For decades, Helen Alcala was an icon and she continues to be an inspiration in Buda and Hays CISD. A long-time cook and child nutrition employee of the school district; she retired, and then in 1980, opened the first Mexican Restaurant in Buda – Helen’s Casa Alde.  

Helen Rodriguez Alcala was born in 1923, in the small community of Goforth, which is now part of Buda, Texas. Her roots in the Hays CISD area date back to her father and grandfather who immigrated from Mexico ten years earlier to work on a local farm and save enough money to move the family to Texas. Helen, who was the oldest of ten children had to leave school after junior high to help support her family by working at the local Buda grocery store. 

In 1947, Helen married Pedro “Pete” Alcala. They had three children – Ernest, Rene, and Linda. All three were “Doc McCormick babies.” Like most children born in Buda at the time, they were delivered by beloved Buda family practitioner Dr. T. C. McCormick, Jr. (namesake for McCormick Middle School which is adjacent to the Helen Alcala Child Nutrition Center).

For the greater part of the first half of her career, Helen worked in the cafeteria of the historic Buda School. In that role, she was a central, daily presence in the lives of many thousands of students who loved her as much as she loved them. After she retired from Hays CISD, Helen worked at the Texas School for the Deaf. In 1980, with the help and support of her family, she and her husband opened Helen’s Casa Alde. The storied restaurant earned a loyal following and accolades as the first Hispanic woman owned restaurant in Buda and, for a time, the oldest eatery on Buda’s Main Street.

When asked in a 2005 interview for the Hays Free Press newspaper about the secret to her successful business, Helen said, “I guess it’s just the way we treat customers. We know nearly everybody that comes in here. If they’re new, we try to tell them that they’re welcome here, and they should come back. And they do, they come back. And we have good help, people who really care for their work.”

According to the article, when pressed, Helen modestly added, “Well, everyone says the food is great.” She said with a beaming smile, “My favorite part is when somebody says, ‘This is the best meal I’ve had.’ Oh, it makes me feel so good. I really appreciate that.”

In a Hays Free Press article following Helen’s passing in 2017, her granddaughter Remy Alcala Fallon, recalled, “She met so many people and has talked to so many people over the years, but she could remember someone at the drop of a hat. You didn’t come here (the restaurant) just for the tacos. You came here for Helen.”

During her 93 years of life, she generously shared kindness and camaraderie through hard work and her passion for amazing food, prepared with love.