On a quiet stretch of the Chisholm Trail Parkway just south of Interstate 20, a new backroad café called Anita’s Kitchen is pulling in a steady lunch and dinner crowd. The compact spot, opened this spring by the family behind CW’s Authentic Tex-Mex Cuisine, the local business that once drew national TV attention, pairs Tex-Mex plates with diner staples like chicken-fried steak and a house buttermilk fried-chicken sandwich. Last Thursday a photographer captured a $9 enchilada special and that fried-chicken sandwich, photos that have been shared widely on social feeds, and locals say the counter hums on weekends. For a tiny roadside operation, it is already acting like more than a simple pop-up.
From TV intervention to local draw
Chef Robert Irvine’s Restaurant: Impossible came to the owners’ previous restaurant, then called Fun Time Cafe, in 2021 for an episode titled "A Big Mess in Texas," reshaping the venue and its menu in a rapid two-day intervention. Food Network documents the episode and lists Joshua, Texas, as the setting. The makeover gave the family a clearer concept and a brief moment in the national spotlight that helped them pivot in the years after the episode aired.
What Anita’s Kitchen is serving
Anita’s Kitchen is a smaller, road-friendly version of the family’s CW’s Authentic Tex-Mex Cuisine, leaning into a compact menu of tacos, sopes, huaraches and other plates alongside comfort items like chicken-fried steak. As reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the menu includes a $9 enchilada plate that pairs beef enchiladas with green-chicken enchiladas, plus sweets such as funnel-cake sundaes and sopaipillas. Photographs from last Thursday show the buttermilk fried-chicken sandwich and a Cowboys cheeseburger that echo CW’s signature items.
TV fame, then steady word of mouth
Reality-TV attention does not guarantee long-term success, but follow-up coverage suggests the family turned the exposure into a clearer brand and steadier business. Coverage by Mashed traces the restaurant’s rebrand from Fun Time Cafe to CW’s Authentic Tex-Mex Cuisine and notes that diners traveled from across North Texas after the makeover. Opening a compact café like Anita’s Kitchen fits a pattern of smaller, more focused concepts that can sustain local demand without the overhead of a larger dining room.
Before you go
Anita’s Kitchen operates for breakfast through dinner on weekdays and Saturdays and, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, does not yet hold a liquor license. The paper also lists the café’s phone as 817-585-1016. The café sits along Chisholm Trail Parkway roughly eight miles south of Interstate 20, placing it within reach of the Tarleton State Fort Worth campus and nearby Joshua neighborhoods. Expect counter ordering, to-go traffic and a small dining room that fills up quickly on weekend evenings.
For diners who remember the original TV episode, Anita’s Kitchen is a reminder that a reality television makeover can create a longer runway when owners refine the concept and lean into what locals already want. Whether you are a Tarleton student craving breakfast tacos or a traveler detouring off the highway, the café shows how good food and consistent service can turn a backroad stop into a destination.
