A Family Tradition

The Castillo family is one of the oldest restaurant families in Central Texas still in business today serving up South-of-the-Border cuisine for more than 85 years. Family patriarch Antonio P. Castillo, Sr. started Castillo’s restaurant legacy when he opened The Aztec Cafe in the early 1930s in downtown Waco. The Aztecs introduced authentic Tex-Mex cuisine to the area, and quickly became a popular place to dine. From 1935 to 1948, The Aztec Cafe served delicious Tex-Mex, and was popular with many Baylor students due to the dance hall in the back of the restaurant nicknamed “The Patio.”

During this time, Antonio and his wife, Josephine were blessed with seven children (four sons and three daughters), all of whom were involved in the family business at one time or another. The Castillos taught all of their children the art of making pralines (a Mexican candy) the old-fashioned way. Many long-time customers still enjoy the same delicious pralines today made from the Castillo's traditional recipe.
In 1948, Antonio and his family opened "El Patio" located on 16th Street in Waco. For four years, the family operated the restaurant, when a twist of fate would intervene to introduce "pizza pie" to Waco through the Castillo family's restaurant! In the late 1940s, an Italian airman serving at Waco's James Connally Air Force Base taught Antonio and his sons the proper art of making the exotic foreign dish of dough, sauce and cheese baked until bubbly. He also taught them the proper technique for making lasagna, spaghetti and manicotti dishes that were popular with the airmen from the Northeast who populated the Air Force base. Capitalizing on their popular new cuisine offerings of Italian and Tex-Mex, the Castillos renamed the restaurant "The Italian Village" in 1952, a name that remained until its closing in 1986 after more than 35 years of quality service.