Cleburne Fire Department
One of my earliest childhood memories was going out to eat with my mom and dad. You could say we were foodies long before the term made its way into the mainstream. Almost like a weekly ritual, we would pick a local eatery in the small Johnson County town of Cleburne, where I grew up, to celebrate another week of hard work. Saturday nights were reserved for our favorite place, Jose’s, which would later become La Fiesta in 2000, a year after I left Texas to go to school in New Mexico.
To me, the structure that housed Jose’s at 728 N. Main Street, was and will forever be a place where some of my most beloved memories of going out to eat remain. Jose’s, along with Speedy Gonzales Mexican Restaurant, located on the east side of Cleburne, were two of the best places to get a plate of fajitas and unlimited helpings of chips and salsa. These thoughts, more meanderings, entered my mind when I read the news that the building that helped introduce me to the world of Tex-Mex cuisine burned down in the early morning hours of June 30.
According to a Cleburne fire official as reported by Bud Kennedy, the fire was reported at 1:13 a.m. Although fire investigators are still looking at what might have caused the fire, one thing is for sure, the structure many of us once knew, loved, and frequented with our families and friends is no more.
Originally opened in Granbury in 1970, Jose’s was a Tex-Mex concept created by Jose Vazquez and his family. The Cleburne locale was one of two in Johnson County and one of five in North Texas. I can still remember the restaurant having a small door for kids to enter. Since I was all of 4-years-old when I remember going out to eat there for the first time, I felt like the restaurant was a kid-friendly place that I wanted to visit many times, which I did. The small door in the restaurant’s entryway was eventually filled in, but what lasted was this restaurant’s authentic Tex-Mex atmosphere and delicious food. Floor-to-ceiling windows exposed a beautiful garden setting located in the back of the restaurant, a scene diners could enjoy before being treated to a sizzling plate of fajitas.
Until the fire, Virginia and Hector Alcaraz operated La Fiesta, another well-known Tex-Mex eatery once located across the street from the abandoned Johnson County Memorial Hospital at 1600 North Main in Cleburne. However, since 2000, La Fiesta moved into the old Jose’s location, which seemed a good fit since both restaurants served almost the same style of food.
Since the fire, the Alcaraz family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with personal expenses, according to Edicia Avalos, whose family owns the building.
Avalos further verified that the current operators of La Fiesta only manage and operate the business, after her father’s retirement a few years ago. She clarified that any money donated to the GoFundMe will not go to the actual owner or any expenses for rebuilding.
“Our family is devastated at the loss, as that building holds so many memories,” Avalos writes. “We are so thankful to the community for choosing to eat at La Fiesta year after year, and although we do not know what the future holds, we know that God always has a plan.”
