After growing up near his uncle’s Mexican restaurant, K-Macho’s Restaurant & Cantina, Emilio Romero caught the restaurant bug.

Romero, 25, is opening his own Mexican restaurant, called Emiliano’s (slightly different from his first name), at 2137 E. 151st St. in Olathe, a former Pizza Hut space. Fingers crossed it’s open in August.

“The main reason is that I’m trying to help my parents retire early,” he said. “I’ve seen how hard they’ve worked all my life.”

Romero’s restaurant will offer traditional Mexican cuisine, including margaritas, pollo ixtapa (chicken with vegetables and cheese, served with rice) and molcajete: bowls of salsa, chicken, steak, shrimp – “all that good stuff,” Romero said.

“It’s authentic, of course, but a little Tex-Mex,” he added.

His uncle, Armando Romero, opened K-Macho’s more than 10 years ago at 1229 E. Santa Fe St. in Olathe. He opened another location a few years later at 11741 Metcalf Ave. in Overland Park.

Emilio Romero started working at K-Macho’s when he was still in middle school and gained the experience he needed to start his own business.

K-Macho’s sells taco salads, enchiladas, carne asada and other Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes.

Emiliano’s isn’t the only Mexican restaurant in Johnson County preparing to open. Las Palomas Bar and Grill is opening this summer in the space of the old Wyandot Barbecue at 7215 W. 75th St. in Overland Park.

Red Kitchen KC: Cien por Ciento Mexicana opened earlier this year in downtown Overland Park at 7926 Santa Fe Drive.