Ninfa's

Template:Use mdy dates Template:More citations needed Template:Short description

Ninfa's

File:Flickr bargas 2306893354--Ninfas on Navigation.jpg

Original Ninfa's on Navigation Boulevard

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.

Dai Huynh of the Houston Chronicle said that the Ninfa's locations opened after the first two restaurants "failed to attract the following of earlier restaurants."<ref name="Huynh">Huynh, Dai. "Restaurateur Mama Ninfa dies." Houston Chronicle. Monday June 18, 2001. A1. Retrieved on February 5, 2012.</ref> Tom Laurenzo said that the Laurenzo family never became very wealthy while it controlled the Ninfa's restaurants. He said "Everything was put back into the business."<ref name="Huynh"/> When the Laurenzo family controlled the restaurant chain, it was managed by Ninfa's Inc., which became a subsidiary of the Laurenzo-controlled holding company RioStar Corp.<ref>D and B Million Dollar Directory, Volume 2. Dun & Bradstreet, 1997. 3378. Retrieved from Google Books on February 6, 2012. "NINFAS INC (TX) (Suby ol RIOSTAR CORP) 2MN Nagle St, Houston, TX 77003-1 543"</ref>

HistoryEdit

1970sEdit

In 1973, Ninfa Laurenzo, a widow with five children,<ref name="Huynh"/> established Ninfa's, then a taco stand, as a side business due to financial troubles with her original core business, a tortilla factory.<ref name="PalmerGilmour">Palmer, John and Sandy Gilmour. "Ninfa Laurenzo: Taco Maker Turned Millionaire." NBC Learn. May 23, 1981. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> Laurenzo's factory was losing money, and she needed to update her equipment in order to comply with new regulations. When Laurenzo decided to establish a restaurant, she applied for loans at several banks. The banks turned her down, so a friend in Mexico City loaned her several thousand dollars. Laurenzo divided the factory facility in half. The back of the factory continued to act as a tortilla factory, while the front had ten tables and 40 chairs. Laurenzo used discarded second hand furniture and pots and pans from her kitchen in the restaurant. The Ninfa's restaurant opened in July of that year. The cuisine at Ninfa's differed from the cuisine of Tex Mex restaurants at the time.<ref name="Huynh"/> The restaurant almost closed after a fire struck one week after its initial opening.<ref name="HasselChap7">Hassel, Greg. "Sysco goes to court vs. RioStar/Chapter 7 sought for Ninfa's parent."Template:Dead link Houston Chronicle. Friday October 18, 1996. Business 1. Retrieved on February 6, 2012. - Article available from the Houston Public Library website, accessible with a library card.</ref> Dai Huynh of the Houston Chronicle said "Word quickly spread about the East End restaurant with good, cheap food and an outgoing Mexican Mama who greeted diners with open arms."<ref name="Huynh"/>

Laurenzo tripled the space of the original Ninfa's and closed the tortilla-making operations.<ref name="Huynh"/> The restaurant became a family-owned corporation.<ref name="Linnee">Linnee, Susan. "Poor Widow is Now Texas Taco Queen." Associated Press at the Youngstown Daily Vindicator. Wednesday April 26, 1978. Page 70. Retrieved on February 4, 2012.</ref> Around 1976 the restaurant was becoming popular among many groups of people, including employees in Downtown Houston, area politicians, and other groups.<ref>Feldman, Claudia. "Ninfa's server Arcadia Lopez is an American success story." Houston Chronicle. Sunday December 5, 2010. Retrieved on February 4, 2012.</ref> Ninfa's became so popular that, in 1975,<ref name="PalmerGilmour"/> she opened a second location on Westheimer Road,<ref name="Huynh"/> one that was larger than the original.<ref name="Schadewald2">Schadewald, Bill. "'Mama Ninfa' the mother of all entrepreneurs." Houston Business Journal. Sunday June 25, 2001. 2. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> In 1977 Richard West of the Texas Monthly said "no other Texas restaurant dictates the dining-out habits of so many of its city's inhabitants" and that the restaurant is "a favorite topic of conversation among Mexican food fanciers not just in Houston but all over the state."<ref name="TM175"/>

