the goods TheRegulaRs The ‘board meeTing’

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Steve Cameron orders the short ribs when they are offered as a special, as well as the lollipop lamb chops. Ross Murphy prefers the chicken Milanesa. “It’s one you won’t find very often at a Mexican cuisine restaurant, but if you do find it, it doesn’t compare,” Murphy says of the pounded, lightly breaded and grilled chicken dish. “I don’t know how he does it.”

Wanda Thompson usually orders the Puerto Vallarta or Jalisco dishes — the latter has the pan-fried tacos she likes. John Thompson doesn’t have a favorite, but highlights the chili relleno and breakfast migas. “We just can’t pin it down to anything,” Wanda Thompson says. “It’s all really good.” Mayes and her daughter stick with a usual. For Breann it’s chicken fajita quesadillas and French fries, and for Mayes it’s the Mayan dish. She says her parents tell her, “Don’t get the same thing.” But, she says, “That’s what I like.”

On Friday nights, the regulars descend on the bar at Rafa’s Café Mexicano.

It’s a tradition that started a few years back when Steve Cameron, who works in land investment, began holding “board meetings” in the bar on Fridays right after work hours.

“Real estate was slow,” Cameron explains.

Five to 10 people usually showed up, and owner Raphael Carreon acted as the honorary chairman of the board, Cameron says.

“Rafa would be behind the bar — and he’s never behind the bar — serving drinks and having fun with us,” he says.

Cameron added some artwork he has purchased to the restaurant’s bar and installed speakers to crank out blues and country music. After a while, people start dancing.

“We’ll end up closing it down,” Cameron says with a grin.

These days business is better, but the Friday-night tradition continues. Everyone who comes is “like family,” Cameron says, and Carreon is “the touch point,” says Ross Murphy, another regular.

Cameron met Carreon simply by dining at his restaurant, and now he is “one of my very best friends,” Cameron says. They have even spent Christmas together.

Carreon isn’t at the restaurant many evenings, but he makes a point to be there on Fridays. On this particular Friday night, the weather is beautiful, so the crowd typically gathered in Rafa’s bar has taken over the patio. Carreon spends much of the night seated in the patio with his customers and friends.

“He is the nicest guy,” says regular Robbie Patman. “Everyone knows who Rafa is. How many restaurants do you not even know the owner? But Rafa’s out on the floor.”

Plus, Cameron says, Rafa’s serves “the best Tex-Mex in town, no question.” Most of the time, instead of ordering off the menu, Cameron asks his server to bring out whatever’s good. Rafa’s specializes in the specials, he says ceviche on Fridays in the spring and summer, pasole during the colder months. The restaurant isn’t afraid to experiment, either.

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“Felix, the guy in the kitchen, he’s been with Rafa for 35 years. Every now and then, I’ll mention something I had somewhere that was really good, and next thing you know, Rafa’s serving it,” Cameron says.

Once he mentioned fried olives he tried in Napa, “and the next Friday, Felix was serving it,” Cameron says.

“It’s the only Tex-Mex restaurant I know that does that. Most are chains and stick to their menus,” Cameron says. For a lot of people who frequent the restaurant, “it’s about Rafa and his food. They remember him from the ’70s and ’80s down on McKinney.”

That was Carreon’s first restaurant, Raphael’s. It was located where the West Village now stands, and closed in the late ’90s to make way for the development. After that, many customers migrated over to Rafa’s, which had opened in 1994.

Included in this migration were John and Wanda Thompson, who are eating in the main dining room this Friday night.

“You won’t find anybody who has come here as long as I have,” John Thompson says.

The Thompsons began dining at Raphael’s on McKinney the year it opened, 1975.

“It started by us wanting a good steak,” he says.

Before that restaurant became Raphael’s, it was a longtime steakhouse, Arthur’s. The Thompsons didn’t realize they would be dining at a Tex-Mex restaurant, but they have “been going to Raphael’s ever since,” he says.

“It was not unusual to wait an hour and a half to be seated because it was such a popular place,” Wanda Thompson says. “And we’re not the only ones. We talk to people here often who have been coming here forever.”

She rattles off a list of local celebrities they have spotted at Rafa’s: former first lady Laura Bush; Dallas Cowboys greats Daryl Johnston and Roger Staubach; WFAA veteran Brad Watson; former Dallas mayor Laura Miller; and the list goes on.

“The point I’m making is that nobody bothers them. They’re customers here,” Wanda Thompson says. “It’s a place everyone enjoys, from children to senior citizens.”

The Thompsons are retired educators who live in Mesquite, and they usually dine at Rafa’s twice a week. Tonight they’re joined by their daughter, Sherri Mayes, and granddaughter, Breann. Mayes began eating with her parents at Raphael’s when she was a little girl, and the Thompsons now take Breann to Rafa’s when she spends the night at their house.

The Thompsons already have succeeded in passing down the family dining tradition.

“What’s your favorite Mexican restaurant, Breann?” Wanda Thompson asks.

Breann points to the table and says, “Rafa’s.”

Rafa’s Café Mexicano

5617 W. Lovers

214.357.2080 rafascafe.com