Spanish Flower
4701 N. Main Street
713.869.1706
In the venerable Heights sits a venerable Houston institution, Spanish Flower. We've been told that this is the restaurant to get real Mexican food. Perhaps we shouldn't have had the fajitas then... The fajitas were dry and tasteless even though we ordered the special $28 version with sausage, shrimp and extra-dry ribs. Going away from the Tex-Mex and towards the real Mexican food, we tried the chile relleno. Yummy! Nice smoky flavor with ground beef nicely seasoned.
I highly recommend this place for the tortillas (hot and fresh), the fruit at the end of the meal, the soup at the beginning of the meal, and the chile relleno. I imagine the combination is downright addictive after a late night partying.
In Lufkin, there's a dive of a restaurant across from a sooty foundry called Unica. It served interior Mexican food at rock bottom prices. More importantly, everything is made fresh and tastes fantastic. Anyone know where I can get a similar experience in Houston?
7 Comments:
Oh yeah! You've hit the holy grail of Mexican food in the Heights.
RE: Fajitas. To parrot your advice to me about eating pho at Mai’s or Kim’s… the Hispanics that are serious about their fajitas will make it at home. For example, this weekend I discovered La Michoacana Meat Market on Telephone Road near Hobby. Here’s their web site with a listing of all their places: http://lamichoacanameatmarket.com/ I picked up two pounds of chicken and beef fajitas for something like $2.50 pound… and it was finger licking good!!! Oh man was it good; perfectly seasoned and not a lot of excess fat.
However, as usual I digress.
The food at Spanish Flower is done in a style similar to the way they prepare food in Monterrey and Tampico. If you want food similar to the stuff you’ll find on the Texas/Mexico border (this is *not* called Tex-Mex), then try any of the Taquerías Arandas places. And if you want to try foods done in the style of Southern Mexico (i.e.: Mexico City) then I’d recommend Las Alamedas on I-10.
However – if you insist of trying Tex-Mex – then go to Ninfa’s (or Mama Ninfa’s). They’re all terrible and terribly bland but, they are an excellent example of true Tex-Mex.
I suspect your “soup” was actually frijoles borracho – which is great hangover food.
Dude… does this post make me look pedantic?
August 14, 2005
Pedantic? If yours is pedantic then my blogs have a freakin' god-complex. Okay, I'll try Las Alamedas.
I have to admit, Mexican food is not my strong suit. My lack of knowledge here is mostly because I dislike Tex-Mex so much--probably because I've had so much bad Tex-Mex.
August 15, 2005
Personally my friend - all Tex-Mex is bad.
An Indian friend of mine feels the same way about the Indian food in America... he says it's all fairly dull compared to the styles prepared back "home". He even mentioned that Chicken Masala is “white people food.”
I suppose many cultures tone down their foods when they travel to new lands. People who run restaurants want to present something as close to authentic without alienating their potential customer base.
August 15, 2005
The soup at Spanish Flowers is actually a vegetable soup that's kind of bland, not borracho beans.
For the best (mexican) Tex Mex in Houston, I hands down recommend The Original Ninfas on Navigation, NOT any of the chain Mama Ninfas. At the Navigation location they have excellent salsas, home made tortillas and yummy fajitas. Having tried just about every mexican place here, this restaurant really stands out.
For an austin style tex mex Chuy's stands out but it's super crowded and parking is always a problem.
Tex Mex is often cheesy and fried, served with refried beans and rice. Mexican food is often grilled and served w/ frijoles a la charra (kinda soupy). For a quickie taco place that's pretty fast and decently authentic, try 100% Taquito off of 59.
May 15, 2006
The best of all and you have to try: real Mexican foods. You have to try the pork stuffed poblanos with a walnut cream sauce. Out of this world.
June 20, 2006
Try the restaurant (real mexican food) Pork stuffed poblanos peppers with walnut cream sauce.
Pico's Restaurant
Mex~Mex
5941 Bellaire Blvd.
Houston, TX 77081
Phone: 713-662-8383
Fax: 713-662-0834
June 20, 2006
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July 12, 2006
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