Tex-Mex cuisine in Houston

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Tex-Mex is a staple of Houston’s food scene, blending Texas culture with Mexican flavors. Over the years, Mexican cooking in Houston has grown from local street food into a diverse range of restaurants that reflect both tradition and change.

The city’s Tex-Mex story starts in the late 1800s with street vendors from different communities, including Hispanic, Black, and Native American people. By 1901, many vendors moved indoors, but a 1909 health campaign and new rules led to fewer street vendors and more restaurants by 1910. The first Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston opened in 1907: Original Mexican Restaurant, started by George Caldwell from San Antonio. Felix’s, opened by Felix Tijerina in 1929, became another landmark, though the Great Depression challenged many early ventures. Molina’s Cantina began serving Tex-Mex in 1941 and is noted as one of the oldest continuously operating spots in the city.

In the 1970s, a shift happened. Better access to Mexican cooking across different regions, plus influences from scholars and chefs, helped popularize a newer style of Tex-Mex that emphasized grilled meats, salsas, and seafood. Ninfa’s, famous for fajitas starting in 1973, played a key role in this change. Many older restaurants declined, while others remained popular with families and people who loved traditional flavors. Today, Houston hosts a wide range of Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants, showing the city’s big appetite for different kinds of Mexican-inspired cooking.

Immigrant cooks from Mexico continue to bring fresh ideas to Houston’s menus, expanding what Tex-Mex can mean in the city. Some places focus on pure Mexican cuisine and call themselves Mex-Mex, while others blend Tex-Mex with Mexican dishes, sometimes called Mix Mex. Houston’s Tex-Mex reflects a long history of cultural exchange between Anglo and Mexican American communities and shows how tastes have changed over time.