The Crooked Carrot wins silver at 2021 Western Australian Tourism Awards

The cafe was leased until 2015 as the Emu Pies Café and when the time was up instead of tearing it down, they decided to have a go at transforming it instead.

Born was the iconic 'roadhouse' style hub, now known as The Crooked Carrot.

Mrs Castro said once the Marshall family, who ran Emu Pies Café, closed the venue's doors in 2015, she took on the café "strictly as a hobby".

"We weren't really going to have much of a hands on, day-to-day running of it," she said.

"But after six months that changed pretty quickly when our manager left due to ill health.

"And all of a sudden, we were running a café."

Six years, thousands of visitors and one pandemic later, The Crooked Carrot has been recognised for offering a one-of-a-kind experience to tourists and locals alike, at the 2021 Western Australian Tourism Awards.

Mrs Castro said winning silver in the Tourism Restaurants and Catering Services category, "still hadn't sunk in".

"It was so unexpected, because here we are, a little café that sells coffee, among all these big wineries and breweries.

"It's so nice for not only Joe and I, but for our staff as well to be recognised and to see that all the hard work has paid off.

"And now that we've been given a tourism award, it really shows that we're a tourist business."

Located on the corner of Forrest Highway and Rigg Road, The Crooked Carrot employs 35 local staff who the Castro's said were instrumental in creating fresh products, all made in house.

More than just "a simple roadhouse", the property hosts a coffee kiosk, ample parking and a massive playground featuring two trams, an airplane, climbing equipment and a sensory area.

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Mrs Castro said the name 'Crooked Carrot' was suggested by the couples' 22-year-old son Joshua Castro during a family road trip down south.

"We were just throwing silly names around that had a bit of a farm feel because we grow onions, potatoes and carrots on the farm," Mrs Castro said.

"So we wanted to incorporate that into the name.

"I think one of the suggestions was 'The Rotten Onion', but when Josh came out with The Crooked Carrot, we all thought it had a nice ring to it so it stuck."

Despite impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in two lockdown-related closures in 2020, Mr and Mrs Castro said they used the time they were closed to "reassess and redecorate".

This included moving indoor seating because of spacing and capacity restrictions, to outdoors.

"We did a lot of redecorating and painting, and made the decision to keep expanding the playground in the hope that it would be completed when we were back up and running," Mrs Castro said.

"Now we're running seven days a week again and it still blows me away that it's doing so well."

With their silver award in hand, the Castro's said to anyone who wanted to start their own business in uncertain times, to keep persevering.

"It's that whole saying of, if you build it, they will come.

"So many times there were so many hoops to jump through but we got there.

"If you're really passionate about something, you will succeed.

The Castro's are now working towards obtaining a liquor license at The Crooked Carrot which will enable them to host functions and offer more services to their loyal customers.