LEGACY RESTAURANTS IN HOUSTON TEXAS REFRESHES THE ORIGINAL NINFA'S ON NAVIGATION WITH A NEW PATIO AND MENU ITEMS WHILE PRESERVING THE TEX MEX ICON'S LEGENDARY SOUL

HOUSTON, TX– October, 2008 – The Original Ninfa's on Navigation – where fajitas famously made their North American debut over three decades ago– has been a beloved Houston landmark since it opened 1973. Now a centerpiece of Houston-based investor Niel Morgan's Legacy Restaurants, the venerable Mecca of Tex Mex is undergoing its first ever "facelift" and renovation. Coming off the best sales year in its history, the restaurant – independently owned and operated for the first time since the early 70's when "Mama" Ninfa Laurenzo herself was in the kitchen – is building a fabulous outdoor patio dining area for the spring season. Legacy is also improving restroom and parking facilities.

New landscaping will include a working farm providing the restaurant with fresh, unique produce.

In order to preserve quality and authenticity Legacy Restaurants leadership has in some cases returned to the traditional methods and recipes of Mama Ninfa herself. Special care is being taken to emphasize Ninfa's delicious Tex-Mex menu and experienced service. Most of the legendary kitchen and wait staff – many trained by Mama Ninfa herself – remain on the job as two decades or more of service is not unusual. In fact, many regular patrons have been attended to by the same server for years. That tradition and dedication is part of what makes Ninfa's so special.

At the helm of Ninfa's at Navigation is Legacy Restaurants' corporate chef Alex Padilla, well known for creating and overseeing the kitchens at much-acclaimed Mexican restaurants in San Francisco and San Jose, California. Padilla's goal is to maintain Ninfa's on Navigation's core Tex-Mex menu consisting of traditional favorites like fajitas, quesadillas, soups, salads, enchiladas, and chile con queso, while freshening the experience by adding dishes such as Shrimp and Gulf Red Snapper Ceviche, and crab cakes. New seasonal dishes will include Mexican Spiny Lobster, Rock Lobster, Chile en Nogata, and mole.

"Mama" Ninfa Laurenzo opened Ninfa's on Navigation 35 years ago on the site of her family's old tortilla factory. By the 1980's, Laurenzo's RioStar Corp. operated 9 Ninfa's in Houston, and had expanded to other Texas cities. In 1996, Morgan – an early investor in Café Express and founder of the Houston Press – provided financial backing to Austin-based Serrano's Café and Cantina in their acquisition of the Ninfa's chain. After founding Legacy Restaurants in 2006, Morgan acquired from Serrano's the rights to Ninfa's on Navigation, and all of the real estate owned by the company at the time. While there are 14 other licensed Ninfa's locations including the six still owned by Serrano's, Legacy proudly owns and operates the original store.

ABOUT THE ORIGINAL NINFA'S ON NAVIGATION
Original Ninfa's on Navigation – specializing in classic Tex-Mex since 1973 – is located at 2704 Navigation in Houston's historic 2nd Ward east of downtown. The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner, Sunday – Thursday, 11 AM to 11 PM, Friday and Saturday, 11 AM to 11 PM, except on Thanksgiving and Christmas. For reservations or more information, please call 713-288-1175 or visit the Original Ninfa's on Navigation online at www.ninfas.com

ABOUT LEGACY RESTAURANTS
In 2006, Houston investor Niel Morgan founded Legacy Restaurants to own and operate two local restaurant icons: Original Ninfa's on Navigation and Antone's– a 46-year old Mediterranean market known for its signature po'boys and chow chow relish–with over a hundred grocery outlets throughout Texas. The company has just introduced Antone's Market, a Mediterranean-inspired café with a retail grocery component, in Houston's tony River Oaks neighborhood.

Legacy's primary objective is to revitalize each flagship brand to its original prominence in the highly competitive and demanding Houston market, and to capitalize on their longtime popularity. Legacy then plans to build upon that foundation to launch other restaurants, a number of which are in various stages of development.

Legacy Catering is preparing to launch an upscale private dining room on the cusp of River Oaks that will be the showplace for the catering arm of Legacy Restaurants. With just one table and ten chairs in a Nantucket-style bungalow, the private restaurant will set new standards in creativity and exclusivity with custom-designed chef's dinners that will turn the food community in Houston on its collective palette when it debuts in late spring.

For more information, please go to www.legacyrestaurants.com

October 31, 2008   Posted in: United States South