Second acts can redefine a family.

Hazem and Mack sit with Houston native and El Tiempo Cantina Executive Chef and President Domenic Laurenzo, grandson of Mama Ninfa, to trace how a Tex‑Mex legacy, bankruptcy, and a detour into professional golf led to building El Tiempo, exploring faith, design, risk, and what it takes to lead a thousand‑person restaurant family in Houston today.

Learn more about El Tiempo Cantina here.

To learn more about Integrity Bank, go to itx.bank.

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Key Takeaways

1. Domenic grew up in a multigenerational restaurant family that helped popularize Tex-Mex in booming 1980s Houston, watching his grandmother lead Ninfa’s and greet lines of guests while his father crisscrossed Texas running stores.

2. Before returning to the family business, he pursued professional golf, even running a mini tour sponsored by Ninfa’s, until the restaurant’s bankruptcy forced a hard pivot back home and a move from Tanglewood to the East End.

3. The loss of Ninfa’s through bankruptcy and a perceived hostile takeover left deep resentment, but a small operation called Dom Burger became a crucible for resilience, quality, and a renewed focus on faith and family.

4. El Tiempo Cantina emerged from this rebuilding period, with its name inspired in Monterrey and captured in a poem about welcoming guests into a Mexican house where past, present, and future meet, paired with a deliberate “romantic industrial hacienda” atmosphere.

5. Today Domenic focuses on leading almost a thousand employees, protecting culture while navigating franchising, delivery, and changing consumer behavior, emphasizing human relationships, training, and his father’s mantra to first be a man of God.

Timestamped Overview

00:00 Banking on Integrity intro and restaurant chapter framing

00:31 Hazem introduces Domenic and the interconnected Houston restaurant families

01:38 Early memories of Houston, childhood freedom, and neighborhood moves

03:10 Grandmother’s opening of Ninfa’s locations and Tanglewood upbringing

05:18 How Ninfa’s helped make Tex-Mex mainstream comfort food

06:30 Watching his grandmother work the floor and build a beloved brand

07:57 Stories of her travels, blessings, and public recognition

08:38 Discovering golf, becoming a four year letterman, and turning pro

09:27 Running the Ninfa’s Texas golf tour and life on the mini tour circuit

10:26 News of Ninfa’s bankruptcy and sudden return to the East End

12:30 Reflections on his father’s work ethic, depression, and family fears

13:55 Launching Dom Burger and rebuilding during a two year revival period

15:12 Resentment over the bankruptcy outcome and non-compete constraints

17:54 Opening El Tiempo, the Canal Street phase, and defining “pura calidad”

21:29 Searching Houston for a new site and finding the Richmond location

22:50 Trip to Monterrey and the moment the El Tiempo name was born

24:12 Antonio’s poem about time, home, and carrying the past forward

25:33 Hazem’s reflections on El Tiempo’s dining room feel and time slowing down

26:15 Domenic’s design role and coining “romantic industrial hacienda”

27:45 Atmosphere versus food and why both matter in great restaurants

28:07 Mack on margaritas, memorable nights, and guest experience

28:45 Hazem asks about the future, Galveston franchising, and the Post location

29:24 Adapting to delivery, training staff, and preparing to succeed his father

31:01 Challenges of franchising, culture transfer, and protecting the brand

33:08 Closing appreciation for the family’s contribution to Houston and final thanks