Tex-Mex cuisine is a regional American cuisine that originates from the culinary creations of Tejano people. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United States to the rest of the country. It is a subtype of Southwestern cuisine found in the American Southwest.
The Original Ninfa's on Navigation is a popular Mexican restaurant located at 2704 Navigation Boulevard in Houston, Texas. The restaurant serves both Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine. The Original Ninfa's was started by Ninfa Rodríguez Laurenzo, a Mexican-American woman, in a tortilla factory. Ninfa Laurenzo became a full-time restaurateur and the tortilla factory closed. Mama Ninfa is widely credited with popularizing the fajita among Houstonians.
Red Lobster Hospitality, LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates; as of June 23, 2020, the company had 719 locations worldwide. Golden Gate Capital was Red Lobster's parent company after it was acquired from Darden Restaurants on July 28, 2014. Seafood supplier Thai Union acquired a 25 percent stake in the company in 2016 for a reported $575 million and in 2020 purchased the remaining portion from GGC.
Chili's Grill & Bar is an American casual dining restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by Brinker International.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Darden has more than 1,800 restaurant locations and more than 175,000 employees, making it the world's largest full-service restaurant company. The company began as an extension of Red Lobster, founded by William Darden and initially backed by General Mills. Red Lobster was later sold in July 2014.
Baja Fresh is an American chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California, in 1990 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, each restaurant featuring a self-serve salsa bar.
Taco Management LLC, doing business as Taco Bueno, is a U.S.-based, quick service restaurant chain specializing in Tex-Mex-style cuisine. The company is headquartered in Farmers Branch, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Its first location opened in Abilene, Texas in 1967. The food chain has locations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Texadelphia is a cheesesteak sandwich restaurant chain established in Austin, Texas in 1981 by Philadelphia native Joel Stanley. Texadelphia has had locations in and around Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley, and Oklahoma City. The name is a portmanteau of "Texas" and "Philadelphia.”
Jenna Welch Bush Hager is an American news personality, author, and journalist. She is the co-host of Today with Hoda & Jenna, the fourth hour of NBC's morning news program, Today. Hager and her fraternal twin sister, Barbara, are the daughters of the 43rd U.S. President, George W. Bush, and former First Lady Laura Bush. Hager is also a granddaughter of the 41st U.S. President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, great-granddaughter of former U.S. Senator Prescott Bush, niece of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and first cousin of former Land Commissioner of Texas, George P. Bush.
Maria Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, born with the family name Rodriguez, was an American restaurateur from Houston, Texas, who founded the restaurant Ninfa's. Laurenzo started out running a single taco stand in Houston, Texas.
Tex-Mex cuisine is very popular in Houston. Many Mexican cuisine restaurants in Houston have aspects that originate from Texas culture. Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press said in 2012 that "Tex-Mex has been a vital part of our city for more than 100 years" and that it "never waned in that century." She added that "[t]he cultural significance of Tex-Mex as a vital touchstone between generations and an expression of our roots cannot be denied."
Texan cuisine is the food associated with the Southern U.S. state of Texas, including its native Southwestern cuisine–influenced Tex-Mex foods. Texas is a large state, and its cuisine has been influenced by a wide range of cultures, including Tejano/Mexican, Native American, Creole/Cajun, African-American, German, Czech, Southern and other European American groups. The cuisine of neighboring states also influences Texan cuisine, such as New Mexican cuisine and Louisiana Creole cuisine. This can be seen in the widespread usage of New Mexico chiles, Cayenne peppers, and Tabasco sauce in Texan cooking.
Molina's Cantina is a Tex-Mex restaurant chain in Houston, Texas. As of 2022, Molina's is the oldest still-operating Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston.
Robb Walsh is an American food writer, cookbook author, and restaurant owner who divides his time between Galway Bay, Ireland, and Galveston, Texas. He is a former commentator on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, Sunday; former restaurant critic at the Houston Press ; former editor-in-chief of Chile Pepper Magazine ; former food columnist for Natural History magazine, and three-time winner of the James Beard Award. He currently writes about food for magazines such as Houstonia and Texas Highways, and websites such as First We Feast. He was a partner and co-founder of the former El Real Tex-Mex Cafe in Houston's Montrose neighborhood.
Tortilla Coast was an American Tex-Mex restaurant located in Washington, D.C. Their Capitol Hill location was recognized as a popular watering hole for politicians and political staffers. Tortilla Coast was known for their frozen margarita pitchers and bottomless chips and salsa.
La Salsa is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Los Angeles, California in 1979, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, and each restaurant features a self-serve salsa bar.
Antone's Famous Po' Boys, formerly Antone's Import Company, is a sandwich shop chain based in Houston, Texas. Established by Jalal Antone, an American of Lebanese and Syrian descent, it grew to having fifteen locations and having products distributed throughout the Southern United States, but was beset by ownership disputes within the surviving family in the 1990s. Legacy Restaurants now owns the trademark and operates all restaurants with the name. From circa the 1990s until 2018 several shops franchising the Antone's name were operated as the Original Antone's Import Company.
Magnolia Cafe is a restaurant with one active location in Austin, Texas. The restaurant originally opened on Lake Austin Boulevard as Omelettry West in 1979, and became known as Magnolia Cafe during 1986–1987. A second location on South Congress Avenue opened in 1988. The Lake Austin location closed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, with the remaining South Congress location operating with reduced hours. Both locations formerly operated 24/7.
Mi Cocina is a Tex-Mex restaurant.
US$422 million [2] (2022)
