The final days: Fort Worth’s oldest Mexican restaurant lost lease, will move July 1

Bud Kennedy
·3 min read
24

The new Original is about to become the only Original.

As of July 1 — barring a last-minute deal — The Original Mexican Eats Cafe will be open only at 1400 N. Main St.

The “old Original” will close June 30, ending a bitter seven-year legal dispute over the 93-year-old location at 4713 Camp Bowie Blvd.

But the new Original is starting to look and feel more like the old Original.

Artwork and banners already drape the dining room and bar. Mementos are coming from Camp Bowie Boulevard to keep the Original’s history.

The new Original took over a Tex-Mex restaurant location with its own history.

A mural facing East Central Avenue marks The Original on North Main Street.
A mural facing East Central Avenue marks The Original on North Main Street.

For 72 years, the space was home to the Falcon family’s El Rancho Grande restaurant, one of four 1930s-’40s legacy restaurants in Fort Worth along with Joe T. García’s and the Mexican Inn Cafes.

When the Falcon family retired, and with the Original’s future on Camp Bowie Boulevard uncertain, the Original owners grabbed up the North Main Street space.

Along the way, they kept El Rancho Grande’s signature thin tortillas and thin, crisp tortilla chips.

The larger upstairs bar at The Original on North Main Street.
The larger upstairs bar at The Original on North Main Street.

The new Original restaurant has been updated and redecorated. The dining room featuring a giant neon “lucha libre” wresting mask, and other artwork and neons will make their way from the old location.

The most noticeable difference from the Camp Bowie Boulevard location is the bar.

The North Main Street location actually has two bars. There’s a small cantina at the entrance, and a larger bar and counter upstairs.

They’re nice, but they don’t have the convivial atmosphere of the old bar, which had a life all its own as a hangout for a sunset margarita or game-watching.

A mascara (a wrestling mask) is a feature in the colorful dining room at The Original on North Main Street.
A mascara (a wrestling mask) is a feature in the colorful dining room at The Original on North Main Street.

The new Original keeps the same menu, featuring chili-covered, retro Tex-Mex and the “Roosevelt Special” combination plate.

The current Roosevelt includes a cheese-and-onion enchilada in chili, a taco and a bean chalupa. But the historic version has a guacamole chalupa.

There’s an optional upgrade with a sunny-side-up egg on top.

The dining room at The Original on North Main Street.
The dining room at The Original on North Main Street.

The restaurant promotes the special as named for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a frequent Fort Worth visitor along with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to son Elliott Roosevelt’s ranch east of today’s Benbrook Lake.

But workers in the 1980s — not long after the special was added — said it was named for Elliott himself, a frequent customer. There is no record of the president visiting the restaurant, although The Original might have catered at the ranch.

Some unusual Original specialties:

The stairway to an upstairs bar at The Original on North Main Street.
The stairway to an upstairs bar at The Original on North Main Street.

▪ “Puffy” tacos, nachos or chalupas.

▪ Spinach enchiladas in green sauce.

▪ Spaghetti with chili.

▪ Crispy tacos fried in the shell.

▪ Tamales with chili.

▪ Simple migas or huevos rancheros, or a cheese enchilada omelet with chili.

▪ A grilled or pan-seared chicken breast with guacamole and pico de gallo.

Kids can substitute french fries or mac-and-cheese for rice-and-beans.

The new Original will be open for lunch and dinner daily except Mondays; 817-761-1890, originalmexcafe.com.

The old Original is open for lunch and dinner through June 30, but most tables the last night are reserved; 817-738-6226.