Joe T. Garcia's
Posted Saturday, April 9, 2011 07:07 PM

Some how everyone with Fort Worth connections can relate to Joe T's.  The place has changed a lot of over time and evolved into something totally different from how it started.  The first time I was there was in '59 or '60.  Then the restaurant was just the old house on the corner.   The south wall was not quite leaning like it has in more recent times. 

We went there with another family that had just moved to Fort Worth from Midland.   You walked up the steps and into what was once a living/dining room with a bunch of tables.   They did not have a printed menu and you sort of had what they served.   When everyone had finished their meal the waiter appeared and counted the dishes, glasses and beer bottles on the table.   Then came some fast math mentally and they told you how much it cost.  Later, when the restaurant grew this practice changed.  I remember that they had expanded some by the time I graduated from Paschal.  

When we moved back to Fort Worth in 1981 Joe T's had arrived.  They had hit the big time.   About the only things that were the same was the shell of the old house, the basic dinner and the huge lines on weekends.   The wait staff was totally preppy type college students.  They had massive margarita machines.   The waiters wore paper hats that said "Eat at Joes".   Now I suspect a lot of people get lost since the place is so huge.  

I had lunch there a couple of years ago.  I was amazed.  They still had good food and excellent service.    So many places don't age well or survive at all, Joe T's still had a lot of magic.