Felix's closing
Dave Garrett
I haven't been to Felix's in quite a while, but I guess it's now or
never for those who want a last plate of enchiladas. With Leo's gone as
well, are there any other Tex-Mex restaurants left in town that date
back to the 1950s besides Mexicatessen?
Dave
Chris Pando
wrote:
Molinas goes back to the late forties.
While the food at Molina's is less than stellar, it is classic
Tex-Mex, and I've always loved their salsa. Vinegary.
Last time I was in Molina's, the hot sauce was absolutely
generic. I asked the waiter when they'd changed the recipe,
and he claimed it was the same salsa they've always served.
I haven't been back since, because I'm scared I'll ruin the
memory of how that sauce tasted.
OT: For those with a slow Sunday afternoon, there is a blues jam/
Red Cross benefit at the Big EaSy this afternoon. You don't get
too many opportunities to see Texas Johnny Brown and Earl Gilliam
on the same stage. There will be smoking.
Chris
--
ch...@pando.org | Mama killed a chicken
www.pando.org | Thought it was a duck
| served it on the table
| with its legs stickin' up
kerr
> back to the 1950s besides Mexicatessen?
>
> Dave
I'm not sure, but I bet Loma Linda on Telephone Rd is that old.
Kerr.
Jack Tyler
"Dave Garrett" <da...@compassnet.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c663b4d5...@207.14.113.17...
I can't remember the date, but they have announced that they will close in
February forever.
>
Jack Tyler
"kerr" <rke...@houston.rr.kom> wrote in message
news:CS4Ld.81284$_56....@fe2.texas.rr.com...
For those not familiar with Felix Tijerina as a Houstonian, rather than
merely a restaurateur, being a Mexican-American in Houston in the last 50
years was ALL about the efforts of Felix Tijerina
Jack Tyler
www.HoustonRestaurantBiz.com
See below:
TIJERINA, FELIX (1905-1965). Felix Tijerina, restaurateur, civic leader, and
philanthropist, was born in Sugar Land, Texas, in 1905, one of four children
of Rafael and Dionicia Tijerina, who were migrant farmworkers. Rafael
Tijerina died when his son was eight, and Felix spent the next five years
working in the South Texas cottonfields to support his mother and three
sisters. At age thirteen he moved to Houston, where he found a job as a
busboy at the Original Mexican Restaurant for nine dollars a week. He
remained there for the next several years, learned the trade, and worked in
various capacities. In 1928 he opened his first restaurant, the Mexican Inn,
on Main Street, which he operated with Antonio Reynaga. In 1933 Tijerina
married Juanita (Janie) González, and the couple shared their home with his
mother and three sisters. The restaurant went out of business in 1935. For
the next two years the Tijerinas earned their income in sales work; in 1937
they opened Felix's Mexican Restaurant, on Westheimer. By the early 1950s
they owned and operated four restaurants in Houston and the surrounding
area. Tijerina was one of the founders of the Latin American Club of Harris
County, which registered Mexican-American voters and tried to educate their
community on political rights and responsibilities. In 1935 LAC merged with
the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizensqv to form
LULAC Council 60, one of the largest and most active LULAC chapters in the
state. Tijerina served as both vice president and president of the Houston
chapter and later as regional governor. He was also elected president of the
national organization for four terms, from 1956 to 1960.
Under his leadership LULAC sponsored the Little Schools of the 400, a
preschool instruction program that later became the model for the federal
Head Start program. Concerned about the high failure and dropout rates among
Spanish-speaking children in elementary schools, Tijerina studied the
problem and concluded that the lack of English skills prevented the children
from passing and ultimately forced them to drop out of school. If they were
taught English before they entered the first grade, however, their chances
for succeeding would improve. Tijerina met with state leaders, including
Governor Price Daniel,qv to discuss the problem. A pilot educational program
was proposed but not funded. LULAC also failed to come up with the money,
and Tijerina provided it. The pilot educational program was established
during the summer of 1957 in Ganado, Texas. A local seventeen-year-old
student, Isabel Verver, volunteered to teach the children, and Tijerina paid
her twenty-five dollars a week. Elizabeth Burrus, a teacher from Baytown,
designed the curriculum. Classes were held for a few hours every day for
three months. The children were taught 400 simple, basic English words. They
were also introduced to the cultural traditions of schools, which later
helped them adjust to their new environment. All the children in the pilot
program successfully passed the first grade; before this, up to eighty
percent of Spanish-speaking children failed their first year. The next
summer the program was expanded to nine cities, and by this date LULAC had
assumed responsibility for coordinating the program through the LULAC
Educational Fund. Impressed by the program's success, Governor Daniel
appointed Tijerina to the twenty-four-member Hale-Aiken Committee, which
made recommendations on revising the state's education laws. The committee
recommended the adoption of the Little Schools project, and in May 1959 the
legislature passed a bill that established a state-financed preschool
instruction program for Hispanic children. State funding was to be used
solely for education, not promotion, so LULAC assumed responsibility for
publicizing the program. With some corporate funding, the organization
published posters and leaflets to circulate around the state, and advertised
in newspapers and on radio and television. They enlisted the aid of the Boy
Scouts in distributing informational material. LULAC also hired supervisors
throughout the state to estimate the number of eligible children in a
district and to work with school superintendents to set up programs and
apply for state funds. By June 1, 1960, 614 schools were teaching 15,805
Spanish-speaking children. The program continued to grow in importance until
the mid-1960s, when federal programs superseded it.
