A Tale Of Two Restaurants: Enchiladas Ole' vs. The Original Mexican Eats Cafe

Just sit right back and let me tell you the tale of two #FortWorthTexas Restaurants.

 One, which is the new kid on the block and another, which is indeed the oldest but also performs like a stodgy old blowhard hoping the past will reap benefits for its future.

First,  meet Enchiladas Ole (2418 Forest Park Avenue), a medium-sized Mexican food restaurant serving all of your favorites just down the street from Texas Christian University.  Owner Mary Patino Perez opened the doors here at this location in 2019.

No stranger to traditional Mexican food, Perez has a mantra: "The way I remember making enchiladas with my Mother" 

Perez started out back in 2013 selling complicated, craft enchilada sauces, and customers asked her to open a restaurant.

READ ABOUT THE MOVE HERE

Enchiladas Ole has been voted one of the 10 best Tex-Mex restaurants in Texas in a USA Today poll and also voted to a 10 best queso list.

With its outdoor patio and spacious seating, you'll see a mixture of young and old, sitting enjoying a stout, non-watered down Margarita, crisp chips and salsa with just enough of an attitude to make you crave more.

CHECK OUT THE MENU HERE 

Perez has big plans as well to expand her brand with a new location opening soon in the Alliance corridor and others planned across North Texas. She partnered with an investor who is helping her make her dreams come true.

So, while this virtual new kid on the block is skyrocketing forward with a bright future, this brings us to The Original Mexican Eats Cafe ( 4713 Camp Bowie Blvd).

Sure the place is considered a legend by some as it has been on the Fort Worth landscape since 1926 first opened by the Pineda family.

Known at one time for great food and service over the decades, things changed with new ownership awhile back.

This review posted under a Fort Worth Weekly story about the now-defunct no-name bar is just one of dozens upon dozens of negative reviews online and sums up how a lot of long time customers feel:

And with the current management staff led by Tammy Holt, that attitude prevails, with customers being ignored, cold food, and over-priced drinks now the norm.

As a 20-year-customer it is sad to see a Fort Worth legend stagnate, only keeping its doors open thanks to the cattle call customers in the River Crest Country neighborhood who load in on Sunday's and view it as a "seen and be seen place" as opposed to a serious player in the Mexican food arena.

READ RESTAURANT HEALTH REPORTS

So, this blogger says the choice is clear when it comes to Mexican food in Fort Worth, Enchiladas 'Ole' is defiantly putting the "O" in the word Original when it comes to Mexican eats locally.

#MexicanFoodNearMe76107  #TheOriginalMexicanEatsCafe #EnchalidasOle #MexicanFood. #BestMargaritasNearMe76107 #AwardWinningMexicanFood  #MaryPatinoPerez #RobertLSelf #TammyHolt