Camacho's Place and Café opened on December 12, 1946, founded by Richard Camacho and his wife, Juanita, on the site of a former Seventh-Day Adventist church and school that had been damaged and abandoned after a major earthquake on December 31, 1926. The building is an early example of sustainable construction, using discarded materials including steel from old automobiles and bed springs to reinforce the concrete floors, surplus railroad ties for walls and ceiling beams, and heavy doors from the El Centro railroad station. From the beginning, it served Imperial Valley farm workers as a restaurant and bar as well as a mercantile and pool hall. In 1964, the store and pool hall closed and their large front room was converted into additional dining space. Its food later drew farmers, townspeople, and local military, and it became a place where locals expected to meet friends, with its renowned food eventually being sent worldwide from a country establishment known as hard to find but worth it.