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Delia and Juan Jasso moved into their Kidd Springs home 23 years ago. That’s when they first dined at the little house on 12th Street.

“Back then it was still such a transitional area, and La Calle Doce was one of the first Mexican restaurants on the mid-level price range,” Delia Jasso says. “We mostly had taquerias.”

At the time, the extent of the dining area was the two front rooms, “not even the porches, and the side area was an open space,” Jasso says. “It was small but very good. We were enamored with actually having a Mexican seafood place, because there wasn’t anything like that here at all.”

In the early days, owner Laura Sanchez would pepper Juan Jasso with questions that came up about City of Dallas processes. He was a newly elected justice of the peace so was more familiar with Dallas County, but the Jassos always tried to help Sanchez.

“We felt close to her and were there for her, and she knew that,” Delia Jasso says.

They knew both her husband, Oscar Sanchez Sr., who worked with her to open the restaurant in 1981, and her son, Oscar Sanchez Jr. Both men have since died, and their photos hang in the front of the restaurant, along with other family photos, awards and memorabilia from across the decades.

Warwick had a different regular seat before the restaurant was redesigned. It was a spot in the bar area against the wall. Sometimes when he came in, his seat was taken, but when that person left, “they would clean that table right away and move me right back to my seat,” he says.

It helps to tip well, Warwick says of this kind of service.

“I’d be scared of what I’m eating and what I’m drinking if I didn’t,” he jokes.

When the restaurant closed recently for renovations, Warwick started dining a few blocks away at El Fenix, where a waitress who served him at Tejano works now.

“I would go in and ask for Maria, and they started sending me to the same table every day,” he says.

When El Corazon reopened, he came right back.

“I like the redesign of it,” Warwick says. “I’ve heard some people say the food isn’t as good, and I can’t really say so because I don’t order it. Actually, the queso’s better and the salsa’s better.”

When Warwick first heard about the impending changes, he says, he wasn’t nervous.

“Business is business,” he says. “And I knew I’d be coming back. It’s really the margarita I come for.” order like a regular Warwick rarely strays from his margarita, queso and salsa routine. But occasionally he splurges and orders the beef fajita nachos.

“I’m glad they’ve kept them there. It’s kind of the glue,” Jasso says. “It keeps you grounded and reminds us there are bigger things in our lives.”

Over time, the restaurant has expanded, and “the new back room and new patio are fabulous,” Jasso says. The former councilwoman liked to hold events and recognitions for community members in that room “because we know what we’re going to get, and there’s no one who will say no.”

Now that the Jassos are empty-nesters, they dine at La Calle Doce two or three times a week.

“It’s our home away from home,” Delia Jasso says. “We don’t really go grocery shopping anymore, and we love their food. You can always get something healthy there, so I don’t feel so bad.” order like a regular

Delia Jasso describes herself as a “plain Jane” when it comes to food. One of her favorites on the La Calle Doce menu is the chicken soup. “It has vegetables and all of the good stuff in it,” she says. She also loves the cheese and bean nachos. “If I could eat that all night, I probably would.” The fish are incredible, she says, but the servings are so large that she usually doesn’t attempt it. “And if I want to really step out, I’d order their shrimp enchiladas.” Juan Jasso is partial to the tacos al carbon and likes to take the avocado hot sauce and pickled carrots and “pour the stuff on there,” she says.