1. Felix Tijerina was a Mexican-American restaurateur, activist, and philanthropist in Houston, Texas.
11 Facts About Felix Tijerina
1. 2.
Felix Tijerina served as the 25th president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
3.
Felix Tijerina taught himself English and became a friend and associate of the owner of the restaurant.
4.
Felix Tijerina became the manager of the restaurant, located in what is downtown Houston.
5.
Felix Tijerina started another restaurant in 1937 in what is the Neartown area of Houston.
6.
In 1956 Felix Tijerina became the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens and served four consecutive annual terms.
7.
Felix Tijerina started LULAC's Little School of the 400 program, intended to teach English to non-English speaking children before they entered school.
8.
Felix Tijerina's 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.
9.
Felix Tijerina's Americanized version of Mexican cooking was what brought the races together.
10.
The last Felix Tijerina's restaurant, located in Montrose, closed in 2008.
11.
Walsh compared Felix Tijerina's food to "scratchy recordings of the Delta blues", as in it was an illustration of the history of an evolving cuisine.