Crystal Wise
Best Of Winners 2024
Cafecito — Reader Pick: Breakfast / Fide’s — Editor Pick: Dessert
Bookending our daily meals — if you abide by the not-doctor-prescribed notion of three square meals plus a square(ish) dessert — is the Near Southside’s duo of eateries, Cafecito and Fide’s.
Conceivably, one could start their morning munching on a breakfast taco from Cafecito and, 12 hours later, end their day with an acai bowl from Fide’s. And we suspect many a Southside-dwelling Fort Worthian has already done such a thing.
Located inside Eighth Avenue’s Funky Town Food Hall, which is also home to bubble tea franchise, Sharetea, the neighboring spots are the brainchild of mother-daughter-son-in-law trio Yaneth Sanchez, Cinthya Duran, and Adrian Duran.
Cafecito first started slinging pink tortillas (yeah, that’s right, their corn tortillas are pink) out of a food truck parked next to nearby Hotel Revel in December 2022. Only eight months later, the business graduated to brick-and-mortar status and moved a mere 300 feet to the Funky Town Food Hall.
The eatery quickly gained in popularity — they are our reader’s choice for best breakfast, after all — with their pink tortilla breakfast tacos, which include barbacoa, brisket, bean and cheese, chorizo, and your classic potato and egg options becoming the most Instagrammable fare in the city.
Though these pink concoctions might be what’s dominating your feed, one of the menu’s most delectable highlights is the sincronizada, melted cheese and ham between two crispy flour tortillas with an avocado spread and healthy sprinkle of hot sauce.
Crystal Wise
On the opposite end of the meal spectrum is neighboring Fide’s, a kinda sorta healthy dessert shop.
Their small menu is made up of acai bowls and smoothie bowls and drinks, all jammed with fresh fruits, granola, and other healthy toppings. Many are dusted with Mexican spices such as chamoy or tajin that give the bowls a bit more character and kick.
“We wanted to put our own spin on them,” says Cinthya, who worked with her mom on developing the flavors.
Bowls come in flavors such as Sunkissed, made up of mango, pineapple, coconut water, cucumber, tajin, and chamoy; and Summer Love, made with banana, mango, guava juice, peaches, granola, and acai.
You can also mix and match flavors and ingredients to make your own bowl. There are smoothie drinks, too, in which ingredients such as agave, chia seeds, protein powder, spinach, and acai can be blended in.
Duran says Fide’s (pronounced “Fee-Day’s”) was heavily inspired by her grandmother.
“Everyone called her Fide, that was her nickname,” Duran says. “Her home was always full of tropical fruits and fresh flowers, so I took a lot of inspiration from that.”
Opening in March of this year, Fide’s took over the space last occupied by Filipino spot Ober Here.
“We jumped on the space pretty fast after Ober Here closed,” Duran says. “I was pregnant in the middle of all this. Sometimes I’d say, `Why did I do this to myself? Why would I try to open a second restaurant while I’m pregnant?’ It was a very chaotic time. But I’m crazy like that.”
It was, in fact, Duran’s pregnancy that led her to focus on acai bowls.
“I was terribly sick during my first trimester,” she says. “The only thing I could keep down was acai. I felt like I was eating something fresh and healthy. Since there was nothing like it on the Near Southside, we decided we should open an acai bowl place. I figured if I loved it so much, other people would, too.”
