Thomas Nguyen
Restaurant Practice Leader, CBRE
Houston, TX 77056
Restaurant Practice Leader - CBRE Houston
Phone (713) 577-1635
Mobile (832) 259-2448
Restaurant Practice Leader - CBRE Houston
Specialties
Tenant Rep (Retail)
Property Types
Hospitality, Retail
Markets
Houston
Bio
Prior to joining CBRE, Thomas spent three (3) years as a commercial litigation attorney and eleven (11) years as the co-founder of the Peli Peli South African restaurant chain. Peli Peli was one of Houston’s most beloved and best-reviewed restaurants and has been featured on the Cooking Channel and the Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen. In 2016, Thomas and his Peli Peli partners were participants in CNBC’s Restaurant Startup (Season 3, Episode 4) and received a $1.25 million dollar pledge, the largest offer in Restaurant Startup history. In 2017, Peli Peli Kitchen was named Best Fast Casual Concept of the Year (Eater Houston).
Since 2022, Thomas has served as Restaurant Practice Leader at the Houston office of CBRE. As one of the top tenant representation teams in Houston, Thomas and his partners represent some of the biggest retail and restaurant brands in Houston and around the United States, and help them find the right locations for their concepts.
Active in the Houston real estate community, Thomas was a finalist for the 2024 REDNews Real Estate “Broker of the Year” Award, the 2023 REDNews Real Estate "Emerging Leader of the Year" Award and the 2022 REDNews Real Estate “Social Media Influencer of the Year” Award.
In November 2024, Thomas was recognized by CoStar as a Quarterly Deals winner for closing the top commercial real estate transaction for Q3 2024.
Previously as a restaurateur, Thomas was recognized as a 2015 Houston Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, 2016 Houston Asian Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year, 2017 EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, 2017 Texas Exes Distinguished Alumni nominee and 2018 Golden Fork Faces of Diversity Recipient (Greater Houston Restaurant Association). Thomas wrote the cover story for and was featured in the article, “So You Want To Open a Restaurant” – Houston Press, October 2016, and has contributed to articles for the Houston Chronicle, Forbes, Inc., Costco Connection and Success Magazine.
Thomas is a proud Longhorn and earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin (1998) and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law (2001).
In the fall of 2024, Thomas was inducted into the Mayde Creek High School Wall of Honor.
Education
