Sadly, past experience taught us that the “last days” at restaurants, breweries and the like often mean stocks and supplies run low, and we both hoped for our favorite orders, as well as the hot food on hotter plates, and fast, friendly service Herrera’s are known for.
Having slipped into a booth or chair in at least a dozen Herrera’s locations over the past 25 years, I clearly consider myself a bit of a Herrera’s aficionado. And we were only mildly disappointed with our last meal’s substitutions — unlike one young man at the table next to us who sent back a plate after the kitchen substituted his protein of choice.
While a trio of restaurants still cook up Amelia Herrera’s recipes, many considered the Sylvan location, whose owners had previously hopscotched Maple Avenue in three locations, to be the closest with ties to the “original” Herrera’s first opened by Amelia Herrera. Others see a connection to the Denton Drive location she also opened, and the current spot in Addison.
Amelia originally opened the nine-table Tex-Mex institution in 1971 on Maple Avenue in the cozy hole-in-the-wall now housing The Grapevine Bar. Famously featured and photographed in National Geographic in 1984 with a gathering out front of eager diners, the national press only added to that original Herrera’s popularity, eventually leading to seven Herrera’s restaurants open at once. In total, in the 51 years since the first, 17 restaurant locations' signage and menus carried the family name.
Today, Herrera's recipes seem written into the family’s DNA as her children, grandchildren and extended family carry on the call of the family business that seems almost impossible to ignore. Even with the Sylvan location closed, three other Herrera's continue the tradition. The southernmost and now oldest location, Herrera’s Oak Cliff on West Illinois Avenue, was opened by Jimmy Herrera, Amelia's son, in 1983; Café Herrera at Restaurants on Lamar (housed at and operated by the Omni) is an upscale version that opened in 2016; and the Herrera’s Tex-Mex location on Beltline Road in Addison, which opened in 2019.
Gil Bonifaz runs the Addison location, and he was instrumental in opening the Omni location.
“When [Ameila] passed in January of 1998, her goal was to leave a restaurant to each of her kids, Maple to Mary Ontiveros, Larry’s mom, Denton Drive to Becky Marquez, Oak Cliff to Jimmy Herrera and Carrolton to Mike Herrera,” Bonifaz says.
Amelia Herrera’s grandson, Larry Ontiveros, along with his wife, Nora Ontiveros, and family ran the second and third Maple locations and then the final spot on Sylvan. Nora, who often greeted guests at the host stand, as she did on Friday’s busy lunch rush, told The Dallas Morning News high food costs and worker shortages since the pandemic steered the decision to shutter the location.
When our family arrived at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the scene at the restaurant was already chaotic and crowded as hungry, hopeful diners from all over North Texas descended upon the restaurant for a final meal.
The packed lot of compact parking spots was brimming with trucks, SUVs and sedans, as were both sides of the streets.
The line for a table started inside and snaked out onto the patio. A server in a black Herrera’s T-shirt announced, “Anyone wanting to sit on the patio can grab a table.”
At the host stand, another employee said because of the wait, people still needed to sign in. But it was too late, the line of about a dozen people jumped at the offer and darted to find available tables. Once settled on the patio, I went inside to ask Nora if it was all right to take a table. “Of course, I remember you,” Nora said with a pat on my arm and a smile. Living a block behind the Maple Avenue location for years was a siren call and on Friday it apparently paid off.
Thankfully, the tortilla chips and peppery hot sauce landed at the table as fast as always, and our server quickly took our drink order while informing us, “We’re out of chicken now.” Mentioning that “anything with beef” was still available. “Even the No. 20?” I asked. “Yes,” she said.
The margaritas, too, arrived just as fast as the chips and hot sauce. The iced tea was brewed as strong as ever. Our server asked if we were ready to order. We got a No. 13B, two beef enchiladas slathered in sour cream sauce with a side of rice and beans and a No. 2A for our 3-year-old, which includes one cheese enchilada, a tamale and crispy beef taco with rice and beans. And at last, a No. 20: three beef (tender guiso slow-cooked for at least three hours) burritos smothered in sour cream sauce topped with cheese and jalapeños.
Within a few minutes, our server brought out the crispy beef taco and then she brought a second one, on the house, because the kitchen put another one up for our table.
Clearly, the kitchen was slammed.
Then, she came back to inform me that they were out of the tender guiso for my No. 20, asking if their seasoned ground beef was an acceptable substitute.
“Sure,” I said, begrudgingly. We were primarily there for the sour cream sauce anyway. A table next to us bluntly sent back a plate when the server brought it out with the guiso substituted.
A chatty gentleman in an Oak Cliff T-shirt who said his daughter had worked there until last week said he hopes an Ontiveros daughter takes the recipes and opens another location soon. “At least we still have the one in Oak Cliff,” he says after wolfing down a plate of his go-to order of chilaquiles.
While the Sylvan location has closed, the recipes will hopefully live on as they have for 40 years.
Daniel Rodrigue
Bonifaz also opened a Café Herrera location in Mockingbird Station in early 2013, which was closed by October 2014, as well as a short-lived location on the Square in Denton in 2013-14.
According to Bonifaz, he and his mother, Cynthia Bonifaz, ran the Herrera’s on Denton Drive for 12 years, after Amelia, Bonifaz's great grandmother, opened the restaurant in 1981. We reached out to Bonifaz on Saturday for some history and his thoughts.
“My mom and my grandma, Becky, waited tables at the original in 1971,” Bonifaz says. When asked about the origins of the recipes, he says, “The recipes were all in [Amelia’s] head at first, and then she wrote them on index cards. She was a home cook, so she was winging it a lot at first.”
He adds that the chefs also had input and influence on her recipes over the years.
“The cook that I have has been with us for nearly 40 years,” Bonifaz says of “Tacho” Garcia. “He’s the most loyal guy you’ll ever meet. … My mom and I joked that he’s a ‘floater’ chef because he floated from restaurant to restaurant.”
“Tacho” started at the Denton Drive location, opened by Amelia, where he learned from one of the original cooks, Pedro DeLira, according to Bonifaz.
“Every Herrera’s is a little bit different,” Bonifaz acknowledges. “But you have the same core menu items, and if people want to argue about which one is best, then that’s great. Come try all of them!”
As we left Dallas Friday, we headed for home with a small bag of chips and hot sauce and our hodgepodge of leftovers, knowing that as sad as that last meal was, this won’t be our last meal with Amelia’s family. We reheated the leftovers as a late breakfast on Saturday, and we plan to head to the Addison location later this week.
