La Casita Restaurant

This site is within the Oliver Fry 280-acre homestead, which was filed August 11, 1912; the patent (or deed) was received August 11, 1916. Erwin Fry, the second oldest of Oliver and Elizabeth Fry's ten children, became the owner of this site. In 1937 Erwin and his wife Lillian built this store, which was adjacent to their general store and post office. This building is one of the oldest standing buildings in the community. From 1937 into the 1950s, no accurate information exists about the use of the building. It is believed that the back portion was used as a grain and feed storage for some period. The picture above shows the La Casita, the Dairy Den, and a cleaner. Lenor Mathews leased the west one-third of this building and in 1952 opened the Las Casita, which she operated until 1964. Luis and Justa Valles took over the lease and expanded the restaurant to include the middle section. In 1970 the Valleses expanded the La Casita to include the entire building, and in 1972 they purchased the entire building from Erwin Fry. The Valleses operated this restaurant from 1964 until 1989, when they sold the business and building to Phillip and Anita Garcia. The Garcia family has owned and operated the La Casita Restaurant for over 20 years. Thus, the La Casita Mexican Food Restaurant has been serving this community for over 50 years.