Molina’s Cantina is understood for serving up traditionally good Tex-Mex.
Acquainted faces, the scent of Tex-Mex, and the sounds of laughter fill the rooms of Molina’s Cantina. If a Houstonian visited within the Eighties, they may’ve dined subsequent to celebrities or outstanding native households, together with President George H. W. Bush, whose household was such large followers that that they had tamales hand-delivered to the White Home in 1989.
Immediately, regulars like 83-year-old Burch Downman, who has been visiting since he was in a child service, fill the restaurant. Some days, he may be discovered listening to an audiobook whereas having fun with heat tortillas with beans and scorching sauce.
“He’s in regards to the oldest buyer that I bear in mind,” says Raul Molina Jr., now 96 and a former proprietor of Molina’s Cantina.
For greater than 80 years, Molina’s Cantina has been a cornerstone within the Houston restaurant scene. Identify adjustments, financial downturns, and even a world pandemic have solely strengthened its place within the metropolis’s culinary historical past, and the household has no plans of slowing down anytime quickly.
It began in 1929 when Raul Jr.’s father, Raul Molina Sr., moved from Laredo to Houston looking for a greater life. He landed a job as a dishwasher and busboy on the former Outdated Monterrey restaurant. In 1941, he took over as proprietor, teaming up along with his spouse, Mary, and brother-in-law, Jose Sarabia, to buy the restaurant and transfer into the upstairs residence to maintain prices low. Instantly, it was a full household affair.
Whereas the kitchen served up basic chili con carne and Molina’s signature chili cheese enchiladas topped with a fried egg, Raul Sr. waited tables, Mary charmed the shoppers, and Raul Jr. and his brother George washed the dishes. The work paid off, Raul Jr. remembers. That very same 12 months, the phrase “Tex-Mex” coincidentally confirmed up for the primary time in print in Time Journal. Little did the Molinas know that by meting out bean tostadas and chili-covered tamales, they have been serving to outline a delicacies.
The household stored constructing at that restaurant for 2 years, however in 1943, Mary and Raul Molina bought their shares and relocated to South Essential Road, buying a brand new spot known as the Mexico Metropolis Restaurant. With out sufficient funds to alter the signage, they stored the title however nonetheless served their beloved dishes. Whereas Raul Jr. and his brother have been away combating within the Korean Conflict, Raul Sr. and Mary ran the restaurant. After they returned, Raul Jr. remembers an additional candy homecoming: his father made him and his brother companions within the enterprise.
Round this time, the Molina household helped shift the narrative round Tex-Mex. What was as soon as a cold-weather indulgence grew to become a year-round delicacies, Raul Jr. says. In 1944, they have been among the many first households in Houston to put in air con in a restaurant, which drew diners in, even within the summer season warmth.
Lastly, after a decade as “Mexico Metropolis Restaurant,” the Molinas saved sufficient cash to place their private stamp on their institution. They modified the signal to learn “Molina’s Mexico Metropolis Restaurant” and adjusted it once more in 1961; this time, to easily Molina’s Cantina.
The delectable C.W. Particular comes with a taco al carbon and a cheese enchilada.
Over the following 10 years, Molina’s added new dishes that may nonetheless be discovered at its eating places at the moment. There’s the Berlys Burrito, a plate that was born out of a request from longtime buyer Jim Berly. The burrito is loaded with beef or rooster fajita and coated with chili con carne. Others across the Molina’s have impressed dishes, too: The delectable C.W. Particular (taco al carbon, cheese enchilada with all of the fix-ins) is called after a household buddy, Chris Wilson; and the Williams Particular, a hefty portion of tender carne asada with grilled onions and two enchiladas topped with a particular sauce and Chihuahua cheese, is the namesake of a cook dinner who labored with the Molinas for over 40 years.
By the mid-Seventies, Molina’s made historical past once more as the primary institution in Houston to promote frozen margaritas. “It did unbelievable,” Raul Jr. says. Not lengthy after, he totally took over the household enterprise, and fortunately for him, all three of his sons—Raul III, Roberto, and Ricardo—quickly devoted their lives to it, too.
Now, his sons co-own and keep day-to-day operations for Molina’s three places. For Ricardo, now Molina’s president who oversees most of its operations, operating a enterprise that has been handed down a technology is a no brainer. “It’s gotta keep within the household,” Ricardo says, and it has.
Molina’s Cantina has at all times been a full household affair. From left: Ricardo, Raul III, Raul Jr., and Roberto Molina.
To this present day, Raul Jr. nonetheless stops by for his ordinary: cheese enchiladas with an egg on prime to go. “I by no means actually had time for breakfast,” Raul Jr. says. “I used to be at all times on the run [with the restaurants]. That [meal] kind of stayed with me. It’s laborious to interrupt previous habits.”
Nonetheless, the restaurant hasn’t resisted change. “You must, in a way, flow,” Ricardo says. “If you wish to survive, you gotta change with [the times].”
In recent times, the Molinas have tapped into extra fashionable meals tendencies. In 2021, the restaurant launched to-go alcohol gross sales after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and simply this previous month, quesabirria tacos, avenue al pastor tacos, and a miniature margarita flight made their debut on the restaurant’s menu.
Such modern considering has earned Molina’s recognition from Houston and past. In 2011, Houston mayor Annise Parker declared July 1 as “Molina’s Cantina Day,” and in early 2025, the Texas Historic Fee honored Molina’s with the Texas Treasure Enterprise Award, commemorating its legacy and group impression.
For the Molinas, although, the true reward is the individuals. Ricardo says the group’s love and assist are not like anything. Possibly that’s why, he says, Molina’s has been capable of face up to the take a look at of time.
