‘We’re still here!’: After 46 years, a Fort Worth restaurant struggles in tough times
Yes, Fiesta Mexican Restaurant is open.
The refrigerator is fixed.
Come back, Joe Barriga says.
Fiesta is the same retro Tex-Mex restaurant his family has owned for 46 years.
In a time of restaurant changes, closings and revivals, Fiesta’s faithful customers may have assumed the worst. Maybe it was the dimly lighted parking lot, or the faded “Open” sign, or the locked door on one side.
Ignore all that.
“We’re still here!” Barriga said this week before cooking the $8 and $9 lunch specials himself, keeping the doors open at 3233 Hemphill St., near West Berry Street 1 mile west of Interstate 35W.
“We get a lot of people who say, ‘Oh, we used to come here all the time, but we don’t live in town anymore.’ I tell them to come back.”
It didn’t help that a suburban restaurant with a similar name burned.
And then there was the refrigerator.
A July 10 city health inspection right after the Barrigas’ vacation identified a failing cooler.
It was fixed in two days. But when the list of restaurants failing inspection came out, Fiesta was lumped in with other locations that closed due to pests and critters.
A broken refrigerator is bad. But there weren’t any pests.
Always look up inspections yourself and read the details before passing judgment. They’re under the news story on star-telegram.com.
“People have been crazy,” Barriga said.
You might say he’s bugged.
“One guy came in with a flashlight and said he was looking for bugs,” Barriga said.
“Pest control guys are calling. I show everybody the inspection — there was nothing.”
He’s right.
It’s the latest setback for a family restaurant struggling in a time of high food costs, a shortage of help, and intense Mexican restaurant competition in the Hemphill Street corridor.
Fiesta opened as a traditional Tex-Mex restaurant way back in the years B.F. (Before Fajitas).
It served mainly enchiladas and margaritas. There was a tortilla machine up front.
In 1982, it made the Star-Telegram “Best Nachos” list.
In recent years, the neighborhood has changed and so has the menu. It’s now both a Tex and Mex restaurant.
The incredibly wide-ranging menu includes sizzling molcajete Tejano, gorditas, stews, soups and even liver and onions.
Fiesta serves lunch only Tuesdays through Thursdays, lunch and dinner Fridays, from breakfast through dinner Saturdays and breakfast and lunch Sundays; 817-923-6941, orderfiestamexicanrestaurant.com.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
