Tex-Mex cuisine is a regional American cuisine that partially originates from the culinary creations of Tejano people and of the White settlers who came to inhabit the American state of Texas. 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.
Nachos are a Tex-Mex culinary dish consisting of tortilla chips or totopos covered with cheese or cheese sauce, as well as a variety of other toppings and garnishes, often including meats, vegetables, and condiments such as salsa, guacamole, or sour cream. At its most basic form, nachos may consist of merely chips covered with cheese, and served as an appetizer or snack, while other versions are substantial enough as a main course. The dish was created by, and named after, Mexican restaurateur Ignacio Anaya, who created it in 1943 for American customers at the Victory Club restaurant in Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
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.
Chi-Chi's can either refer to a defunct Mexican food restaurant chain founded in the United States in 1975, which continued in Europe only as a single restaurant after the North American owner declared bankruptcy and folded in 2004, or to its namesake brand of Mexican food grocery products produced and marketed when the original North American restaurant chain owner sold the rights to use its name on said products in 1987.
Rosa's Cafe is an American authentic Tex-Mex fast-casual restaurant chain with beginnings in West Texas. Rosa's has expanded to 47 locations across Texas. Additionally, there is a restaurant in Hobbs, New Mexico and Temecula, California. The restaurants are well known for their "Tuesdays Were Made for Tacos" promotion.
Komi was a restaurant in Washington, D.C. operated by Chef Johnny Monis, serving Italian cuisine and Greek cuisine.
A burrito in Mexico is, historically, a regional name, among others, for what is known as a taco, a tortilla filled with food, in other parts of the country. The term burrito was regional, specifically from Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí and Sinaloa, for what is known as a taco in Mexico City and surrounding areas, and codzito in Yucatán and Quintana Roo. Due to the cultural influence of Mexico City, the term taco became the default, and the meaning of terms like burrito and codzito were forgotten, leading many people to create new meanings and folk histories. In modern times, it is considered by many as a different dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. In Central and Southern Mexico, burritos are still considered tacos, and are known as “tacos de harina”. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or steamed to soften it, make it more pliable, and allow it to adhere to itself. Burritos are often eaten by hand, as their tight wrapping keeps the ingredients together. Burritos can also be served "wet", i.e., covered in a savory and spicy sauce, when they would be eaten with a fork and knife.
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.
Peter Chang is a Chinese chef specializing in Sichuan cuisine who is known for his restaurants in Virginia and other states in the Southeastern United States.
Gurinderjit Singh is an Indian-born chef based in Brisbane, Australia. He is currently the owner/chef of an eatery that offers an amalgamation of Indian/Mexican cuisines, IndiMex Café Bar Restaurant at Stones Corner, Greenslopes.
Esparza's Tex Mex Cafe, or simply Esparza's, was a Tex-Mex restaurant in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Opened by Martha and Joe Esparza in 1990, the restaurant operated for more than 24 years before closing in January 2014. Its unusual menu included buffalo tostadas, ground ostrich and nopalitos, several varieties of tongue, beef brisket, and more traditional options such as enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos and tamales. Esparza's was one of Portland's most popular restaurants during the 1990s and was named "Restaurant of the Year" by The Oregonian in 1992.
Martha Ortiz is a Mexican chef and owner of the restaurants Dulce Patria in the Las Alcobas hotel in Mexico City and Ella Canta within the InterContinental London Park Lane in London, England.
Ann Cashion is a James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur in Washington D.C.
The Goose, formerly The Blue Goose, was a New Mexican, Southwestern, and Tex-Mex restaurant in southeast Portland, Oregon, United States.
Mikko, formally Mikko Nordic Fine Foods, is a restaurant and catering service in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States, specializing in Nordic cuisine. The restaurant was opened in 2018 by Mikko Kosonen, who was previously the executive chef for the Ambassador of Finland for more than 15 years. It is located in a townhouse on R Street NW that Kosonen painted in the bright colors of the Nordic flags. It has received praise from food critics, who have highlighted its novelty as one of the only Nordic restaurants in the city.
Magnolia Cafe is a restaurant with one active location in Austin, Texas, in the United States. The restaurant at Lake Austin opened as Omelettry West in 1979, and became known as Magnolia Cafe during 1986–1987. The South Congress restaurant opened in 1988. The original Lake Austin location closed in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the South Congress location remains open.
Paola Velez is a pastry chef and social justice activist from New York with Dominican heritage. She has worked for restaurants such as Milk Bar and Maydan in Washington, D.C., and she co-founded the organization Bakers Against Racism, as well as the donut pop-up shop Doña Dona in 2020.
Nacho Borracho is a bar and Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurant in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington.
El Chupacabra is a Mexican / Tex-Mex restaurant with two locations in Seattle, Washington. The business operates in the Greenwood / Phinney Ridge area, and along Alki Beach Park in West Seattle. Previously, a third location operated in South Lake Union, until 2018.
