatery’s most popular items are the wiener schnitzel, or lightly breaded meat, and the apple streudel, a baked dessert with apples and nuts, he said. When Sitter came to the U.S., he tried starting several businesses, but ultimately, he opened a restaurant. “I decided I would do something I cannot fail,” Sitter said. Sitter did not know English at the time, which made running a restaurant very difficult, he said. He opened his first U.S. restaurant in League City. After that and a few other attempts, he opened King’s Hand Carwash in Pearland. The idea was that customers could get beer and bratwurst while their car was washed. Unfortunately, operating both businesses at the same site was against the health code, so he decided to close the car wash. Thus in 2011, King’s Biergarten was born. “I guarantee you it will never be sold and never change owner as long as I am alive,” Sitter said. The business has gradually expanded its footprint, and Sitter has also opened a location in Houston’s Heights area called King’s Bierhaus, which is a faster, younger concept, he said. While Sitter is the founder of King’s Biergarten, his son, Phillip, is in charge of operation. “These days you cannot do it alone anymore,” Sitter said.