Most people who grew up here in Houston know about “Mama” Ninfa, the woman who helped put Tex-Mex on the culinary map. She passed away in 2001, but her name lives on. However, some folks don’t realize that her full name was Maria Ninfa Rodriguez, and she added the last name of Laurenzo after marrying an Italian suitor named Domenic. The couple met while Ninfa was visiting her sister in Rhode Island.
According to family members, Ninfa found Rhode Island winter weather too cold for her taste. She and Dominic flipped a coin to decide where to go next. If that flip had gone differently, Los Angeles would have gotten to claim Ninfa’s and the invention of fajitas for their own. Fortunately for us, the coin toss sent them to Houston instead.
Ninfa opened the first Ninfa’s in 1973. It was initially a humble taco stand intended to bolster the sales of her troubled tortilla factory. In time, however, word got around about the good, inexpensive Tex-Mex food and the friendly lady who was running the place. She closed the tortilla factory when it became obvious that the restaurant was thriving. The restaurant expanded, and that’s when history gets a little complicated.
The Laurenzo family entered into a joint venture in the 1980s, and at one point there were 55 Ninfa’s restaurants here and throughout Texas. RioStar Corp., the Laurenzo-controlled holding company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996, and at that point the family lost all involvement with the Ninfa’s name.
Most recently the three remaining franchised Ninfa’s locations were changed into Maggie Rita’s, marking the end of an era. But by January of this year, all three Maggie Rita’s had been shuttered. Apparently, Houstonians didn’t take well to the change.
The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation is now owned and operated by Legacy Restaurants (they also own a second old-Houston restaurant name, Antone’s Famous Po’Boys) in conjunction with Bobby Heugel, Kevin Floyd and Michael Burnett (who are known for their involvement with places like Anvil Bar & Refuge and Underbelly). During our interview last year with Heugel and Burnett, Heugel said, “This is about preserving this restaurant. We don’t think of [the Original] Ninfa’s as a large brand. We think of it as a restaurant that we loved even before we got involved.”
So where is the Laurenzo family in all of this?
You can’t hold a good restaurant family down. After losing all rights to the Ninfa’s name, her heirs started new restaurants and a market. They own Laurenzo’s Prime Rib (on Washington Avenue), four El Tiempo Cantinas and El Tiempo Market. Their newest and fifth El Tiempo – which just opened this past Monday, February 11 – has opened literally next door to The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation, and it marks the return of Ninfa’s family to their old East End neighborhood.
Ninfa’s grandson, Dominic Laurenzo, is not only the executive chef at the new El Tiempo, but was the general contractor for the construction as well. When you visit, take a look at the old family photos on the walls. You’ll see Mama Ninfa in many of them, beaming and surrounded by family. The the green and red sauces? As you remember them.
So, now there are two restaurants intent on preserving her legacy. Reportedly, both restaurant groups have no bad blood between them and simply wish each other the best.
The only difficulty now will be for us diners in figuring out which place to visit for a Tex-Mex fix.