One of Fort Worth’s oldest restaurants is facing lease dispute, uncertain future
The future of one of Texas’ oldest cafes is uncertain pending a state district court decision in a lease dispute over the 92-year-old Original Mexican Restaurant.
The Original remains open at 4713 Camp Bowie Blvd. Negotiations continue for that location, according to Fort Worth attorney Anthony R. Cuesta, who represents property owner Joe Frank Muzquiz.
The years-old dispute between Muzquiz and The Original owner, Robert L. Self, was heard in an El Paso state appeals court and was returned for a future hearing in Tarrant County, according to records.
The dispute is over the current lease, signed in 2003 by the late Leticia Grimaldo, owner of the small strip shopping center in the Arlington Heights neighborhood.
In 2021, the 8th Texas Court of Appeals in El Paso ruled that the lease is not “perpetual” and can end.
Self, owner of The Original since 1999, declined to comment.
The restaurant is nationally known for chili-covered, retro Tex-Mex and its “Roosevelt Special” platter, named for presidential son Elliott Roosevelt, a frequent diner in the 1930s when he lived near Benbrook.
Based on Star-Telegram archives and census records, founders Lola San Miguel Piñeda from Múzquiz, Mexico, and her husband, former Spanish soldier Gerónimo Piñeda of Barcelona, moved here via Laredo and Waco and opened The Original in 1930.
In a 1932 clipping, Piñeda described the combination “No. 1” plate: “tacos, Mexican rice, chile con queso, Spanish salad, toasted tortillas, Mexican candy [a praline] and a bottle of ice cold Pearl beer” — 50 cents.
Last year, The Original opened a second location at 1400 N. Main St.
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
