Taco Bell is an American chain of fast food restaurants based out of Irvine, California and a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican inspired foods that include tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, novelty and specialty items, and a variety of "value menu" items. As of 2018, Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers each year at 7,072 restaurants, more than 93 percent of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees.
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.
Chevys Fresh Mex is an American chain of Mexican-style casual dining restaurants located in the United States. The chain was founded in 1986 by Warren Simmons in Alameda, California. The chain's headquarters are currently located in Cypress, California. The chain was owned by Real Mex Restaurants, Inc. until its August 7, 2018 bankruptcy and acquisition by Z Capital and Tennenbaum Capital Partners.
Baja Fresh is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California in 1990 and 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.
Taco Bueno is a U.S.-based, fast-food restaurant chain specializing in Tex-Mex-style Mexican cuisine. The company is headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas Fort Worth metro area. Its first location opened in Abilene, Texas in 1967. The food chain has locations in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Alabama and Texas. The chain has more than 160 restaurants.
Uno Pizzeria & Grill, or more informally as Unos, is a franchised pizzeria restaurant chain under the parent company Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation. Uno Pizzeria and Grill is best known for its Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Ike Sewell opened the first Pizzeria Uno in 1943.
Don Pablo’s is a chain of Tex-Mex restaurants founded in Lubbock, Texas, in 1985. The menu features Tex-Mex items, made-from-scratch salsa, tortillas and sauces, and a range of other Mexican specialties. At one time, this chain had as many as 120 locations throughout the United States and was the second largest full-service Mexican restaurant chain within the United States during the late 1990s, second only to Chi-Chi's. The chain had 34 restaurants in 14 states when it was acquired in 2014 by Food Management Partners. By October 2016, the chain was reduced to 12 restaurants in 9 states, 6 restaurants in 4 states by July 2018, 5 restaurants in 3 states by September 2018, and later 3 restaurants in 3 states by November 2018. On Thanksgiving, the remaining Texas location and Maryland location closed, leaving the sole open restaurant in Deptford, NJ.
Sbarro, LLC is a pizzeria chain that specializes in New York style pizza sold by the slice and other Italian-American cuisine. In 2011, the company was ranked 15th in foreign system wide sales among U.S.-based quick-serve and fast-casual companies by QSR Magazine. In 2008, Sbarro was rated the #1 Quick Service Restaurant in the Italian segment by Entrepreneur magazine. Not all reports were positive, as the food quality had been criticized, with a suggestion that this was a factor that led to two bankruptcies. Sbarro has over 800 locations in 33 countries. Sbarro stores are located in shopping malls, airports, service areas, and college campuses, as well as in The Pentagon, American naval bases, and casinos.
Taco Mayo Restaurant is a Mexican-American fast food chain based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina is a chain of Tex-Mex food casual dining restaurants located in the United States and recently opened in South Korea. The chain and brand name is owned by OTB Acquisitions, LLC.
Rio Bravo was a Tex-Mex style Mexican restaurant serving the metro the southern United States and Michigan from its opening in 1985 until its closure in 2004. The company relaunched in August 2015, only to close again 18 months later.
Maria Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, born with the family name Rodriguez, was a 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."
Molina's Cantina is a Tex-Mex restaurant chain in Houston, Texas. As of 2012, Molina's is the oldest still-operating Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston.
Souplantation, which operates as Sweet Tomatoes outside of southern California, is a United States-based chain of all-you-can-eat buffet-style restaurants. The first Souplantation opened in 1978 in San Diego, California, where the company is headquartered. The company was incorporated as Garden Fresh Corp. in 1983. The company went public in 1995 but was taken private in 2004. The company is owned by Garden Fresh Restaurant Corporation.
La Salsa is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Los Angeles in 1979 and 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.
