The Original Ninfas Houston – the birthplace of fajitas

The history of fajitas

Fajitas got their name from the then undesirable cut of meat, the skirt steak. These were often the leftover cuts after the prime cuts were sold by Mexican farmers to their customers over the border.

Being frugal, they made some delicious dishes from those cuts, including the sizzling platters of grilled meats. While fajitas has always been popular in Mexico, it took a Houston lady, Maria Nifa Rodriquez Laurenzo, to make it famous, first in Texas and then across the world.

Ninfa and her Italian husband ran a pizza and tortilla business for years. When her husband died and the business struggling, she pivoted and started selling “tacos al carbon”. The tortillas they made were stuffed with grilled meats which they served in a 10-seater eaterie carved out of space in their pizza factory. From there, they launched fajitas into the world and as they say, a culinary revolution was born. On Nov 12th 2023, their 50th birthday, the mayor declared this as the Original Ninfa’s Day.

Mama Ninfa inspired generations of chefs and Latina entrepreneurs with passion and drive and we are all the richer for it.

Today, it is a vast dining room made up of a warren of rooms joined together to form an informal but welcoming dining space. There is a massive open terrace, usually graced with large family groups on the weekend.

How to eat fajitas

By now, most people who have been to a Tex-Mex place would have had the experience of rolling their own fajitas. In the beginning, they had to show people how to roll the fajitas and eat with their hands as Texans were used to eating crispy tacos.

Eating at the Original Ninfa’s in Houston

You will be welcomed like you’re family at Ninfa’s. The cheerful staff can’t be more accommodating and helpful. Best to dine here with a group of hungry friends. That way, you can have a variety of grilled meats and seafood.

The best things to order are of course the grilled beef, cooked over a wood fire in their massive smoker. You can taste the wood smoke char on the beef, paired with the creamy guacamole and hit of spice and acid from the pico de gallo, it is an unbeatable combination.

Don’t be afraid of getting stuck in. Just load up your tortilla with a selection of meat and condiments, wrap it up, grab it with both hands and enjoy. If you don’t like eating with your hands, this might convince you.

You must accompany this with their icy margarita. A combination that feels like you’re in your Mexican auntie’s dining room.

Every other fajita I’ve had from London to Kuala Lumpur pales in comparison, they are worlds apart.

Thousands of fresh flour tortillas are rolled out daily by a band of Mexican ladies dressed in their beautiful embroidered blouses. Nothing gets more family than this.