In 1954 Tijerina traveled to Mexico to persuade Mexican film star Cantinflas
to appear at a Houston benefit; on his return immigration authorities
arrested him for not having the proper documentation. The arrest came at a
time when he was being considered to serve on the Houston Grand Jury.
Tijerina filed a lawsuit for declaratory judgment that he was a native-born
citizen of the United States, and in 1956 United States district judge Joe
Ingraham ruled in his favor. Tijerina served as a mess sergeant at Ellington
Air Force Base (see ELLINGTON FIELD) during World War II.qv He was an
officer and director of Security Savings Association and a director of the
Central National Bank. He served as president of the Club Cultural
Recreativo México Bello,qv and was a member of the Houston Rotary, Optimist,
and Variety clubs. For seven years he served as chairman of the
Latin-American citizens' committee to study juvenile delinquency. In 1962
the Mexican government awarded him a gold medal for his Little Schools
program. At the time of his death he was chairman of the Houston Housing
Authority. Tijerina died at his home in Houston on September 4, 1965, of
heart disease. He was survived by his wife and their two adopted children.
He owned seven restaurants in Houston, Pasadena, and Beaumont. When asked
for advice on how to succeed in the United States, his usual response was:
"Work hard, help yourself, help others, be a good citizen, take an active
part in community affairs, and attend a church of your choice regularly." A
Tijerina Foundation Scholarship was established in his memory.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Club Cultural Recreativo México Bello Collection, Houston
Metropolitan Research Collection, Houston Public Library. Houston Post,
September 5, 1965. The League of United Latin American Citizens: Golden
Years, 1929-1979 (n.p.: LULAC, n.d). Guadalupe San Miguel, Jr., "Let All of
Them Take Heed": Mexican Americans and the Campaign for Educational Equality
in Texas (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1987). Felix Tijerina
Collection, Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.
Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
María-Cristina García
George Kerby
On 1/30/05 12:31 AM, in article MPG.1c663b4d5...@207.14.113.17,
"Dave Garrett" <da...@compassnet.com> wrote:
Spanish Village on Almeda Road is a family Tex-Mex. Great margaritas!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
<><><><><><><> The Worlds Uncensored News Source <><><><><><><><>
Gene
Please provide proper credits when posting such useful information to us.
Many others probably don't even know this site exsists.....God Bless Texas!
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online
"Jack Tyler" <marketingREMOVE_THISpro@houstonREMOVE_THIS.rr.com> wrote in
message news:h07Ld.87456$Ta2....@fe2.texas.rr.com...
Jack Tyler
"Gene" <usrifle...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:UC7Ld.9002$V51....@fe1.texas.rr.com...
> http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/TT/fti8.html
>
> Please provide proper credits when posting such useful information to us.
> Many others probably don't even know this site exsists.....God Bless
> Texas!
>
> http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online
>
I provided far more than I thought there would be any interest in. I have
spent many hours in the Houston Public Library Archives researching him and
going through photographs of him and his family. While I was interested in
him as a citizen of Houston and major player in the history of
Mexican-Americans in Houston, most have indicated only interest in
authenticity of his culinary offerings. The first Mexican to visit Houston
was in 1836, as a prisoner from the Battle of San Jacinto. No
Mexican-American since that battle has had such a profound effect upon the
well-being of those who followed than Tijerina.
I guess I lost my grasp on what was "proper" again.
Jack Tyler
www.HoustonRestaurantBiz.com
Julia Dream
>
> http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online
I *love* that site, and have accessed it many times over the years.
Becky
vonroach
wrote:
>I haven't seen any mention of this here yet:
Yes, Larry Pico's Spanish Garden on Almeda may still be around. Last
Concert is open but can't vouch for continuity. Felix's goes back to
30's. Felix A. was a good influence on the Latino community in Houston
for many years before it was popular. My hat is off to him.
tvw...@ev1.net
sure before that. Monterrey House has been around a long time also
though it's not quite the same thing now.