Molina's Cantina

Houston's oldest family owned Tex-Mex kitchen, running since 1941 and now in its third generation. The Berlys Burrito was built for a regular named Jim Berly, fajita beef or chicken smothered in chili con carne. A Tex-Mex institution old enough to have its own house named order.

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The Houston Chronicle calls this the oldest still-operating Tex-Mex restaurant in the city and reports that the chili con carne has been on the menu since the doors opened in 1941. Ricardo Molina, grandson of founder Raul Molina Sr., told the paper the recipe is remarkably uncomplicated: coarse chili-grind beef married to a paste of reconstituted ancho pods, then salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, water and a cracker meal thickener, with no tomatoes and no beans. Order it by the bowl, with crackers, grated cheese and chopped onion.

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