The story
Founded by Faustina Porras Martinez in 1918.1
Originally Mike Martinez owned Martinez Café; most of its dishes were American cuisine. It was converted into El Fenix on September 15, 1918. The name was chosen since a phoenix signifies a rebirth. The original restaurant was in Downtown Dallas.
In the 1960s the original restaurant closed. In 1965 the original restaurant re-opened across the street at 1601 McKinney Avenue. In 2008 the Martinez family sold the chain to Firebird Restaurant Group LLC. The Martinez family used the code name Firebird when selling the chain. Firebird president Mike Karns paid the Martinez family over $30 million in cash; this was the family's asking price. At the time the annual sales were $33 million and there were 15 restaurants.
In 2011 there were 20 El Fenix restaurants in Texas. By 2014, the number of El Fenix restaurants had increased to 22 restaurants, and an El Fenix had opened at the WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma. Karnes expected that the annual sales in 2014 would be at least $50 million. That year, Karnes stated that he planned to expand the chain in Oklahoma, East Texas, and West Texas.
In late 2019, parent company Firebird Restaurant Group changed its name to Local Favorite Restaurants.
From Wikipedia’s article on El Fenix (restaurant), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4