A family legacy lives at Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant in Fort Worth. Cited as a city staple since 1935, the restaurant has flourished to become a legendary destination for food, margaritas and perhaps most of all, an inviting patio ambiance. The restaurant itself has expanded over the years to cover the length of an entire city block and seats more than 1,500 customers. On a weekend 
evening, wait times to be seated can stretch for two hours.
The demand is incredible as each week, thousands come to experience what Joe T. Garcia’s has to offer. The vast majority of these customers choose to enjoy seating on the various outdoor patios among the fantastic greenery of majestic tress and palms, serene fountains and 900+ flowerpots with all their colorful splendor. While the al fresco dining visuals are beckoning, the oppressive north Texas summer heat can hamper the experience. While shade trees, large umbrellas and ceiling fans help, with average high temperatures in the 90s, the Texas heat can be relentless for the lunch and dinner crowds. The need for a truly cool solution to add to the mix became the primary goal.
After seeing cooling options on the sidelines of hot NFL pre-season games, the restaurant family decided to give a Portacool evaporative cooler a try as an option for providing outdoor cooling relief to their patrons and servers. Eventually, this led to implementing eight portable evaporative coolers that are placed at key vantage points to circulate cool air on the patios to subdue the effects of the heat.
“We love our Portacool evaporative coolers!” said Jody Lancarte, owner and catering/event manager. “They are perfect for the Texas heat. We have even used them in our tented areas during the winter when temps hit 80. I now have private events renting them so they will have them exclusively for their section. They are a very big hit at Joe T’s.”
Today, the cooling comfort achieved is the perfect complement to a perfect patio dining experience in an iconic Fort Worth eatery.
