Ignacio Anaya

Who was Ignacio Anaya?

Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya was a Mexican restaurateur credited as the inventor of nachos.

Anaya was living in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, USA, and had a restaurant called the El Moderno there, when he invented nachos and served them at the restaurant as "Nachos Especiales". The original form of nachos, as made by Nacho Anaya, included fried tortilla chips topped with melted cheese and jalapeños.

Anaya died at age 81 in 1975. Anaya's son, Ignacio Anaya Jr., lived in Eagle Pass, Texas and gave several interviews about his father, stating that Mamie Finan was the woman who named it Nachos Especiales after being served the snack with several friends. In the early 1990s, a holiday called the International Day of the Nacho was initiated to commemorate the invention of nachos and to celebrate nachos. The International Day of the Nacho is observed chiefly by eating nachos.