El Fenix Mexican Restaurants Home of TexMex

El Fenix
TexMex Mexican Restaurants
since 1918
15 locations in
Dallas and Forth Worth, Texas

Imagine a TexMex restaurant so good a city grew up around it. El Fenix is the childhood home of TexMex food. Over 80 years ago, the Martinez Family pioneered what is now known internationally as the Tex-Mex food phenomenon but they also offer many traditional Mexican food dishes that are popular south of the border. Dallas, Texas is the city where El Fenix founder, Miguel Martinez, opened his first restaurant in 1918 when the only Cowboys, Mavericks, and Rangers in town wore chaps, boots and spurs.

Hours:
Vary at Each
Location
Click here to see locations.
Payment:
Major Credit Cards
No Checks Accepted
Gift Certificates
May be purchased at any location, or by calling the corporate office at 972-241-2171.
Take Out
Available at all 15 locations.
Children's Menu
Products Available Online
Salsa, Hot Sauce,
Pralines,
Margarita Mix,
Chips,
T-Shirts,
Ball Caps,
and Pepe,
Your Pepper Pal Beanie Friend.
To order any of our products, click here.
Generations of Texans have enjoyed and still enjoy the good food and pleasant atmosphere, which is being carried forward by the second and third generations of Martinez Family members. El Fenix is the oldest chain of family-owned Tex Mex restaurants in the United States.
Best Mexican Restaurant Chain 1995
Best Margarita 1995
Dallas Morning News-Reader's Poll
Best Mexican Food
Best Margarita
Mesquite News (Scripps Community Newspapers) 1993-1998
Best Salsa 1996
Dallas Observer
Best Mexican Food 1996-1998
SR Texas Magazine
Best Mexican 2002
Best Place For A Cheap Date 2002
Fort Worth, Texas Magazine
 
"The nachos at this 85-year-old Mexican restaurant legend in downtown Dallas are the standard to which we compared the newcomers."
Dallas Morning News
(In an article about taste testing nachos from various restaurants to find the best and the most different.)
Now you can order some of El Fenix' famous picante hot sauce on line as well as margarita mix, pralines, tostada chips, and other goodies. El Fenix salsa is shipped all over the globe and a good way for you to start the El Fenix taste experience. Numerous awards and honorable mentions have been bestowed on El Fenix for excellence in salsa, margaritas, and the "secret recipe" corn chips. And don't forget to come try our famous enchiladas, tortilla soup, and sopapillas when you visit the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. There are 15 locations to serve you including one near Lovefield Airport and one near DFW International Airport. So, if you have a layover and the urge for the best Mexican food around try the Lemmon Avenue location or the one in Grapevine.
"If I recommend a place, it's usually based on consistency - the same taste every time. That's why I suggest El Fenix as a safe bet. I've been eating there since the 1950s, when they were in a rustic little white building on McKinney in an area known (to Anglos, anyway) as Little Mexico. They aren't clever with presentation. The place isn't filled with empty Corona or Carta Blanca beer cases or tricked out to look like an old border cafe; no year-round jalapeņo-shaped Christmas lights. El Fenix isn't trendy, though they were the first to have tortillas handmade on the premises. But 75 years of whippin' chili should qualify as authentic. And I can count on the Saltillo plate tasting just like it did back in 1958." Q  ... D Magazine, August 1996
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