The Owl Cafe & Bar – San Antonio, New Mexico

The World Famous Owl Cafe in San Antonio, New Mexico

San Antonio may be but a blip on the map, but its storied and pioneering history make this sparsely populated agricultural community arguably one of New Mexico’s most important towns.

In 1629, San Antonio was the site on which Franciscan friars planted the first vineyard (for sacramental wine) in New Mexico (in defiance of Spanish law prohibiting the growing of grapes for wine in the new world.) San Antonio was the birthplace of Conrad Hilton, founder of the ubiquitous Hilton Hotels and more importantly, one of New Mexico’s original legislators after statehood was granted in 1912. San Antonio was also the gateway to the Trinity Site in which the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945. While these events are historically significant, they are also inextricably bound by one common element–the uncommonly ordinary facade that houses the extraordinary, world-famous Owl Cafe.

The Owl Cafe and Bar

Conrad Hilton’s father once owned the saloon in which the bar (pictured below) in the Owl Cafe once held prominence and presumably sold the fruit of the vine whose progenitors may have been among New Mexico’s original grape stocks. According to local lore, the fathers of the nuclear age spent much of their free time cavorting at the Owl Cafe where original owner Jose Miera installed a grill and started crafting the green chile cheeseburgers that would ultimately achieve unprecedented acclaim.

Ostensibly, the restaurant was named the Owl because legal gambling was conducted at all hours of the night in the back of the restaurant, ergo by “night owls.” Today feathered fowl are still important to San Antonio’s local economy as thousands of bird watchers flock to the nearby Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to crane their necks for a glimpse of geese, ducks and cranes. The Owl Cafe offers welcome respite from the pleasures of bird-watching.

The long bar from the original Hilton hotel

Rowena Baca, a descendent of the Owl Cafe’s founder and current proprietor of the Owl Cafe, holds on to tradition, preparing the world-famous green chile cheeseburger in much the same way as her grandfather did. The meat is ground on the premises, patties are hand-formed and the ingredients (mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion cheese and green chile) are unfailingly fresh. On a double meat burger, the succulent meat and melted cheese bulge out beyond the buns. The meat positively breaks apart (the consequences of not using filler and an optimum fat to lean ratio) and its juices make consuming one a lip-smacking, multi-napkin affair.

The green chile is as near to green chile nirvana as you’ll find on any burger in New Mexico. Non-natives might find it a bit hot, but locals think it’s just right. Ironically, it’s not green chile grown within easy walking distance in San Antonio’s famous Sichler Farms, but a special blend of chile from the Albuquerque Tortilla Company. The reason given is that the Albuquerque Tortilla Company’s Chile is already roasted, peeled, chopped and sealed for freshness. Somehow it makes sense.

Double meat, double cheese green chile cheeseburger, one of the very best in New Mexico (ergo, the universe)

Another Owl tradition you can’t help but notice is all the dollar bills tacked on the restaurant’s walls. Patrons leave messages or write their names on dollar bills then tack them on any available free space. Once a year, the money is collected and given to charity with more than $19,700 donated thus far.

On an average summer day, the Owl Cafe will serve an average of six to seven hundred burgers. The population of San Antonio rivals that of a larger city during lunch and dinner hours when the Owl’s several parking lots are overflowing with hungry diners. The front dining room will accommodate only a few of them. Fortunately the restaurant has several dining rooms; you’ve got to go through one to get to another.

What the Owl Cafe does with all the dollar bills tacked to its walls

In 2003, Jane and Michael Stern, rated the Owl Cafe’s green chile cheeseburger on Epicurious.Com as one of the top ten burgers in America–lavish praise indeed for one of New Mexico’s historic gems. It has garnered similar acclaim by other notable critics, having transcended the generations by sticking to a time-tested formula of providing great food at reasonable prices. Disputably there may be better green chile cheeseburgers out there, but there are none more famous.

For more than a quarter century, award-winning journalist Charles Kuralt hit the road on a motor home, crisscrossing the fruited plains where waving fields of wheat passed in review and snow-capped mountains reached for cobalt colored skies. Kuralt loved the cuisine of the Land of Enchantment. In his book America, he declared the Own Cafe in San Antonio, New Mexico “one of the best food tips” he’d ever gotten.