Around June 1977 the original Ninfa's on Navigation averaged 400 customers daily for lunch and 700 daily for dinner. During the same time the Ninfa's on Westheimer averaged 600 customers daily for lunch and 1,000 daily for dinner. The averages remained constant for all seven days of the week.<ref name="TM175"/> In 1978 the restaurant chain had 500 employees, including 60 workers in the kitchens. Among the employees were members of Laurenzo's family. Laurenzo's five children, including four sons and one daughter, managed aspects of the Ninfa's business. Phyllis Mandola worked as the manager of the catering division. Jack Laurenzo, one son, and Ninfa Laurenzo held weekly cooking classes. Pilar Di Meo, Laurenzo's twin sister, worked in the restaurant's main office. Di Meo's son, Steve, worked as a personnel manager.<ref name="Linnee"/>

Workers and municipal employees who had discovered restaurant chain took family members there. Throughout the restaurant's history, many celebrities, including Aerosmith, George H. W. Bush, George Benson, Dyan Cannon, Michael Douglas, Crystal Gayle, Rock Hudson, Reba McEntire, John Travolta, Ben Vereen, and ZZ Top ate at Ninfa's. Travolta had a private corner at the Westheimer Ninfa's location while he filmed Urban Cowboy, and while flying in his private aircraft he often stopped in Houston to pick up Ninfa's food.<ref name="Huynh"/> Bill Schadewald of the Houston Business Journal said that eating at Ninfa's became an integral routine of tourists in the Houston area.<ref name="Schadewald1">Schadewald, Bill. "'Mama Ninfa' the mother of all entrepreneurs." Houston Business Journal. Sunday June 25, 2001. 1. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref>

1980sEdit

In 1980 Ninfa's had seven restaurants. Roland Laurenzo, the head of Ninfa's parent company, decided to expand the number of locations. In 1980 and 1981 Ninfa's opened four restaurants in Dallas.<ref name="Elder2">Elder, Laura Elizabeth. "Rapid expansion caused Ninfa's debt woes, says restaurant official." Houston Business Journal. Sunday November 3, 1996. 2. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> In 1981 the chain grossed $30 million. In 1982 the chain had 13 restaurants.<ref>King, Wayne. "HOUSTON SINGS PRAISES OF RESTAURATEUR WHO COOKS WITH LOVE." The New York Times. July 24, 1982. Late City Final Edition, Section 1, Page 6, Column 1. Retrieved on February 4, 2012.</ref> Because of problems with the business, Ninfa's ultimately had to close three of the four new Dallas locations.<ref name="Elder2"/> At later points in the 1980s Ninfa's closed another Dallas location and a San Antonio location. Greg Hassel of the Houston Chronicle said that expanding Ninfa's "has not always been easy."<ref name="HasselChap7"/>

In the early 1980s there were nine Ninfa's. The profits from the original two restaurants were used to open the other seven.<ref name="Huynh"/> By 1983 Ninfa's became the largest Hispanic-owned business in Houston.<ref name="HasselChap7"/> In 1987 there were nine Ninfa's locations in Greater Houston. In September 1987 the chain celebrated its tenth anniversary of the Westheimer restaurant, with a weeklong schedule of festivities.<ref>Mesinger, Maxine. "Story is set here, but filmed there." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday September 22, 1987. Houston Section, Page 1. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref>

