HOUSTON — At the early hours of a weekday, Chef Irma Galvan and her employees are hard at work chopping vegetables and preparing the sauces needed for Mexican cuisine.
“We have been busy, terribly busy,” Galvan said, as she spent the morning getting produce in-bulk at a nearby supplier in Houston, Texas.
As Galvan showed Spectrum News 1 around her downtown restaurant, she introduced us to her next door neighbor, Minute Maid Park: the home of the Astros. The Houston Astros have been a dominant team in Major League Baseball for the last five years, making three World Series appearances, including their first franchise championship in 2017.
“Who would think that the stadium would be built there,” Galvan said.
The transformed and thriving area around the stadium was a much different story 32 years ago, when Galvan first purchased this downtown property and opened Irma’s Original.
She says their part of downtown was a ghost town, leaving her decision to start up a restaurant very risky. “You should’ve seen this before the stadium was built,” Galvan noted.
When talks of a baseball stadium started to swirl in the 1990s, Galvan and others in Houston quickly got on board and started advocating for the ballpark to be built in their area.
“We’re there and we’re lobbying for the stadium. And then, all of a sudden, our dream came true,” Galvan.
Since then, the success of the baseball team and Galvan’s restaurant have been tied at the hip. The district has seen major transformation and growth.
It also put Irma’s Original on the map, drawing a loyal customer base and the likes of famous chefs like Guy Fieri, baseball legend Derek Jeter, and even current Astros player Jose Altuve.
Galvan’s staff is made up of her children, friends and other family members. She credits Minute Maid Park and the Houston Astros in-part to much of their success.
“I have a lot of customers, a lot of friends, and of course, the Astros made a difference for us,” Galvan said.
Galvan hopes to see continued success from the Astros, and plans to keep offering her famous Mexican cuisine to the Houston community.