The weather outside could be dark and dreary, but the vibe inside Angie’s Munchies in the Spring Branch Management District is eternally bright and cheery.

With its pink and teal walls, chairs painted in bright yellow, sparkling crystal chandeliers and fun music playing in the background, you can’t help but smile and maybe dance a little as you walk into the new restaurant at 10100 Hammerly Blvd.

Owner Angie Ventura opened Angie’s Munchies late last summer, announcing the restaurant with a photo of her food truck parked outside the building, which was the site of Honduran-Caribbean restaurant Las Hamacas.

Ventura, a longtime Spring Branch resident, decided to open a food truck last June at her husband’s urging. For years, she said, her family would try to decide where to go out to eat and then she would end up cooking because it was always better at home.

“The conversation always transitioned to, ‘One day we’re going to have a little spot,’ ” Ventura said.

After just a couple of months of working in the food truck, which was usually parked at Long Point Road and Spring Branch Drive, Ventura’s husband, Imber, found the restaurant location.

Angie Ventura said she wasn’t even thinking of opening a restaurant, but Imber didn’t like seeing her under those tight conditions in the truck kitchen.

Now, she said, people are already asking her about opening a second location.

“That’s not my goal,” she said. “I want to give this one 100 percent of my attention and want people to know that this is where I am.”

Everything on the menu at Angie’s Munchies is “family favorites,” Ventura said. Angie is of Mexican descent and her husband is Salvadoran, so you will find everything from fish tacos to pupusas to even a little Italian in the form of pasta Alfredo.

The pupusas are a customer favorite, Ventura said, as are the quesabirria (crispy tortillas filled with tender Birria meat and melted cheese) and flautas (rolled up tacos).

Just like the menu, Ventura said the decor isn’t what you would typically find in a Mexican restaurant. In 30 days, she said, they completely overhauled the restaurant space, putting in the kitchen equipment and redoing all the decor, transforming it from a dark space to something bright and inviting.

Even the restaurant’s logo is uniquely Angie. For years, her family has been gifting her anything flamingo, saying the vibrant and social birds fit her personality. Ventura’s oldest daughter created the logo — a flamingo in a chef’s hat wearing high heels.

“I’ve always had a crazy shoe addiction,” Ventura said.

The Venturas have four adult children, all of whom attended school in Spring Branch ISD, and three grandchildren. Angie Ventura attended Spring Woods High School and her husband attended Northbrook; they still live in the area, so opening their business in Spring Branch, where they met and raised their children, just made sense.

Ventura said she hopes to keep the restaurant open and thriving for many years to come.

“I wanted to leave something behind for our family,” Ventura said. “Someday they can say: “Our parents started this.”

So far, so good.

“We’re getting a lot of positive feedback, which is wonderful,” she said.

Business has been brisk, especially on Sundays, and Ventura is still tweaking hours to accommodate customers. She said they will likely begin opening an hour earlier at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday (closing at 7 p.m.) and opening at 9 a.m. on Sundays and also extending closing as well on Sundays to 3 p.m.

The food truck is still making the rounds, too. On Saturdays, you can find the mobile Angie’s Munchies at the Sterling’s Market at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Rd.

Angie’s Munchies
10100 Hammerly Blvd.
Houston, TX 77080
https://www.instagram.com/angiesmunchies_/
(346) 335-2785

— by Dorothy Puch Lillig