Abstract
This article presents the business strategies of restaurateur Ninfa Laurenzo, the first female entrepreneur of Mexican origin to become a millionaire in Houston, Texas. “Mama Ninfa,” as Houston's public came to call her affectionately, redefined the Mexican restaurant scene both in Houston and throughout the state of Texas in the 1970s and 1980s. By offering new options to diners who had grown tired of traditional Tex-Mex food, Ninfa Laurenzo contributed to the ethnic diversification of America's dinner table. This article examines how one widowed middle-aged businesswoman carefully crafted a public persona that projected culinary inventiveness, professionalism and family values. It also explores Ninfa's success in selling supposedly authentic Mexican dishes to an Anglo clientele that, until then, had shunned food establishments located in the predominantly Mexican neighborhoods of Houston. Ninfa Laurenzo and her chain of “Ninfa's” eateries revolutionized the Mexican restaurant scene in Houston and beyond by anticipating Anglo customers' growing tastes for a multicultural dinner table.
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