Taco Trek: The Original Ninfa's

By Yan Digilov and Ben Lopez     1/28/10 6:00pm

Another week's end can only mean another trek into the Taco District for the Thresher's most courageous thrill-seekers. In the second installment of their culinary adventures, Yan Digilov and Ben Lopez, our lovably scruffy duo of tacologists, head for the western frontier to the ageless outpost of the Original Ninfa's.

Yan''s Take

Looking back at that Saturday's trip to the Original Ninfa's, located on 2704 Navigation Blvd., everything seemed to begin so well. I was feeling good, feeling right, so I find it astonishing that what began as such a wonderful experience finished with me begging Ben not to do something he would forever regret.

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That morning, I had just completed a letter to the editors of People magazine criticizing their coverage of Heidi Montag's 10 plastic surgeries when my mouth began watering - not from Montag, I assure you - and I realized it was time to head to the Taco District.

Maybe I should have been tipped off by the free valet parking, or perhaps by the ornate decorations surrounding the place, but I never suspected that Mama Ninfa's award-winning original precepts had long been forgotten.

In fact, the meal began without a hint of trouble. Delicious chips and salsa were on tap with a tasty tomatillo sauce, whetting our appetites for the delights to follow.

To start, Ben and I shared a shrimp and halibut ceviche, a citrus-marinated mix of jalapeños, tomatoes and avocados. It was my first experience with this unique Mexican dish, and though it worked to hold me off for a few minutes, my heart and soul longed for the taco du jour.

The tacos stand alone on the Ninfa's menu, with the restaurant openly flaunting its gourmet variety of bacon-wrapped shrimp, redfish and even BBQ salmon. But the options come at a hefty price - none less than $10 with beans and rice. And most importantly, we hadn't stopped by to be sidetracked by these colorfully dressed taco distractions. We wanted the real things, the classics at the heart of any quality taqueria.

With my meatless options limited, I ordered up a plate of tacos con huevos - a classic potato-egg-'n'-cheese dish - and asked them to hold the chorizo. I was also convinced to add an order of chilaquiles rojos, a mainstay of any Mexican kitchen, to my order.

The chilaquiles came out first on a piping hot plate. A layer of freshly made soft tortillas sat covered in red guajillo sauce - a chili pepper commonly used in Mexican cuisine - and topped with fried eggs, authentic white cheese, onions, avocados and sour cream. Never before had I tasted a breakfast item that, though made with such common ingredients, resulted in such exquisite taste.

The chilaquiles raised the bar, but had the bar remained at IHOP level, the disaster that was on the horizon could not have been avoided.

Two tacos quickly arrived, awaiting their sole purpose in life - to pack my stomach with unholy nourishment. But the tortillas that were birthed right before my eyes at the front of the restaurant were too flaky. The proportions of the filling were uninspiring. Top that with a flavorless scoop of the Spanish rice, a blasé side that would have made Uncle Ben's seem heaven sent, and you've got a problem.

Clearly, something had gone terribly wrong at the old Houston favorite. A hint of light was shed on the issue through conversations with the restaurant's staff. Always a sucker for friendly conversation, I chatted with our waiter about the history of the place. He had been there for decades and had seen the restaurant's transformations after founder Mama Ninfa's death in 2001.

Somewhere between being a hole-in-the-wall joint and a regional chain, the quality and reputation of Ninfa's had fallen. After the chain's branches had kicked the Original Ninfa's on Navigation Blvd. to the curb, it failed to attract the attention it was used to, so it decided to pull a Heidi Montag of its own. Like the famous-for-nothing ditz, Ninfa's was now concerned with maintaining its pop star image in a city full of topflight Mexican cuisines, hiring a gourmet chef to churn out the casual, distinctly non-gourmet Tex Mex favorites.

But that's not what the Taco District is about, and it's not what Heidi - er, Ninfa's - ever stood for. And though I could survive knowing that Ninfa's had just moved on to serve a more refined customer, it was hard to deal, emotionally, with taco sellouts.

My partner seemed to experience the same exact sentiments, and for a few moments I was worried that Ben was serious when he said he could never come back to the Taco District again. But as we drove down Navigation and passed by Dona Maria's taqueria, a smile ran across his face, for I knew we would soon venture into these parts again to complete our quest.

Ben's Take

The second journey in our exploration of Houston's Taco District took us to the historic original Ninfa's Cafe, a local Tex-Mex institution boldly claiming to be the birthplace of the fajita taco. Since its opening in 1973, the restaurant has survived a few ownership changes, and today is no longer operated by the original Laurenzo family nor associated with other Ninfa's establishments across Houston. Despite the tumultuous past 10 years, Ninfa's still draws the likes of stars like Muhammad Ali and Jose Cruz, and is regarded as a major player in the balance of power in the Taco District.

When I found out we would be traveling to a restaurant with as much history and reputation as Ninfa's, I anxiously wondered what awaited us. Surely, some aspect of Ninfa's must set it apart from the fierce Taco District competition, I told myself. Yet after only a few minutes inside the restaurant, I arrived at an unpleasant realization.

I guess I should start by restating the original goal of Taco Trek - to find the most delicious and wonderful tacos in the Taco Distrtict wonderland. Ninfa's made this task most difficult. The restaurant gained the reputation of one of the area's best by starting plain and simple, as a small taco stand no larger than a typical dorm room.

Sadly, the Ninfa's of today is unrecognizable to the small shop Mama Ninfa started in both menu offerings and exterior appearance. Upon browsing the menu from top to bottom, I encountered several expensive entrees for a college student, and, to my disappointment, a complete lack of an individual breakfast taco menu. Surely warning flags should fly when it is impossible to order an individual taco at the place of their supposed birth.

Given the limitations of the menu, which features primarily large plate entrees and stresses serving rice and beans with everything, it took Yan and myself a little longer than usual to arrive at an order that would deliver the most variety. It also didn't help that he wouldn't stop talking about some girl named Heidi.

First up was the beef crispy taco plate, near and dear to the hearts of any Tex-Mex fan. To start on a positive note, the presentation was great, and the portion size was also pleasing, considering the hefty prices.

Once finished with my visual inspection, though, I started eating, and began encountering the problems. The taco shells were crispy and not easily broken. The beef was filling, but it could have been triumphed by any Taco Cabana at 3:30 in the morning.

Meanwhile, I found the borracho beans tasty, but was shocked by the quality of the Spanish rice. Nothing good can be said about the rice - it was simply ... awful. When done correctly, any style of rice can be a critical and very popular component in cuisine; sadly, nothing about the rice this fine morning was correct.

I followed this unnerving disappointment with some of the breakfast tacos Yan located on the menu, strangely grouped only in orders of three and unnaturally limited in choice of fillings. The tacos overall were typical at best, offering sketchy egg-to-meat ratios, and wrapped in tortillas that were much less memorable than the woman in the window seen making them any hour of the day.

At the end of the day, Ninfa's just missed the mark. Quite frankly, it just isn't the place I'd think about first thing on a Saturday morning. Go there with a hangover, and you'll leave with an even worse headache, if it's just a few recovery tacos you're wanting. Ninfa's should be recognized for the institution it created, and the cultural icon it once was; but when it comes to breakfast plans, there are better choices.

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