The Rustika franchise location in Sugar Land has been open since February and is expanding this month to offer a complete lunch and dinner menu. The original Rustika is located on Hwy. 59 in West University Place, and since opening in 1993, the company has opened four other stores, including the Sugar Land location.
The cafe and bakery specializes in a variety of hot lunch items, such as soups and empanadas, and pastries, such as cookies, cupcakes, petit fours and cake pops.
The Ruznick family, who is also Jewish, moved to the Houston area from Mexico City.
“The items that we make have like a worldly influence—an international influence,” Ruznick said.
Ruznick said his parents developed all of the products at the bakery and that everything is made in-house. Additionally, the company has its own commissary, which supplies ingredients to each of its stores.
“It’s all of my mom’s recipes—everything from the bread, cookies, everything,” Ruznick said. “And the cool thing is, we use no shortening and no preservatives in any of our products.”
Imtiaz Arshad, the manager of the Sugar Land restaurant, has previous experience in the hospitality industry.
Prior to coming to Rustika, he was a regional manager at Panera Bread, where he managed 22 Houston-area locations.
Arshad said he felt drawn to working at Rustika because of how open and welcoming the Ruznick family was.
“You have to be happy where you work,” Arshad said. “You spend more time with people that you work with than you spend with your family ... especially in this industry.”
Arshad said he is passionate about Rustika’s food and serving the cafe’s customers.
“Each and every product is made fresh,” Arshad said. “And I’m very proud to work for this company because this company delivers nothing but the best.”
Rustika Café and Bakery
3227 Hwy. 6, Sugar Land
281-494-4230
www.rustikacafe.com
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 9 a.m.-8 a.m.,
Fri.-Sat. 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
