New Harris County restaurant opens in the space of a closed local favorite

When Zaira Orejel and her husband signed the lease for their first restaurant last December, they thought it would take only a few months to open. Nearly a year later, they opened Molcajete Mexican Restaurant in the Fortson community of Harris County.

“I was nervous at first because we didn’t know how people were going to react,” Orejel said. “But we’ve been blessed since day one. Harris County has been so supportive.”

Molcajete is in the cabin-style building at 5237 Route 219., where Pat’s Backwaters was a local favorite before it closed two years ago. The new owners, three families including Orejel’s, decided to keep the cozy wood interior while adding their own touch. Splashes of color, Mexican cultural figurines and a mural painted by Orejel brighten the walls.

“We first wanted to call it La Cabaña, because it looks like a cabin,” Orejel said, “but that name was already taken.”

Then Orejel remembered the molcajete, a traditional mortar and pestle often used in Orejel’s home country, Mexico. She thought the name would be the perfect fit for the restaurant.

Before opening the restaurant, Orejel spent two decades working in the food industry while building a career as a hairstylist. Her husband still works at another restaurant part-time, but she hopes he soon can join Molcajete full-time after their liquor license application is approved.

“I told him, once we get the margarita license, you’ll have to quit your job,” Orejel said. “Because we’ve been so busy at night, even though we don’t have alcohol.”

Locals have been flocking to Molcajete try customer favorites like fajitas, chimichangas and quesadillas, which are all made fresh daily. Orejel credits much of the menu’s success to their cook experimenting with new dishes to keep customers coming for new tastes.

But what customers talk about isn’t just the menu.

“Everybody likes the atmosphere,” Orejel said. “They said everybody’s really friendly. They also like the food, but I think the atmosphere is the best thing. We just treat the customer like it’s a family member and not just a customer.”

That philosophy comes from Orejel’s experience with anxiety and the comfort she has found in small acts of kindness.

“If I turn and someone smiles at me, that makes me feel good,” Orejel said. “It makes me feel better than what I was feeling. So that’s what I tell [the employees] all the time: Treat [the customers] the way you like to be treated when you go to a restaurant.”

Opening Molcajete wasn’t easy. The families in the ownership did much of the renovation work to stay within budget. They faced delays as they learned the ins and outs of permits and inspections. What they thought would take three months stretched to nearly a year.

“We were the ones who fixed everything because we didn’t have a budget to pay for someone to fix the restaurant,” Orejel said. “Then all the paperwork, everything that you have to fill out and turn in, and then you have to wait.”

Despite those frustrations, she said with a laugh, “If we can, I’d love to open more restaurants.”

For now, she is focused on building Molcajete into a place that feels as special to customers as Pat’s once did.

“[Customers] have a lot of feelings for Pat’s Backwaters,” Orejel said. “I feel like people like to come here because they like to remember.”

Orejel said the legacy of Pat’s Backwaters has benefited her new business.

“When it was the other restaurant, [customers] felt like this was their home that they could come and enjoy a dinner with their family,” Orejel said. “I feel like, now that we’re here, they feel the same.”

She hopes to maintain that feeling for new customers.

“If they haven’t been here, they should come and try Molcajete,” she said. “They’re going to have a good experience here.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.