The hamburger steak dinner

In his celebration of America’s favorite dish, filmmaker George Motz traversed the fruited plain in search of some of the country’s most unique burgers for his 54-minute film Hamburger America which made it to the airwaves in 2004. In 2008, he followed up his award-winning documentary with a state-by-state tome listing what he considers the best burgers throughout the fruited plain. Motz loved The Owl calling it “a friendly place, a family saloon with an excellent burger on the menu.”

The menu isn’t limited to burgers. Savvy diners will order the hamburger steak dinner, a bounteous platter that will fill you up for about ten dollars. This platter includes a juicy hamburger patty (no charring anywhere), a small mountain of hand-cut French fries, a salad with your choice of dressing (including a pretty good blue cheese dressing), Texas toast and bowls of green chile and beans. Make sure you get the grilled onions atop that hamburger steak. It’s an unbeatable combination.

A bowl of green chile and a bowl of beans--sheer pleasure!

The other “must have” in addition to an outstanding green chile cheeseburger is a bowl or side of beans with green chile. The aroma of steaming green chile wafts through the dining room as your waitress approaches and you’re the envy of any diner who may not have ordered this favorite of New Mexican comfort foods. The beans are frijoles, whole pinto beans, not refried or black beans you’ll find elsewhere. Ironically, as proud of New Mexicans are to claim green chile as our official state vegetable, we’re often hesitant to admit frijoles share official state honors with green chile. The frijoles at the Owl Cafe will remind you why real New Mexicans love and are proud of their precious pintos.

The Owl Cafe has several other menu items, but rarely do you see anyone foolhardy enough to order say, a hot dog or nachos. It is entirely forgivable, however, to order a patty melt (pictured below), one of the very best of its kind anywhere. One of the reasons this patty melt is oh, so good is obvious. The same wondrous beef patty used on the Owl’s world-famous green chile cheeseburgers is used to create this pulchritudinous patty melt. Two slices of American cheese drape over grilled sweet onions complete the masterpiece sandwiched between two slices of light rye. It’s a fantastic alternative to green chile cheeseburgers.

Patty melt at the Owl Cafe

Skip the dessert at the Owl and head next door to the San Antonio General Store where Anne Lund serves some of the very best homemade fudge anywhere as well as ice cream (Dreyers), drinks, snacks and sandwiches. Lund actually bought the General Store from Rowena Baca’s daughter and spent about a year perfecting the wonderful fudge (which is made with real butter and cream). Perfect is the operative word for fudge in which you can taste the quality and a whole lot of love from a confectionery artist.

The Owl Cafe is open Monday through Saturday from 8AM to 9PM and is closed on Sundays.

The Owl Cafe & Bar
State Hwy. 1 and U.S. 380
San Antonio, New Mexico
(575) 835-9946
Web Site

LATEST VISIT: 19 May 2012
# OF VISITS: 6
RATING: 23
COST: $$
BEST BET: Green Chile Cheeseburger; French Fries, Beans and Green Chile, Hamburger Steak Dinner, Patty Melt

San Antonio General Store – San Antonio, New Mexico

San Antonio General Store, home of New Mexico's best fudge

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather
to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, latte in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “Woo Hoo, what a ride!”
- Motto to Live By

What struck me most about this motto was not the profundity of its words, but their placement–on a placard hanging directly above a glass pastry case showcasing some of the most delicious fudge in the state. It seems somehow appropriate that the motto hover above gourmet fudge like a radiant halo. This is fudge crafted with imagination and flair. It is luscious and decadent, extremely rich and thoroughly delicious. It is a perfect gift for yourself and for someone you love.

The San Antonio General Store is across the street and catty-corner from the world-famous Buckhorn Tavern and separated by a short parking lot from the equally world-famous Owl Cafe. There may be nothing better in the entire world than a green chile cheeseburger from either of the village’s world-famous purveyors of burger perfection followed by fudge warranting the overused “enchanted” adjective.

