Felix Tijerina

Felix Tijerina (1905–1965) was a Mexican-American restaurateur, activist, and philanthropist in Houston, Texas. He served as the 25th president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

History

Tijerina was born in General Escobedo, Nuevo León, Mexico;Kreneck 172. He had claimed to have been born in Sugar Land, Texas.Kreneck 81. In 1918 he became a busboy at the Original Mexican Restaurant, the first Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston. Tijerina taught himself English and became a friend and associate of the owner of the restaurant. Tijerina became the manager of the restaurant, located in what is now downtown Houston.Walsh, Robb. "Combination Plates." Houston Press. 1. Retrieved on November 16, 2009.

Tijerina opened his own restaurant in 1929. In a fashion similar to his mentors, Tijerina described his restaurant's food as authentic, but catered the food to the tastes of white Americans. The Great Depression forced the closure of his first restaurant.Walsh, Robb. "Combination Plates." Houston Press. 2. Retrieved on November 16, 2009. Tijerina became a beer truck driver. His wife, Janie, gambled on a horse and won, allowing the family to start the restaurant a second time.Staff. "Restaurateur Janie Tijerina dies at age 88." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday March 4, 1997. A19. Retrieved on January 13, 2011. Tijerina started another restaurant in 1937 in what is now the Neartown area of Houston. Tijerina opened other restaurants in other locations. In addition Tijerina became prominent in Houston politics. He became friends with many politicians, including Lewis Wesley Cutrer, Roy Hofheinz, and R.E. "Bob" Smith, and was the first Mexican American to serve on the board of the Houston Housing Authority. In 1956 Tijerina became the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and served four consecutive annual terms. He started LULAC's Little School of the 400 program, intended to teach English to non-English speaking children before they entered school.

Robb Walsh of the Houston Press said that "Tijerina's story is a study in assimilation. His mission was to help Mexican-Americans merge into the American mainstream as successfully as he had" and that "Early Mexican restaurants like Felix's were among the first institutions where urban Anglos and Hispanics rubbed elbows. Tijerina's Americanized version of Mexican cooking was what brought the races together. And it was a triumph of diplomacy." Walsh added that Tijerina's style of cooking "was not about bringing authentic Mexican flavors to Texas; it was about putting Anglos at ease with things Mexican." Walsh stated that "His floury chili gravy and fluffy chili con queso were not far from brown gravy and cheese dip, and the spicing of his sauces was nonconfrontational to the delicate Anglo palate."

Tijerina did not support civil rights for African Americans or allying with black civil rights groups like the NAACP, despite having mutual interests against school segregation in Texas. When some fellow Mexican-American colleagues in LULAC suggested working with the NAACP, Tijerina reprimanded them, saying “Let the Negro fight his own battles. His problems are not mine. I don't want to ally with him.”

Tijerina died in 1965. Janie took over the operations of the restaurant chain, Felix Mexican Restaurants. In 1971 the chain had six restaurants in Houston and one in Beaumont.Gonzales, J.R. "Felix Mexican Restaurant ." Houston Chronicle. April 9, 2010. Retrieved on January 13, 2011. The last Felix's restaurant, located in Montrose, closed in 2008.Walsh, Robb. "Felix Mexican Restaurant Closes After 60 Years in Business ." Houston Press. Friday March 21, 2008. Retrieved on November 26, 2009. After the closure, Scott Sullivan, an owner of the El Patio Mexican Restaurant chain, reached an agreement with Felix Tijerina Jr. to license Felix's name and recipes, which led to Felix's chile con queso becoming a permanent addition to El Patio's menu.

Walsh compared Felix's food to "scratchy recordings of the Delta blues", as in it was an illustration of the history of an evolving cuisine.Walsh, Robb. Texas Eats: The New Lone Star Heritage Cookbook, with More Than 200 Recipes. Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale, 6 March 2012. , 9781607741138. p. 119.

Legacy Felix Tijerina Elementary School, a Houston Independent School District campus which opened in 1979 to serve the Central Park community, was named after Tijerina."About Tijerina ." Felix Tijerina Elementary School. Retrieved on November 16, 2009.

Felix Tijerina

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