Some people like those conveyor-belt tortilla machines because of the wow factor involved. But there’s no way that machine made tortillas can taste like handmade, and when you go to Lupita’s Mexican Restaurant you’ll immediately taste the difference.
The flour and corn tortillas are individually hand-made at Lupita’s, where Lupe Garcia and her family have been quietly churning out honest-to-goodness, quality Tex-Mex cuisine in the area for the last eight years. Garcia, who started her career in the restaurant industry first as a server, and then for 21 years as head of the kitchen at the original Lupe Tortilla, realized her dream to be her own boss eight years ago, when she and her husband Jaime Garcia opened up their restaurant on Hwy 6 in Sugar Land, TX.
The restaurant is truly a family restaurant in every sense of the word. Mama Lupe works in the kitchen six days a week, where she and her kitchen staff prepare everything fresh daily, in batches. This means that separate batches of fresh meat, beans, tortillas, salsa, and accompaniments are made for the lunch, and the process starts over again for evening service. They don’t use frozen product, and that’s just part of the reason why the food tastes so good.
The other part is the hard-work put in by the Garcia family to ensure consistency of the food, and the family recipes that Garcia uses in her kitchen. “They’re all my recipes,” she says proudly, as she names her most popular dishes. “Everybody loves my fajitas,” she says, “and my Chile Rellenos – you have to taste them, too.”
Decorated with hundreds of hanging pinatas that her husband brought back from Mexico, the ambience is low-key and family-friendly, with just a couple of TV’s playing in the background to offset the sound of sizzling fajitas as they are delivered to each table.
The beef fajitas here are my favorite, the meat tender, well-seasoned, and bursting with flavor. Served in the old-school Tex-Mex fashion on top of a bed of caramelized onions, and combined with hand-made flour tortillas, the fajitas are quite simply delicious. The charro beans, stewed for hours to get that thick gravy consistency, are served to every customer with the chips and salsa, and are some of the best I've ever had, smoky and resonant with the flavor of bacon. Chile rellenos, covered in melted cheese and made with an egg-type omelette center, are a favorite with my friends of Mexican descent. Personally, I have yet to find a Tex-Mex restaurant that beats what Lupita’s can offer in value and quality.
Value-wise, the prices are extremely reasonable – most dishes fall in the less than $10 range, while the signature sizzling fajitas with all the trimmings are just $14.99 for one. Their margaritas are large, strong and well-priced as well. Regular priced at $5.95, if you go during Happy Hour, which happens all day Monday-Wednesday, or Thursday through Saturday from 4-7pm, that price drops to just $3.50. Domestics are $2 and imported are $2.50 during Happy Hour as well.
Two can eat can easily eat for under $30 and go home stuffed, with leftovers for the next day.
Another great thing about Lupita’s is that by eating at their restaurant, you are helping them support needy children in Mexico. Even before they opened their restaurant, Jaime Garcia had been going back to his hometown in Mexico every year, bringing toys to distribute to low-income and needy children. Lupita's sets aside a portion of their profits to fund his efforts, and has an entire wall dedicated to pictures of smiling children holding toys. “Many of our regulars donate things for us to bring back too,” Garcia says with pride. “We try our best to do what we can.”
So there you have it. Fresh, tasty, Tex-Mex made by Mama Lupe herself, reasonable prices, a family friendly environment, and the ability to contribute indirectly to charity efforts for children: that’s what you get when you dine at Lupita’s.
To see my Fox 26 on-location interview with Lupe Garcia, and to see some kitchen action, visit www.myfoxhouston.com.
For more info: Lupita's Mexican Restaurant, 3121 Texas 6, Sugar Land, TX. Tel: (281) 265-6556
Mai Pham covers Restaurants and Fine Dining for Examiner.com. Click on the subscribe link above to stay up to date with news and events about food in Houston. You can read previous stories here. Pham is also featured on Fox 26 news every other Friday evening at 9pm, where she dishes about food and restaurants in the Houston scene.You can also follow her on Twitter.
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