Old friends and an old restaurant

What if I told you I was going to take you to a restaurant the has been in business without changing the menu since 1935—that’s not too far short of a century. One that has only two dinner entrees, covers almost a square city block, doesn’t take credit cards, doesn’t take reservations, has long waits, and seats almost a thousand people? If someone told me that, I think I’d say, “No, thanks,” and head for the nearest chain Mexican restaurant.

Yet as Fort Worthians, that’s often the first place we take out of-town guests. It’s where we flock for graduations, wedding rehearsal dinners, reunions, birthdays, and family occasions of all sorts. It is of course Joe T. Garcia’s.

Back in the late 1930s Jessie and Joe Garcia had a small grocery store where workers from the packinghouses often came to buy lunch fixings. Mama Garcia began to serve them her enchiladas and homemade tortillas, and finally Joe Garcia opened a small restaurant—six tables. Longtime Fort Worth residents will remember when the wait line took you through the kitchen, and it was custom to grab a beer as you went by the refrigerator. Joe T.’s has changed a lot since the early days. The health department long ago quashed that walk through the kitchen. Every year until this year a new patio or room has been added. The patio (really several patios) with lush gardens are a main attraction in good weather, and in winter temporary structures on the patio often accommodate the large crowds. The menu never changes—the family dinner or fajitas (more choices are served at lunch).

What also never changes is the charisma.

We went there tonight as a party of eleven—my family and that of a longtime friend. Our kids knew each other when tiny but long since parted ways. One of Linda’s daughters brought her family back for vacation, and Linda and I decided it would be fun to get the girls together. Joe T.’s is of course the place you go for such reunions, and it didn’t disappoint.

There was reminiscing—Megan remembers going to Linda’s house where the girls got into the makeup, and Molly remembers playing in the driveway at our house. There was getting acquainted—Molly’s two daughters are eleven and fourteen and were forthcoming about their schooling. And it was just a good time to be together—at an old familiar restaurant.