Still Tasty After All These Years

Reviewer: Chris

Original Review Date: 06/21/2006

Rating: +2/+3(Goooood)

We used to go to Ninfa's in its heyday, I think. My memory is vague, but I'd say maybe in the early 90s? Seemed like it was very popular then, but kind of fell off the map in recent years (web searches reveal a rocky history: bankruptcy, buyout, passing of Mama Ninfa). I was actually surprised that the restaurant was still there.

My very gay waiter first brought out hot chips, the thin variety, with two salsas, a green one and a red one. Red salsa is so-so (not bad, but nothing great). Green salsa is good, not sure what's in it, but it's sort of creamy (probably has some avocado?) and not spicy.

I had the cheese enchilada lunch. It's the least expensive of the lunch menu options, at $5.99. That's a decent price, but some of the lunch menu prices seem a bit steep. The enchilada lunch comes with two cheese enchiladas, rice, beans (your choice of charro or refried) and a small salad. The enchiladas are made with red toritllas (like you see in San Antonio tex-mex) and cheddar cheese (instead of Velveeta-like cheese). Very tasty. Rice is yellow and does not have "stuff" in it, like peas or carrots or bits of onion. But very good--moist and flavorful. Refrieds were delicious (how often can you say that at a mexican restaurant?). A very well executed tex-mex platter on all fronts.

The only disappointment came with the bill--99¢ for the side of jalapeños. They were flirting with a +3 rating until I saw that.

I recall from visits to Ninfa's long ago that their soft chicken taco is really good, so will have to try that next time.

Update/Customer Service Warning: Dateline March 2008 Went for dinner one evening, and there is definitely a strange pall over this place. I sensed it at lunch when I went for the above review, but it was very obvious when we went for dinner. The place is very unorganized. We waited for a table for quite a while before leaving. Actually, we waited for a host for a long time. There is a host stand at the front of the restaurant where you obviously wait before being seated. There was a line of people waiting there when we came in. We waited, and waited, and waited, and no host appeared, and the bartender at the bar nearby offered no words of encouragement, nor did any of the other staff that happened to walk by. It was very odd. Finally the host came over from her double duty of assisting the serving of tables, and took our name. We then went and sat at the bar to wait. While waiting, the bartender bussed a nearby table and deposited the stack of dirty plates next to us on the bar. And there it sat the whole time we waited. Finally, after about 20 minutes or so of waiting with no contact from the host or anyone, we just left. The whole experience was very offputting. The place was fairly busy, but not packed. We could see open tables while we waited, but there was no effort to seat us or the other folks waiting. The impression was that the staff was just unorganized and not very up on customer service.

I want to go back for lunch and verify that the food is still tasty. But just beware, you might be in for a less than stellar customer service experience.

It also appears that this Ninfa's is officially divorced from the Houston Ninfas'. Their website now only lists the Houston locations.