Iris Rojas and Anais Paniagua learned this week that their Dominican cuisine restaurant in Irving is serving up some of the best flavors in Texas.
Iris Rojas and Anais Paniagua learned this week that their Dominican cuisine restaurant in Irving is serving up some of the best flavors in Texas.
Iris Rojas and Anais Paniagua learned this week that their Dominican cuisine restaurant in Irving is serving up some of the best flavors in Texas.
IRVING, Texas — Anais Paniagua’s dreams took her from the Dominican Republic to the Bronx in New York to Central Texas and now to Irving. And this week, the American dream she built with her mom Iris Rojas got one very big boost.
“Whoever chose Doña Maria, thank you so much,” Paniagua said at the North MacArthur Blvd restaurant named after a beloved grandmother back in her native country.
This week, the Dominican cuisine restaurant was chosen as a semifinalist for a prestigious James Beard Award in the Texas category for Best Chef.
“No idea,” Paniagua said with a laugh when asked how they were chosen. “I guess somebody came and liked the food obviously. But I have no idea whatsoever how the name came into that room.”
But it’s a room, and a dream, they crafted for themselves. Paniagua was 10-years-old when her mother brought her and an older sister to the United States from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
They originally settled in the Bronx. But a teenage Paniagua wanted something more. So, she became a U.S. citizen and joined the U.S. Army, serving in Kentucky, in Korea, and finally in Killeen. After her seven years of service, she and her mom started creating Dominican dishes in their home kitchen. It became so popular they opened their first restaurant in Killeen.
“The military taught me so much,” she said. “How to be resilient, how to make plans, how to adjust when things don’t go your way. So I’m grateful for everything I learned in the military to be honest to you. It was one of the best things I could ever do.”
Three years ago, they brought Doña Maria to Irving. As with any restaurant, there have been ups and downs, financial challenges and more. But their restaurant, complete with an outdoor patio, TV screens that offer breathtaking images of their former Caribbean home and a menu that would make the original Doña Maria proud, they are finding steady success.
“Everybody started calling my mom Doña Maria,” laughed Anais. “So even though it’s not her actual name she is Doña Maria now.”
“I am very happy, very happy,” Iris Rojas said of the continued success and James Beard Award recognition.
And happy that they get to spread this message too. It’s in neon in Spanish and Dominican slang on the dining room wall. “Dios te da to’ lo que tu le pida, Nama’ tiene que cree.” Loosely translated from Matthew in the New Testament it says “God gives you everything you ask him for, you just have to believe.”
“So I feel like there is opportunity for everybody. You just have to dream, believe, and praise God for all he can do,” Anais said.
And armed with some hard-earned recognition, they will do all they can do to keep Doña Maria’s American dream alive
“Yes,” Anais Paniagua said. “It’s an extremely great week.”
Finalists for the 2025 James Beard Awards will be announced on Wednesday, April 2, and winners will be announced at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
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