James Beard Awards 2008: Irma's

Irma's Restaurant 22 N. Chenevert Street, Houston, TX Owner: Irma Galvan If you want to get elected to public office in Houston, you'd better be seen at Irma's, Irma Galvan's downtown Houston breakfast and lunch spot that's become a community gathering place. Among the knick-knacks, kitchy artwork, and memorabilia that plaster the walls, business honchos and blue collar workers sit side-by-side enjoying authentic, high-quality Tex-Mex dishes like breakfast soft tacos and beef and ancho chile gravy, served with Irma's famous fruit-laced lemonade. Irma's Restaurant is featured in the James Beard Foundation's cookbook, James Beard's All-American Eats available at jamesbeard.org/cookbook and wherever books are sold.