“I’ve always liked the artistic side of it,” Tomas said. “You’ve got a blank canvas, and you make something out of it. You got colors; you got flavors; you got presentation.”
Tomas is owner of Mingo’s Latin Kitchen, a new eatery in Pearland. Long before opening his first food truck or restaurant, Tomas worked in the banking industry for about 12 years.
“I always wanted to be, maybe, a chef. I never really thought about opening my own business,” Tomas said.
Tomas decided to explore his interest in cooking more seriously when he took classes at a culinary school, where one of his instructors recommended he try to work in the industry to see if it was right for him.
At first, he worked at both a restaurant and his credit union job. However, in 2015, he fully committed when he opened a food truck with his brother, Victor Villarreal.
“Going back and forth, I wasn’t as happy [at the credit union] as I was in the kitchen,” Tomas said.
They named the food truck Mingo’s Latin Kitchen after their father’s nickname and eventually obtained a second vehicle. The food trucks now operate primarily as catering for the Houston area under Victor’s management.
The new fast-casual restaurant, which opened Sept. 27, serves freshly prepared Latin food, which draws from a variety of ingredients and cooking traditions across Latin America.
“We take a little bit of every Latin continent and base it off our American dishes,” Tomas said.
Mingo’s Latin Kitchen
3320 Broadway St., Ste. 114, Pearland
281-683-5986
www.mingoslatinkitchen.com/pearland
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Sun.