Some of the best fudge in the state

From the outside, the San Antonio General Store may not warrant a second glance. It looks like a two-pump gas station in a small, rural New Mexico village–and indeed, motorized conveyances of all kinds drive up and fill up. If you expect the heady smell of stale gas and oily rags to follow you into the store, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Like many small town country stores, the San Antonio General Store has a little bit of everything to provision locals and hungry sojourners. There are aisles of shelves well stocked with savory and sweet snacks of all types as well as well-lit refrigerators showcasing America’s favorite cold carbonated beverages. Small town general stores like this one aren’t slaves to either Coke or Pepsi products and are at liberty to proffer fruity soft drinks such as Big Red, my favorite.

The San Antonio General Store

There are a couple of tables, too. This is where diners sit to partake of Dreyer’s ice cream and we’re not talking about something you pluck out of a refrigerator and unwrap. This is the good stuff–scooped out of tubs and served in cups. It’s slow churned ice cream renown for its rich creaminess. The San Antonio General Store has a surprising variety of flavors available.

The tables come in handy for guests who can’t wait to sink their teeth into one of the store’s deli sandwiches. Constructed of sundry cold cuts, meats and cheeses, these sandwiches are popular take-out items among nature lovers making the short trek to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. From the rudimentary chicken salad sandwich to a complex sandwich arrangement, there’s something for everyone.

Chocolate Fudge

Ice cream and deli sandwiches not withstanding, the main attraction at the San Antonio General Store is the homemade fudge. It’s old-fashioned fudge made the way it should be made–with real sugar, real cream and real butter. It makes for really great fudge, the best in the Land of Enchantment great!

In 2007, Sarah Karnasiewicz, senior editor of Saveur, trekked back to New Mexico where she lived for a number of years to rediscover some of the Land of Enchantment’s best “filling stations,” service stations in which you can actually find food that is not only fit for human consumption, it’s quite good, too. She observed that, “we know of no other state in the Union where you can so consistently find such tasty cooking along the asphalt byways, often steps from the gas pumps.”

Rocky Road fudge

One of the filling stations to which Sarah ventured was the San Antonio General Store whose fudge she described as a “siren song to truckers and day-trippers alike.” The fudge maven is Ann Lund, a Danish transplant to New Mexico who purchased the store in 2004. That purchase included the previous owner’s carefully guarded recipes as well as hands-on training to ensure continuity in the making of the village’s legendary fudge. It took Lund about six months to get it right. Perfection takes time.

If perfection has a taste, it might taste like the pure milk chocolate fudge or maybe the oh-so-wonderful chocolate walnut fudge. You might find it in the chewy peanut butter fudge or the luscious Rocky Road fudge where nuts and fluffy marshmallow combine to raise the standards of perfection.

Fabulous Fudge: Chocolate Walnut, Chocolate, Pistachio Nut, Praline

The village of San Antonio is almost indisputably New Mexico’s epicenter for green chile cheeseburger perfection, but a visit to Ann Lund’s San Antonio General Store and memories and dreams of your visit may center around the best fudge you’re likely to ever have.

San Antonio General Store
Us Hwy 380
San Antonio, New Mexico
(575) 835-4594
Web Site
LATEST VISIT: 19 May 2012
# OF VISITS: 4
RATING: 22
COST: $
BEST BET: Rocky Road Fudge, Amaretto Fudge, Milk Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Walnut Fudge, Praline Fudge, Pistachio Fudge

Buckhorn Tavern – San Antonio, New Mexico

The world famous Manny's Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio, New Mexico

Dusk is falling on the western town at the very edge of the parched plains. Fewer than a dozen buildings line the dusty main street. Howling winds impel tumbleweeds forward with no regard for obstacles in their path. Even though neither of the protagonists has uttered the old western cliché “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us,” the scene is always ripe for a confrontation between the two long-time rivals. You can cut the tension with a knife and fork and it would be utterly delicious.

This confrontation isn’t between the black-hearted, black hat wearing villain of western lore and his rival, the clean-cut, white chapeaued cowboy. It’s a rivalry between the Owl Cafe and the Buckhorn Tavern, two heralded hamburger havens separated by less than a block yet inextricably bound by national publications which champion them as among the best of their genre (in westerns, this would be the fastest guns in the west).