McFaddin VenturesEdit

In 1985 Ninfa's established a joint venture with McFaddin Ventures, a nightclub operator, in order to reduce the family's risks in opening new restaurants. At the time opening a new restaurant would have a cost of $1.5 million.<ref name="Elder3">Elder, Laura Elizabeth. "Rapid expansion caused Ninfa's debt woes, says restaurant official." Houston Business Journal. Sunday November 3, 1996. 3. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> In October of that year McFaddin paid Ninfa's $635,000 for the rights of the future use of the Ninfa's name, and Roland Laurenzo and another Ninfa's executive joined McFaddin; these actions began the joint venture. Roland became the senior vice president of the McFaddin restaurant group. McFaddin was required to pay a quarterly fee to Ninfa's based on the restaurant chain's sales. As part of the agreement, McFaddin was to open 12 Ninfa's locations by April 25, 1989. After the opening of the tenth restaurant, it was supposed to continually operate ten of the restaurants for a five-year period.<ref name="Newrest">Levinson, Brian. "Ninfa's to open chain of fast-food Italian restaurants." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday February 17, 1987. Business 1. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref>

Less than nine months after the agreement was signed, Roland Laurenzo and six other McFaddin employees were terminated, and McFaddin sued Ninfa's and the Laurenzo family.<ref name="Elder3"/> In its suit, McFaddin said that Ninfa's and the Laurenzo family had threatened to picket the McFaddin restaurant and disrupt McFaddin restaurants, defamed McFaddin, and asked McFaddin employees to disrupt operations at the McFaddin restaurants. Ninfa's counter-sued McFaddin in the fall of 1986, saying that McFaddin changed the name of the Bandera division, an Austin, Texas-based home delivery Mexican food stores that opened and closed in 1986, in order to deprive Ninfa's of revenues.<ref name="Newrest"/> After civil action from both sides occurred, the parties agreed to a settlement.<ref name="Elder3"/>

1990sEdit

In 1993 Ninfa's had 43 restaurants in Texas and Louisiana.<ref>"Senora "Ninfa" still "guiding hand" of BR restaurant." The Advocate. October 21, 1993. Retrieved on February 4, 2012.</ref> In a one-year period ending on October 16, 1996, Ninfa's embarked on an expansion program, opening six new restaurants, with new locations in four Texas cities: El Paso, Killeen, Tyler, and Waco, Shreveport, Louisiana, and Leipzig, Germany. The new locations required large amounts of capital, and RioStar bought equipment, paper goods, and supplies from the company Sysco. This caused the company to accumulate a lot of debt quickly.<ref name="Elder2"/> When the chain expanded outside of Texas, people unfamiliar with the name did not understand what "Ninfa" meant, so the chain named restaurants outside of Greater Houston and Greater Dallas "Mama Ninfa's Mexican Restaurants." In October 1996 the chain had 40 restaurants, including 36 in Texas, three in Louisiana, and one in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="Dontcall">Hassell, Greg. "Mama Ninfa's history lesson."Template:Dead link Houston Chronicle. Wednesday October 16, 1996. Business 1. Retrieved on February 6, 2012. - Article available from the Houston Public Library website, accessible with a library card.</ref> Its Shreveport, Louisiana location had opened in October 1996.<ref name="HasselChap7"/>

Germany restaurantEdit

One individual, a Houston businessperson named Eckart Wieske, opened a 250-seat licensed Ninfa's restaurant in Leipzig, Germany. Due to higher than expected costs, Wieske was unable to cover his debts, and on October 16, 1996, the bank that lent him money took control of the restaurant.<ref name="Dontcall"/> The Ninfa's in Leipzig remained open after the bank had taken possession of it.<ref name="HasselChap7"/>

Bankruptcy protection and settlementEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In October 1996, Sysco filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against RioStar in an attempt to force the company to pay $2.8 million ($Template:Format price in today's money) in debts accumulated from the company's expansion. RioStar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.<ref name="Elder1">Elder, Laura Elizabeth. "Rapid expansion caused Ninfa's debt woes, says restaurant official." Houston Business Journal. Sunday November 3, 1996. 1. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> In 1998 Serrano's Cafe, an Austin, Texas-based company, acquired RioStar as part of the bankruptcy protection settlement. The family was no longer involved in Ninfa's.<ref name="Huynh"/>

