Joe B's Olmito Café boasts a loyal clientele

OLMITO — Wink Garza feasted eagerly on his breakfast of chorizo and eggs.

His son George, 25, enjoyed the same dish, while Wink Garza’s wife Linda savored a plate of chilaquiles.

"It tastes like a home cooked meal. It’s not commercial like some of the other people," said Wink Garza, 45, as he ate at Joe B’s Olmito Café at 9196 Palmito in Olmito. He and his family eat at Joe B’s about three times a week, making them a few of the many loyal customers that have made Joe Barguiarena’s dream a success.

"We’ve been open for two years," said Barguiarena, 51. "I’m a people person. I love to cook. I’ve always wanted the American dream of having your own business. And it just kind of fell in my lap to tell you the truth."

Barguiarena was teaching at Lopez High School when the previous owner of the café approached him about purchasing the business.

"Me and my wife and my family used to come to eat breakfast here," he recalled. "The owner was from out of town, he wasn’t a local. And he just approached me and he said, ‘Hey, Joe, do you want to buy the restaurant?’"

He and his wife discussed it and decided to take a chance. They took a big chance; the restaurant doesn’t sit on Expressway 83 or near any other thoroughfare. It lies about four blocks away from the expressway and about one block from a school. Teachers from that school and other local organizations patronize Joe B’s regularly. Plaques on his wall from Los Fresnos CISD, Mrs. Stewart’s fourth-grade class, and the Villarreal State Chess Team thank him for his support.

"I get a lot of community help," Barguiarena said. "I get a lot of help from the schools, from the church. Word of mouth, they send me business, and in return I donate money. Law enforcement does a lot of business with me. It’s incredible. We’re probably – hopefully – in the latter part of a recession, but we have been doing well."

Barguiarena has cooked since his mother taught him as a child. His chile rellenos are very popular (they are Linda Garza’s favorite), as is the Olmito Angus burger. He also gets frequent requests for calabaza con pollo.

"We have a very simple menu," he said. "And the reason we have it very simple is because we don’t want you to waste time flipping pages trying to decide what to eat. The sooner you decide what you want, the faster your plate is going to get to the table. We have a very simple menu and it’s easy. It’s one page."

The café, he said, offers take-out and delivery.

Peach-colored stucco covers the exterior of Joe B’s, and panels of burnt sienna arch over the windows. Inside, mounted deer heads stare across the dining room to a digital mural of a sweeping New Mexico panorama with cacti, yucca, and mounted horsemen herding cattle. A ram’s heavy horns curve back over its head next to an axis deer with palmated antlers rising into the air. They share space with a whitetail deer as they all stare at a 19th-century barber chair upholstered with gold velvet. The chair was loaned by a customer to help decorate the restaurant. The customer claims an outlaw once sat there but doesn’t know whom.

One recent morning, a solitary gentleman near the front door watched TV. A group of four robust men, one wearing a shirt that read "Detention Officer" spoke with a husky energy among themselves. The smell of eggs and bacon spilled from a door where a waitress exited the dining area and then returned with a plate of eggs and bacon. She headed directly toward the end of the dining area where the Garzas sat in a 1950s era green circular booth.

"Everything comes with bacon slices," said Linda Garza, 34, explaining that she had gotten some bacon with her chilaquiles, as had her husband and son with their plates. Their chorizo and eggs came with potatoes and refried beans.

"And good flour tortillas," he said.

"His prices are great," added his wife Linda.

Customers have been happy to help him decorate his place. In a second dining room sits a leather saddle deeply tooled with ornate flowers and leaves. The saddle, which dates from 1938, was once used in Mexican bullfights. A bar made of polished mesquite trunks with the knotty stumps of branches sticking out sit at the other end. While these two are on loan, he himself owns the 1935 Frigidaire refrigerator where he keeps soft drinks cold.

Barguiarena said he could easily accommodate private functions such as wedding anniversaries, birthday parties or business meetings. Anyone wishing to reserve the café should do so two weeks in advance. The café can be reached at (956) 350-8414.