Dallas

Another Milestone for El Fenix

Restaurant celebrates 102 years -- and surviving two pandemics

NBCUniversal, Inc.

The sign out front of the flagship El Fenix restaurant in Uptown Dallas proudly proclaims "We Are Back."  

Still here, after surviving wars, recessions -- and not one, but two pandemics -- the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak the year it opened, and the one we’re in now.  

"I think truly the reason we are standing where we are today it's just our legacy,” said Stephen Chambers, COO of El Fenix.

“We put people first, we've never changed the recipe, our food is made from scratch. We honor every guest that comes in -- that has kept us where we are today," said Chambers.  

Miguel "Mike" Martinez opened El Fenix in Dallas back in 1918.

He chose the --The Phoenix -- to signify turning setbacks into assets.  

Two years ago, at the restaurant's 100th anniversary, we spoke to Mike's son, Alfred, who was then 94 years old.  

"We have customers who have been coming here for years and years and their kids grow up and they grow up and get old and pass away and their kids and family still come here,” Martinez said.

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