El Tiempo Cantina Restaurant

Specialties

El Tiempo Cantina defines the extraordinary flavors and culture of Tex Mex cuisine. For the past 55 years, we have dedicated ourselves to perfecting every aspect of what Houstonians have come to know as authentic Tex Mex cooking. We make everything from scratch, from the tortillas to the salad dressings, the salsas to the desserts. We cook all of our food using generations’ old family recipes, premium ingredients and warm smiles.

Still, our ultimate dedication is to each and every customer. You will feel at home as part of the family and you’ll be cared for completely during your dining experience. Our servers uphold the standard to provide absolutely the best dining experience at each El Tiempo Cantina location. Much diligence and effort has been vested in developing the recipes, the training of our staff and the consistent delivery of the best Tex Mex dining experience you will ever have!

We invite you to visit our website for more information, then stop by any of our El Tiempo Cantina locations today! We know you will want to come back again and again for the smiling faces, Texas style hospitality and plenty of laughter. As we always say, goza cada momento– enjoy every moment!

History

Established in 1973.

Fajitas as we know them, were introduced to the United States by a widowed mother of five children on Navigation Blvd in Houston, TX, 41 years ago back in 1973. Her name was Ninfa Laurenzo, lovingly known to Houstonians as Mama Ninfa. Back then, along with the help of her kids, she opened up a 5 table restaurant where the family’s tortilla factory used to be. Eventually after a rocky start, Ninfa’s restaurants grew and enjoyed an enormous success before sadly going bankrupt in the late 1990’s.

Having lost it all, Roland Laurenzo and his sons had an opportunity to do it all over again, and opened up the first El Tiempo Cantina on Richmond Avenue back in 1998. Today, the family continues to serve Houston with great food and drinks as they learned to do from their beloved Mama Ninfa. Our attention to quality and exceptional friendliness is still our driving force, just like it was for Ninfa. We’ve been around a long time, and we’ve got you to thank for that, Houston!

Meet the Business Owner

Domenic L.

Business Owner

Executive Chef & Owner Domenic Laurenzo is the oldest Grandson of Ninfa Laurenzo. Domenic grew up in the kitchens of «Mamma Ninfa’s» establishments and would often hear the battle cry «Cooking with Love» from his grandmother as she instilled the highest quality in everything she cooked. As a young man, he thought Golf would be his ticket to fame, but as he grew older the urge to re-​create what his grandmother started began to interest him more and more.

It would be many years later that this simple phrase «cooking with love» would come to inspire Domenic. Domenic decided to explore his Hispanic Heritage and set out to travel all of Mexico learning the traditions of not only the culture, but the food that brings peoples together. After his travels, Domenic came home and sat with Father Roland Laurenzo and set out to create El Tiempo Cantina– a concept that is rooted from the legacy of Ninfa Laurenzo.