Day Trips: Ninfa’s, Houston: Houston’s original Ninfa’s was where our love affair with fajitas began – Columns

photos by Gerald E. McLeod

The Original Ninfas Mexican cuisine restaurant in Houston deserves a word of gratitude from all Tex-Mex cuisine lovers.

While Ninfa Laurenzo She didn’t invent tacos al carbon, known as fajitas and made with well-seasoned flank steak, but she certainly helped popularize them enough that the dish became a staple on menus around the world.

Although the original location was east of downtown on Navigation Boulevard No longer owned by the Laurenzo family, the restaurant continues to be a sacred site for Texas foodies.

The dining room is divided into several rooms, a garden room and a large covered terrace. But most importantly, the margaritas are refreshing and the food is delicious. Tacos al carbon are always on the menu and are wrapped in handmade tortillas.

Ninfa Laurenzo, nicknamed “Mama Ninfa,” opened this restaurant with her four oldest children in 1973. The 10-table restaurant occupied the front of her family’s struggling tortilla factory. The influence of authentic Mexican recipes became a major milestone in the American culinary landscape. She died in 2001 at the age of 77.

The Original Ninfa’s has been honored with the title of “Best Restaurant in Texas” by Life in the South in 2017. Two years later, it was a James Beard Award semi-finalist.

By the early 1990s, the family had expanded the business to a chain of 35 locations. Bankrupt in 1996, the restaurants were purchased by Serranos Restaurant Group. Ninfa’s is now owned by Heritage Restaurants with locations in Uptown and Downtown Houston. Legacy also owns Antone’s Po’Boysanother Houston culinary legend.

Ninfa’s Original is open daily at 2704 Navigation Blvd. The second location is at 1700 Post Oak Blvd. near the Galleria. Since 1998, Ninfa’s son Roland has continued the family tradition at El Tiempo Canteena chain of 16 Mexican restaurants primarily in the Houston area.

1,712th in a series. Everywhere, there’s a day trip from somewhere: Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.