2000s and presentEdit

Template:More citations needed section Ninfa Laurenzo, the restaurant's founder, died of bone cancer at the age of 77, on Sunday June 17, 2001.<ref name="Obit">"Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, restaurant pioneer, dies at 77 'Mama' credited with bringing tacos al carbon, fajitas to U.S." Associated Press at The Dallas Morning News. June 19, 2001. Retrieved on February 4, 2012.</ref>

In 2001 there were 55 Ninfa's locations controlled by Serrano's. The restaurants in Georgia and Louisiana were independent franchises.<ref name="Huynh"/> In 2005 Ninfa's continued to have locations in Texas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana, and Georgia.<ref name="Vuong"/>

In 2006,<ref name="Kaplannewdir">Kaplan, David. "RESTAURANTS / New directions for 2 institutions / Owner alters course at Antone's, tweaks Ninfa's on Navigation." Houston Chronicle. Thursday March 13, 2008. Business 1. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> Niel Morgan, the owner of the Antone's po boy chain,<ref name="Cookbignews">Cook, Allison. "Big news at Ninfa’s." Houston Chronicle. August 6, 2007. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> started the new firm Legacy Restaurants,<ref name="Kaplannewdir"/> then proceeded to make a deal with Serrano's. Morgan acquired the rights to the original Ninfa's and took direct control, while Serrano's began to license the Ninfa's name for eight other locations. After Morgan took control of the original restaurants, he proceeded to begin renovations, which added potted plants and a colonial Spanish-style bench. As part of Morgan's overhaul, a VIP parking service was added.<ref name="Cookbignews"/> Morgan also had the restrooms upgraded and added an outdoor deck and a parking lot.<ref name="Kaplannewdir"/>

The Original Ninfa's on Navigation has been owned and operated by Legacy Restaurants since mid-2006. The Executive Chef is Alex Padilla whose mother worked for Laurenzo when he was growing up in Houston. Legacy has made a number of improvements including a lighted parking lot and covered outdoor seating.Template:Citation needed

There are still "Ninfa's Mexican Restaurants" in Houston and elsewhere operated by independent owners who previously received licenses to use the name from the Laurenzo family. None of these are affiliated with the Original Ninfa's on Navigation.Template:Citation needed In 2008, there were 14 independently licensed Ninfa's locations.<ref name="Kaplannewdir"/>

In 2012, several licensed Ninfa's locations were converted into "Maggie Rita's Tex-Mex Grill & Bar," a restaurant chain co-owned by Carlos Mencia. Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press rated the food at the new restaurants negatively and said that "[i]t represents a new nadir for a once-respected and beloved Houston Tex-Mex institution."<ref name="ShilcuttMaggie1">Shilcutt, Katharine. "Maggie Rita's Takes Over Ninfa's." Houston Press. Wednesday August 15, 2012. 1. Retrieved on August 22, 2012.</ref> Shilcutt further added that the takeover caused an "uproar" in Houston and that "but to many longtime Houstonians (me included), the deal with interloper Maggie Rita's may as well have been a pact with the devil."<ref name="Shilcuttmighty">Shilcutt, Katharine. "How the Mighty Have Fallen: Ninfa's Finds Its Nadir with Maggie Rita's." Houston Press. Wednesday August 15, 2012. Retrieved on August 22, 2012.</ref>

In 2012 Shilcutt said that overall, "Ninfa's hadn't been that great in a long time".<ref name="Shilcuttmighty"/> She explained that the original location was "still reflective of the restaurant chain when it was in its prime," while the other locations "have varying levels of food and service, although most have fallen away significantly from the high-quality cuisine offered at the Original and last of the true Ninfa's empire."<ref name="Shilcuttmighty"/>

