When was the last time you went to Sylvia’s? No, not your distant relative’s house, but Houston’s favorite place for Tex-Mex dining. It would be enough that Sylvia Casares is the titular subject of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen, and enough to simply and appropriately applause her superior skills as a chef, to call her the Queen of Tex-Mex. Her accolades precede her—and so do her amazing enchiladas. Rachel Ray even calls her food “out of this world!”
Texas Monthly magazine has lauded her has having the “Best enchiladas, best flautas, and best tres leches.” She has been called the “Enchilada Queen” and the “Queen of Tex-Mex Cuisine.” In 2008, she was one of the top 10 best chefs in the USA by Spanish language magazine Siempre Mujer, she was named Best Chef in Houston by H Texas Magazine. Sylvia Casares has transcended status as a Houston staple to become a Houston legend.
From humble beginnings, Casares began as a food scientist for Uncle Ben’s Rice and opened her first restaurant 20 years ago. It was soon clear that her carefully crafted enchilada recipes were a huge hit among both picky and diverse Houston palates alike. She opened a second restaurant that kept customers coming time and time again. But in 2012, her life was turned upside down when her then-boyfriend shot her in the abdomen.
This year, two years later, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. And Sylvia, the Enchilada Queen, rose out of the ashes of this horrific event to open her third restaurant in the Energy Corridor just last month to much fanfare.
Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen has and will always be a testament to hardworking Houstonians. With all the hallmarks of a self-made woman, Sylvia Casares, with all her talents and strength, is why we Houstonians raise our forks to her and cry: Long Live the Enchilada Queen!
No comments yet.