El Tiempo Cantina is the perfect addition to the Arlington whirlwind of bar food , hot dogs, and soft pretzels that surrounding stadiums offer. The restaurant, located at 1000 Ballpark Way in Arlington, is known for its secret recipe margaritas, original fajitas, and homemade tortillas.
“Quality, that’s all we do,” said Rafael Hernandez, El Tiempo’s executive revenue officer. “You walk into our kitchens and we make everything from scratch, every single little thing.”
El Tiempo Cantina in Arlington at Choctaw Stadium is decorated like a rustic Mexican cantina with saltillo tiles and vibrant colors. Ella Gonzales/egonzales@star-telegram.com
The El Tiempo vibe
Their cantina locations all carry a rustic Mexican casita vibe. The floors are decked with orange saltillo tiles from Mexico, custom teal booths, and, of course, lots of family photos. And every hardwood dining table is made custom by the El Tiempo company.
Ninfa Laurenzo (far right), or Mama Ninfa, is the matriarch of the Laurenzo family, El Tiempo’s owners. She brought outside skirt steak fajita meat to Houston in 1973. Ella Gonzales/egonzales@star-telegram.com
The restaurant originated from “Mama Ninfa, ” otherwise known as Ninfa Laurenzo. She brought fajitas to the states in 1973 in her restaurant called Mama Ninfa’s Tex Mex. Nowadays, her son, Roland Laurenzo has revived the family business into El Tiempo. The first of 16, opened in 1998 on Richmond Street in Houston.
Steak fajita nachos are apart of the El Tiempo Cantina, the skirt steak being more tender from its almost month long aging process. Ella Gonzales/egonzales@star-telegram.com
Scratch-made Tex-Mex fare
Their fajita meats are prepared, unlike your normal Tex-Mex restaurant. The marinated chicken is poached at 165 degrees, keeping it juicy and moist. For their steak, the unique outside fajita skirt steak is aged 21 to 28 days, giving it its tenderness. They also grill their meats over mesquite wood. When serving their fajitas, they serve on an anafre, also known as a portable oven, to keep the plate piping hot.
Customers can see into El Tiempo Cantina’s kitchen where they make their homemade flour and corn tortillas. Ella Gonzales/egonzales@star-telegram.com
You can see all corn and flour tortillas being prepared from scratch. Not only do they make the doughin-house, but they also press and cook the tortillas so they are fresh right to your table.
For a beverage, their margaritas are notorious. They even have a marg mixologist who curates recipes for all the stores. The secret recipe is made from 100% natural ingredients. They use a 100% blue agave tequila, a 60% triple sec, and no pre-made mix. Soon, you can purchase 16-ounce take-home bottles of El Tiempo margarita.
El Tiempo’s slogan, Pura Calidad, means pure quality which is what they pride themselves on in their scratch kitchen. Ella Gonzales/egonzales@star-telegram.com
For now, El Tiempo will be open for dinner and lunch. Like other locations, they eventually want to bring brunch to the menu.
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