Restaurant goes Texan

When Lupe and Emma Fabela started their restaurant 10 years ago, it was a way for them to get over the loss of a son.

"The coolest thing about this location is it allowed us to come in contact with a lot of other people who had the same losses we did," Lupe Fabela said. "You meet a lot of people, you have a lot of friends from all over the country."

Cesar Fabela was slain in December 1997 at 16. Eight months later, his parents started Fabela's Restaurant, which serves customers between Odessa and Midland with everything from Poor Boy Sandwiches to chile verde burritos.

"It's quick to work, and the food's good and quick," customer J.R. Fason said. "Out here by the airport, there's not a lot of places to eat."

Now, the Fabelas are giving back to the state that has given to them by taking part in the Texas Department of Agriculture's Go Texan restaurant program.

The program links restaurants to local producers or other Texas-grown or processed products.

"When we were discussing it, it just seemed pretty interesting, so why not?" Emma Fabela said.

The Fabelas use local suppliers as much as possible. They also buy products raised in Texas, whether it's beef from Amarillo or cantaloupes from Pecos and Coyanosa.

They even found a new Texas product to buy when they passed a Maseca corn dough mix factory in Muleshoe on a trip to the Panhandle.

They use that mix for corn tortillas and tamales, but the flour for the white tortillas also comes from Texas.

Other Texas products include chile from Pecos and onions from Presidio.

"That's where we're from," she said. "It's very important to support our city, our state, our country. We have to do what we have to do, and I'm very proud to be a Texan."

With rising fuel costs, the program also helps avoid paying as much for freight.

"We haven't had to pay high dollar," Lupe Fabela said. "I think it's better."

Emma Fabela said she learned how much people liked Texas food when she served a group in South Carolina.

"It's pretty good to expose our heritage and the types of food we eat in West Texas to other parts of the country," she said. "It's cool that they can taste the really hot stuff."

The Go Texan restaurant program had signed up 274 members in four months, but Fabela's is the only member restaurant in Odessa (and it's actually in Midland County). Agriculture department spokesman Bryan Black said he expects the number to grow.

"As word gets out, we'll expect a lot more people to sign up," he said. "It's a great way to link Texas restaurants and Texas farmers."

West Texas is a good area for the program, Black said.

"It just makes sense with all the products grown out there," he said.

Fabela's, which also operates a small restaurant at the nearby Avion Flight Centre, serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Saturday. After a decade, its owners have no complaints.

"Well, I have a complaint," Emma Fabela said. "I need a very long vacation."