Saying Adios to a Family Institution

Before we get started, a brief interlude regarding my brother.

After spending decades moving around for my father's job, my parents put down roots in Oklahoma and haven't budged since roughly 1979. Though I wasn't born in the state, I've never thought of myself as anything but an Okie. My brother Jerry was born here, and he's pretty well steeped in the Oklahoma way of life, too. He did move a few times, though, and the most notable was when he joined my sister-in-law in Maryland for a couple of years as her military service was winding down.

When Jerry came back to Oklahoma to visit, this was his itinerary:

— Land at Will Rogers World Airport.

— Drive immediately to Alvarado's Mexican Restaurant in Edmond for lunch.

— Go to my parents' house.

— Go back to Alvarado's with the family for dinner.

All that is to say that Alvarado's has been a big part of my family life for decades. And in a week and a half, it will be gone.

"It's not just one thing; it's a culmination of things," says owner Carlos Alvarado. "This what we worked for all these years: to be able to leave when we want to leave. My wife was a restaurant widow for twenty-seven years. It's my turn to take her out on a Friday and Saturday night."

Alvarado says that a big turning point was his bout of COVID-19 in August 2021, which put him in the hospital for a week.

"That's part of what triggered it. We never know what tomorrow brings," he says. "Plus, my folks are eighty-eight and eighty-seven. We're from the mindset that we take care of our own family. We want to enjoy them and be with them for the time they have left."

The announcement went out on Tuesday and by Wednesday morning, my family knew and was, in our uniquely Oklahoman way, devastated.

"Yeah, someone told me it was on Facebook, but I didn't find any more information, so I hoped it was a lie and that I could strangle whoever made it up," he says.

Holster those mitts, brother. The rumors are true.

Alvarado's closing message from Facebook

Immediately, plans were made to relocate our Friday dinner (at which I was supposed to cook, whew!) to Alvarado's for a farewell meal. One of many, I am guessing. And I don't just mean that lots of people will want to say goodbye, though they surely will. I mean that my family will probably eat at Alvarado's at least three or four more times before the doors are closed for good.

We won't just be missing the memories we've made there, though there are some good ones. Like the night my brother and I started playing "fire drill" at the booth in the old location near the University of Central Oklahoma, forever confusing our poor server. Or the many times my parents gave us devastatingly bad news over chips and salsa—family deaths or diagnoses, usually.

If I don't learn how to make Alvarado's tacos poblanos for my dad, I'm out of the will. Photo by Greg Elwell

It also put the kibosh on some celebration planning, as Alvarado's was our go-to for catering family get-togethers and parties.

But I also find myself wondering what will become of those recipes for the dishes that became our standard orders for upwards of twenty years.

I've not seen tacos poblanos on other Tex-Mex menus in town, which will cut down on options for my father. And while chicken tortilla soup is fairly ubiquitous, I cannot say that any of the others have come close to that creamy, unctuous broth and the feathery soft whisps of shredded meat hidden beneath the opaque surface.

My own favorites—camaron enchilado, or tender shrimp in a garlic butter sauce over jalapeno rice, and the finest cheese enchiladas smothered in chili con carne this side of the metro—will be sorely missed, as well.

Alvarado's chicken tortilla soup got the Elwell family through many a cold month. Photo by Greg Elwell

But if I'm being honest, what we will miss most as a family are the smiles and hearty greetings we would receive every time we stepped through those doors. Carlos was always eager to pick my dad's brain for OSU football predictions. The dedicated servers helped raise my kids and my niece and nephew into polite little restaurant pros.

And I think we will all, to a person, mourn the loss of the freshly pressed flour tortillas that we would devour like monsters as soon as they hit the table. My dad would slather his with butter and pepper. My son would bite out eye holes and a mouth and wear it as a mask. My daughter, who would claim to be too stuffed to eat another bite of her entree, would still gnaw on a tortilla as we waited for the brandy butter-covered sopapilla to come at dessert.

My son will especially miss making masks with Alvarado's fresh flour tortillas. Photo by Greg Elwell

Oklahoma in general, and our big cities in particular, are spoiled for choice when it comes to Tex-Mex fare, but that's not really what this is about. Yes, there will be more tacos, more enchiladas, more chips and salsa and queso set-ups in our future, but there will be an Alvarado's-shaped hole in our hearts for many years to come.

What I'm grateful for is that Carlos and his family plan to stay in Oklahoma after the restaurant serves its final plate of sizzling fajitas. Because losing his restaurant is a hard pill to swallow, but losing a friendly face like his would be much more difficult to recover from.

"You know, you just hope after all this time that people enjoyed it, because you put your heart into a business like this," Carlos says. "We're just blessed to be in a position that we can walk away when we want to walk away."

Alvarado's Mexican Restaurant closes its doors for good on June 17.

Written By

Greg Elwell

Greg Elwell served as research editor and web editor of Oklahoma Today from 2018-2023. He also has worked for newspapers, medical research organizations, and government institutions.