The Queso Connection

**A queso lover's rite of passage.** Houston's Tex-Mex story wouldn't be complete without Mama Ninfa Laurenzo, whose remarkable culinary legacy began with heartbreak and determination. After losing her husband, Mama Ninfa was left to support their five children. In 1973, she transformed part of the family's struggling tortilla factory on Navigation Boulevard into a small restaurant, serving handmade tortillas and tacos al carbón that would help introduce fajitas to diners across America. What began as one mother's effort to keep her family afloat became one of the most influential restaurants in Texas. I've had the pleasure of visiting The Original Ninfa's on Navigation, and this is a queso lover's rite of passage. More than half a century later, the Houston landmark remains a destination for handmade tortillas, sizzling fajitas and chile con queso. It's precisely the kind of place the Queso Trail was made to explore: where melted cheese comes with a generous helping of culinary history, and where one woman's determination to feed her family helped change the way America eats. **Come for the queso. Stay for the history. Leave with a little Mama Ninfa inspiration.**