In November 2013 an enclosed patio opened at the original Ninfa's.<ref>Morago, Greg. "Original Ninfa’s opens its new enclosed patio." Houston Chronicle. November 25, 2013. Retrieved on December 1, 2013.</ref>

In 2017, the original Ninfa's was featured on a Houston-based episode of the Travel Channel show Man v. Food, hosted by Casey Webb.<ref>'Man v. Food' takes on Houston</ref>

The owners of the original Ninfa's plan to open another branch at BLVD Place in Uptown Houston in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

CuisineEdit

File:Ninfaschipsandsalsa.jpg

Original Ninfa's chips, tomato salsa, and green sauce

Ninfa's historically specialized in Tex-Mex and Norteño style Mexican dishes.<ref name="TM175">West, Richard. "From Mexico With Love." Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications, June 1977. Vol. 5, No. 6. 175. ISSN 0148-7736. Retrieved from Google Books on December 11, 2011.</ref> Ninfa Laurenzo drew inspiration from the cooking of her mother, who was a Mexican, and from Laurenzo's own travels to Mexico City.<ref name="Huynh"/> The food had an Italian influence because Laurenzo's deceased husband, Domenic Thomas Laurenzo, was an Italian American. Mozzarella, olive oil, and parmesan were used as ingredients.<ref name="TM175"/>

The signature dish was "tacos al carbon," which later became called "fajitas." The Ninfa's fajitas included chopped, char-grilled beef fillets placed in handmade flour tortillas.<ref name="Huynh"/> Ninfa's used a smoky marinade in the beef fajitas.<ref name="Sharpe2004">Sharpe, Patricia. "Some Like It Picante." (Alt) Texas Monthly. December 1, 2004. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref> The restaurant popularized fajitas in the Houston area.<ref name="PalmerGilmour"/> This dish was so influential that, by 2001, just about all Tex-Mex restaurants in Houston served a version of the Ninfa's fajitas.<ref name="Schadewald2"/>

File:Ninfasfajitameat.jpg

Original Ninfa's tacos al carbón/fajitas

The second most popular dish was the "Green Sauce," an avocado and tomatillo sauce. When a customer had asked for "salsa verde," Ninfa Laurenzo created the "Green Sauce" at the spur of the moment.<ref name="Huynh"/> Ninfa Laurenzo's son Roland later offered a modified version of this dish at his own restaurant, using pureed avocados, tomatillos, cilantro, garlic, and jalapeños. Patricia Sharpe of Texas Monthly said that Roland's version was a "creamier, more luxurious potion" than his mother's original recipe.<ref name="Sharpe2004"/> Ninfa's also offered stuffed jalapeños. The stuffed jalapeños became a menu item at Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen, operated by Phyllis Laurenzo Mandola, one of Ninfa Laurenzo's daughters, and her husband Tony.<ref name="Vuong">Vuong, Mary. "Matriarch of Tex-Mex." Houston Chronicle. Thursday November 10, 2005. Retrieved on February 6, 2012.</ref>

In 2004 Sharpe said that, at the original Ninfa's, the beef fajitas "still have their old magic" and that the flour tortillas, still made to order in-house, "are truly carb-addictive."<ref name="Sharpe2004"/> She said that the chicken fajitas "have lost their luster."<ref name="Sharpe2004"/> After Neil Morgan took over the chain in 2006, chef Alex Padilla added some new menu items including crab cakes with poblano sauce and Spanish lobster in tequila butter sauce. Padilla also said that the restaurant would grind its own beef brisket for its crispy tacos and use fresh tomatillo in the green sauce.<ref name="Kaplannewdir"/>

The original Ninfa's includes several torta sandwiches, including the fajita burger, which consistently is positively reviewed. By July 2012 the restaurant introduced three new tortas, Al Pastor, Chicken Adobo, and Puerca (Pork).<ref>O'Leary, Joanna. "New Tortas at Ninfa's Hardly Torturous." Houston Press. Monday July 9, 2012. Retrieved on August 22, 2012.</ref>