Since last September, the building that housed the Original Mexican Eats Café at 4735 Camp Bowie Boulevard has been undergoing a transformation that has kept its owner, Derek Muzquiz, busy. Today, the building already houses four retail outlets in the same spaces where diners enjoyed Tex-Mex cuisine for nearly a century.

But the legacy of this once-bustling restaurant isn’t the only thing left of the original. Two parking spaces connected to the property where the original once operated are still owned by restaurant owner Robert Self and have been vacant for months.

One of these spaces could now be the new location of a smaller drive-thru version of the legendary Tex-Mex restaurant.

For those of you who may not know the story, the Original Mexican Eats Café was one of the oldest restaurants in Fort Worth; try that for over 90 years. However, after a lengthy legal battle between Self, the tenant, and Muzquiz and his grandmother Leticia Grimaldo, the owners, the restaurant moved to its second location at 1400 North Main in September of last year.

Now that Muzquiz and Self have gone their separate ways after a 2003 lease signed by Self and Grimaldo was declared illegal, things seemed to settle down regarding the future of the restaurant and the building it was formerly housed in.

The only thing keeping Self in the area were the two parking spaces he bought on the property when the restaurant was still open. Muzquiz says he inquired about buying back the spaces but couldn’t agree on terms with Self. So Muzquiz regained control of the building, which belonged to his grandparents and was next to two gated parking spaces once used for the original.

The properties lay vacant and unusable for months until a few weeks ago when the barriers were removed and a legal notice prohibiting alcohol consumption was placed on the pole of the original sign, which still stands there.

Customers from nearby businesses immediately began parking their vehicles there for convenience. But it looks like the circular parking area on the east side of the building may be reclaimed.

According to a recent filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, this could be the new location of a Self-overseeing drive-thru restaurant in the near future.

Project details state that the new building will be just over 900 square feet and will be called 4735 Camp Bowie, less than a stone’s throw from where the original building stood for over 90 years.

What won’t last, however, is the parking lot that patrons have just become accustomed to in front of the Fort Worth Coffee Co. In its place could be a small drive-in restaurant, estimated to cost over $300,000 to build. Whatever the outcome, it seems the food that made the original so popular could once again be available to West Siders.

Editor’s note: (Neither Derek Muzquiz nor Robert Self were available for comment before press time.)