In 50 years, Hungry’s has grown from an international sandwich shop off lower Westheimer in Montrose to a citywide institution with three locations across Houston.

The restaurant was first brought to the city in 1975 by Fred Sharifi. A petroleum engineer, Sharifi didn’t enjoy the technical side of his job and ultimately realized that he wanted to start his own business. So he decided to turn to the restaurant industry, and Hungry’s International Sandwiches was born, boasting over 20 different types of sandwiches and 100 imported beers.

Over the following decade, the city was booming and Hungry’s was ready to keep up with the demand. The restaurant became one of the first in Houston to tap into takeout and delivery, offering more than just the typical pizza and Chinese food. This was when Sharifi’s nephew, Ashkan Nowamooz, came into the picture and helped expand and transform the catering program to what it is today. The restaurant also changed its name to Hungry’s Café and Bistro.

Ashkan's wife, Sue, hopped on board in 1998. Slowly, the team began to grow the menu to reflect a diverse selection of international cuisines, with a focus on fusing  Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors with Houston’s Southwestern style. Nearly a decade later, the restaurant underwent its third and final name change, becoming just Hungry’s.

Not long after this, Sue decided it was time to supplement her knowledge with formal training at the Culinary Institute LeNôtre, a local food arts college. After graduating, she officially gained her title as executive chef of Hungry’s.

“After that point, we really expanded our offerings and really focused on offering that variety and global flavor that Hungry’s is known for,” says Nousha Nowamooz, Ashkan and Sue’s daughter, who serves as Hungry’s vice president for development. “She’s very big on staying true to our roots.”

Today, the restaurant can officially claim half a century under its belt, and that calls for celebration. Nousha, her family, and some of the staff created a five-item throwback menu. The “nostalgic marketing campaign,” as she describes it, ran from late last year until the beginning of March. They brought back items like the original Reuben, which was on the menu in the 1970s; the ziti pasta salad to reflect the ’80s; the beef fajita wrap for the ’90s; her personal favorite, the chicken avocado pita; and to honor the most recent decade, the beet Reuben.

The special menu might be over, but diners can still enjoy some decades-old menu items anytime they visit. Since the beginning, the kabob plate has been a bestseller. Nousha says the plate really captures the essence of Hungry’s because it includes a protein, a vegetable, and a starch—and the ingredients have never changed.

That consistency is key to how Hungry’s has continued to thrive in a world of new restaurants. Nousha says they stick to “the three Fs:” freshness, flavor, and family. In August 2024, the restaurant expanded for the first time in 43 years with a third outpost in Tanglewood. She says its location in the middle of the Rice Village and Memorial restaurants made it feel like a natural move. And as the next generation, she’s in charge of spearheading the new spot.

The restaurant was a staple in Nousha’s life growing up—conversations at the dinner table always revolved around Hungry’s—but she never felt pressured to continue the family business.

Naturally, she took interest in it, but when she went off to college at the University of California, San Diego, she declared her major in math and economics with a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation. Nousha says it was her minor that helped her fully shift her mindset back to her family’s restaurant.

“I think it was twofold,” she says. “Number one, they wanted me to really explore what I wanted to do and the kind of career path that I wanted, and then the other aspect of that, is that the restaurant industry isn’t for everybody. It’s hard work, so I think they wanted me to choose this industry on my own.”

When she moved back to Houston after graduating with her bachelor’s, Nousha was ready to officially join the family business. But she still wanted to make sure she was fully ready for it all, and went on to pursue her master’s at the University of Houston’s Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership.

Although Nousha’s parents and Sharifi aren’t fully ready to pass the torch, they’re tapping into her abilities to bring a fresh, modern perspective to keep the restaurants alive. Her efforts began in 2016 when she pushed for plant-based dishes. Her ideas and experiments even led to some permanent menu items, including the roasted beet poke bowl and the fusion bowl, which comes with lentil brown rice, ginger-glazed brussels sprouts, butternut squash, golden raisins, Cuban black beans, and guacamole.

Nousha feels ready to take Hungry’s to the next level. Once the company is officially hers, she wants to do what’s needed to have the restaurants around for 50 more years and beyond.

“My goal is to continue to offer something for the neighborhoods of Houston and to continue to fuel generations and generations to come,” she says.