The Roosevelt Special at the Original in Fort Worth
Commenting on the Palmetto Inn's Number #10 Dinner, a plate of cheese enchiladas with chili and queso Jim Sherman wrote: "Needs a sunnyside-up fried egg on top!" That reminded me of another famous Tex-Mex dish--the "Roosevelt Special" at the Original Mexican Eats Café on Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth. That plate combines a fried-to-order chalupa shell topped with beans and cheese, a crispy beef taco, and a cheese enchilada in chili con carne topped with two sunnyside-up fried eggs.
The Original Mexican Eats Cafe was opened by the Pineda family of Waco in 1926. The murals on the walls, the tin ceiling and some of the decorations at restaurant go back more than fifty years--and so do some of the employees. The Roosevelt Special got its name in 1937 when FDR stopped by the restaurant and ordered this odd combination. The restaurant was favorite of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's son Elliott who lived in Fort Worth in the 1930s.
-Robb Walsh
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