Our readers say Fort Worth’s oldest Tex-Mex restaurant also has the best queso
After we asked Star-Telegram readers to nominate and vote on who has the best queso in Fort Worth, they declared The Original Mexican Eats Cafe as the winner.
Across three rounds of voting and more than 250 votes, the oldest Tex-Mex restaurant in Fort Worth prevailed.
The Original truly is the original.
The first cafe opened in 1930 on 4713 Camp Bowie Blvd. (but claims to be older). A second location at 1400 N Main St., then called Original Del Norte, opened in 2021. However, after being unable to come to an agreement with the landlord at the Camp Bowie location, the restaurant moved all operations to Main Street in 2023.
It is still known as The Original Mexican Eats Cafe. It still serves the same food. It still serves the same margaritas. Most importantly, it still serves Fort Worth’s favorite queso.
What kind of queso can you get at The Original?
The Original has three types of queso: The Original, Ana’s Dip/Ana’s Deluxe Dip and Emilia’s Dip.
The Original queso is exactly how it sounds– plain, yellow queso in a talavera-style bowl. A cup is $6.75 and a bowl is $8.75.
Ana’s Dip is the original queso with seasoned ground beef, a Tex-Mex staple. You can make this an Ana’s Deluxe Dip by adding guac and pico de gallo. A cup is $7.55 ($8.95 for Deluxe) and a bowl is $9.75 ($11.95 for Deluxe).
A bonus on Ana’s Dip is that a bowl is available for $7 Tuesdays to Thursdays from 5 to 6 p.m. Their happy hour also offers $7 margaritas, $7 cheese nachos and a $2 beer of the day (Tecate, Modelo, Corona or Dos Equis Green).
Emilia’s Dip is a white queso with spinach and pico de gallo. A cup is $7.75 and a bowl is $9.95.
The bowl of melted cheese is served with a bottomless bowl of fresh, hot tortilla chips. If you’ve been to The Original, you know how thin, crispy and dangerous their chips are.
Where can you get Fort Worth’s best queso?
Fort Worth’s best queso is available at The Original at 1400 N Main St.
Open Sundays and Tuesday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, they open from 11 a.m to 10 p.m. Closed Monday.
This story was originally published August 25, 2025 at 4:00 AM.