Kosher Food and Drink

As you may have recently seen on social media, a new kosher dining spot is opening in Houston: Mexicano Restaurant. Mexicano is opening up in the spot where Pizza TLV was in the heart of the Jewish community. It is going to be offering a Mexican-Mediterranean fusion menu (meat/fleishigs), under the kosher supervision of HKA.

I had the opportunity to talk with Sarah, who is the director of catering at Mexicano, about this new restaurant. Sarah was formerly the general manager at Genesis. I was a huge fan of that establishment when it was open and kosher. Hearing that she was a driving force with Mexicano already gave me a lot of confidence that Houston is going to get something special.

Mexicano is owned by the same person who owns Rafaello – another favorite spot of mine in Houston. In our conversation, I was a little skeptical initially of the Mexican-Mediterranean fusion concept. I’ve been to a lot of Mediterranean fusion places, and the execution usually leaves something to be desired. Sarah reassured me that Mexicano is taking this seriously, and is Mexican-forward in their menu. We’re going to see fresh tortillas made on site, with Mexican classics like tacos and burritos. Think lots of flame-grilled meats and sauces. Mediterranean dishes will have a Mexican twist – for example, using tortilla instead of laffa. They’re collaborating with a well-known chef in Israel, and the menu will be creative, and not just the same fare as everyone else. I appreciated her discussion of the commonalities of Israeli and Latino food, and that there were natural junction points to create fusion menu items.

Sarah pitched the restaurant to me as a fun, casual spot that kosher and non-kosher diners could equally enjoy. Mexicano is doing a total renovation of the space, and it sounds to me like they’re trying to elevate the experience over and above some of the more “heimish” establishments in the area. They are currently planning on being open until midnight on some days of the week and Saturday night. Given that I’d practically kill for a restaurant to be open until 10PM locally here in the Silver Spring area, this seems amazing to me.

Besides being what (I hope) will be a great spot for some kosher Mexican, Mexicano will bring some additional capabilities to the catering team now that they have a meat kitchen. Sarah was justifiably proud of Rafaello providing meals to several international airlines, and the expansion of their corporate catering services will be very positive for the Houston Jewish community.

The soft launch for Mexicano will start on August 10, and last about about two weeks, with an official opening at the end of August. This period will have an expanded menu while they dial in operations, figure out what customers want, and otherwise work out the kinks of starting a new restaurant. I’m supposed to be in Houston during this time frame, so if I do make it out there, I’ll be trying to get over there and give some first hand impressions.

As we concluded our conversation, I asked Sarah, an experienced restauranteur, why she thought the Houston Jewish community was able to punch so far above its weight restaurant-wise. Houston’s growing Jewish community isn’t small by any means, but the quantity and quality of kosher restaurants is outstanding for its size. She opined that it was a combination of factors. First, people moving in from New Jersey and New York have high expectations and a more adventurous approach to dining out. Second, the variety of Houston’s kosher restaurants mean there’s a lot of real style choice at different price points, versus just trying to pick between three pizza places and a couple of pure Mediterranean spots. An example she brought up was Casa opening Dave’s Crunch House, which is a different menu concept at a different price point, bringing more choices to the community, encouraging them to patronize restaurants more in total. (It also has the benefit of making the restaurants more survivable, since there’s not quite as much direct competition.)

In conclusion, it sounds like Mexicano has had a lot of thought put into it, and it’s going to be a great addition to Houston’s kosher restaurants. If you’re in town when they open, give them a try!

(I was also given a little tidbit for the future: Rafaello’s is looking to expand into sushi, with potentially a real omakase offering right at the bar. Awesome!)