{"id":329479,"date":"2026-06-09T18:45:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/329479\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T18:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:45:37","slug":"an-old-time-tex-mex-favorite-brings-weekend-breakfast-to-north-fort-worth-suburbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/329479\/","title":{"rendered":"An old-time Tex-Mex favorite brings weekend breakfast to north Fort Worth suburbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

When El Sombrero Restaurant<\/a> began, Saginaw<\/a> was a small town and Mexican food meant enchiladas.<\/p>\n

Nearly 60 years later, El Sombrero remains a classic old-time restaurant, almost like a little museum of Tex-Mex food on the edge of north Fort Worth suburb.<\/p>\n

When the Arizola family opened their first restaurant in nearby Lake Worth<\/a>, it was 1968. Frozen margaritas not only weren\u2019t legal, they hadn\u2019t been invented<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fajitas wouldn\u2019t come to North Texas for another 10 years. Enriqueta Arizola of South Texas built her reputation serving cheese or beef enchilada dinners.<\/p>\n

The 1968 price: $1.05.<\/p>\n

Now, the Arizola family has two restaurants: their original Arizola\u2019s, now in its third location in Lake Worth, and El Sombrero, the family\u2019s revival of an old Saginaw cafe where Arizola cooked in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

El Sombrero is actually the older of the two restaurant locations. It looks like a country cafe you\u2019d see in the Arizola family\u2019s native southwest Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A dim neon sombrero blinks from atop a faded coral-pink building at 316 S. Saginaw Blvd. (North Main Street), 1 mile north of Loop 820.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A mural in the dining room at El Sombrero Restaurant, open since 1992 in Saginaw, Texas, as seen June 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

Inside, the decor is pink and teal green. A mural shows a Sonoran desert village with jackrabbits, adobe, tall saguaro cacti and an indigenous woman making pottery.<\/p>\n

It all seems an incredibly long way from Saginaw\u2019s polished new subdivisions, both in place and time.<\/p>\n

But El Sombrero has something that transcends space and time:<\/p>\n

Breakfast.<\/p>\n

\"Enchiladas<\/p>\n

Enchiladas rancheras with eggs and refried beans, a breakfast platter at El Sombrero Restaurant in Saginaw, Texas, seen June 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

(Bud Kennedy\/bud@star-telegram.com)<\/p>\n

Both El Sombrero and Arizola\u2019s open at 8 a.m. weekends to serve breakfasts with eggs, chilaquiles, pancakes and breakfast tacos.<\/p>\n

The Arizola family was always known for enchiladas. Now, they\u2019re an all-day special.<\/p>\n

Both El Sombrero and Arizola\u2019s even offer enchiladas for breakfast.<\/p>\n

The morning platter of cheese or beef enchiladas ($12.50-$13.75) comes simmering in ranchero sauce, topped the old-fashioned way with two eggs over easy.<\/p>\n

Ask for green chicken enchiladas with eggs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A chicken ‘\u2018enchilada pie\u201d with green sauce, foreground, and a cheese enchilada with chili con carne at El Sombrero Restaurant in Saginaw, Texas, seen June 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

And note to make the same substitution at dinner, when the restaurant\u2019s enchilada-heavy menu includes another unusual menu item: \u201cchicken enchilada pie.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s basically an enchilada casserole. Instead of being rolled, the enchiladas are stacked with slivers of tortilla, then topped with the familiar glob of cheese.<\/p>\n

The dish ($13.50) is easily big enough for two to share.<\/p>\n

Recommendation: Order it when green sauce and ask to skip the ranchero and \u201cqueso sauce,\u201d which is more like a mild chili gravy.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s another note: If you want traditional cheese enchiladas with Tex-Mex chili con carne, ask for it. Otherwise, they come in ranchero sauce.<\/p>\n

The menu includes all the familiar Tex-Mex combinations of meat and tortillas.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The bar area at El Sombrero Restaurant in Saginaw, Texas, as seen June 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

Something else abour El Sombrero and Arizola\u2019s is old-school: the price.<\/p>\n

Large plates of beef or chicken fajitas are $14.50 on a Friday night special.<\/p>\n

A senior menu offers an enchilada, quesadilla, nachos or arroz con pollo, a dish popularized in Fort Worth, for about $8.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect everything on the menu to be great. The chips and hot sauce are mundane. Reviews on social media document a litany of complaints, beginning with the timeworn look.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The simple neon sign at El Sombrero Restaurant, open since 1992 in Saginaw, Texas, as seen June 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

But El Sombrero and Arizola\u2019s are as much about tradition as food.<\/p>\n

As one commenter wrote, it \u201creminds me of when I was a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

El Sombrero and Arizola\u2019s are both open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Fridays, and for breakfast through dinner weekends.<\/p>\n

El Sombrero is also open for lunch and dinner Mondays; 817-232-2331, arizolasyelsombrero.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

Arizola\u2019s is at 6055 Lake Worth Blvd. (Texas 199), a quarter-mile east of Loop 820; 817-237-4117.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When El Sombrero Restaurant began, Saginaw was a small town and Mexican food meant enchiladas. Nearly 60 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[117689,117688,117691,117690,116,118,117,2091],"class_list":["post-329479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-el-sombrero","tag-el-sombrero-restaurant","tag-enchiladas","tag-enriqueta-arizola","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-lake-worth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}