The interior at Manny's Buckhorn Tavern

The Owl Cafe is among the most celebrated restaurants in New Mexico, touted for its incomparable green chile cheeseburger. In 2003, Jane and Michael Stern, rated the Owl’s green chile cheeseburger on Epicurious.Com as one of the top ten burgers in America. GQ magazine may have done one better, in 2005 naming Buckhorn Tavern the seventh best burger in America. Alan Richman who authored the article trumpeted the Buckhorn Burger as “the ultimate in a burger with a burn,” adding that the “Buckhorn makes the best green-chili cheeseburgers in a tiny town devoted to little else.” Not to be outdone, in 2009, Marlboro.com’s “Nightlife Flavor Roundup” named the Buckhorn’s green chile cheeseburger number three “baddest burger in the land.”

Confrontation has become commonplace in San Antonio–and not just between the most prolific purveyors of burgers in town. On May 14th, 2009 ”bad boy” Bobby Flay, one of the world’s preeminent grill masters and a celebrated Food Network glitterati made his way, camera crew in tow, to challenge the Buckhorn’s proprietor Bobby Olguin, not to an old west style draw, but to a green chile cheeseburger “throwdown.” The concept of his show “Throwdown With Bobby Flay” is based on Flay challenging chefs from throughout the fruited plain to prepare the specialty for which they are known and to have judges decide which is tastier. The episode aired for the first time on July 22nd, 2009.

The GQ magazine in which the Buckhorn Burger was rated among America's best

The Owl Cafe and the Buckhorn Tavern have proven over the years that there is more than enough room in San Antonio, New Mexico for two outstanding practitioners (three if you count Bobby Flay) of the fine culinary art of crafting among the very best green chile cheeseburgers in the universe.

The chile (though spelled “chili” Texas style) at the Buckhorn is unmistakably New Mexican with a piquant bite that makes your lips tingle. Ironically, it’s not exclusively green chile grown within easy walking distance in San Antonio’s famous Sichler Farms, but a special blend of chile from Bueno Chile combined with chile from Sichler Farms and Rosales Chile. The reason given (and it makes sense) is that Bueno Chile is already roasted, peeled, chopped and sealed for freshness.

The Buckhorn Burger, brought to your table cut in half, is a stout, fresh and lean ground chunk of beef dressed with the requisite green chile, cheese, lettuce, pickles, chopped onions, tomatoes and mustard. It is a huge burger, easily big enough to share though you won’t want to. The beef used is 70 percent lean and 30 percent fat to give it a flavor as big as the stars that decorate night sky above the burger blessed town of San Antonio. The meat is pressed under a dinner plate, a family tradition that accounts for each burger’s uniformity.

The 7th best burger in America according to GQ magazine

Ingredients are unfailingly fresh as each burger is plucked off the grill at the optimum time with cheese melted to the point that it drapes itself over the beef without any residual oiliness. The Buckhorn Tavern uses only American cheese on their green chile cheeseburger and it drapes the cheese over chopped red onions. The beef is seasoned with granulated garlic, a little touch that imparts a surprising amount of flavor without the sometimes overwhelming pungency of garlic. The flavor combinations will make your mouth sing.

Every ingredient complements the green chile which most burger aficionados say is every bit the equal of the one served at the world-famous Owl Cafe, if not better. As the restaurant’s affable proprietor Bob Olguin put it so succinctly on the Throwdown With Bobby Flay episode, “the green chile cheeseburger should taste like going to heaven or being married to somebody that you love and want to be with the rest of your life. It’s just indescribable.”

In between utterances of appreciation, the Food Network judges actually did describe the burgers very well. Rating the green chile cheeseburgers on three criteria–green chile flavor, authenticity and overall taste–the judges praised the combination of heat and flavor on Olguin’s entry. One judge found the green chile so hot he had to wipe his brow. In the final judge’s tabulation, Olguin’s burger reigned supreme, but the real winner was the Land of Enchantment which Flay praised effusively.

In recognition of Olguin’s victory, Governor Bill Richardson declared Friday July 24, 2009 “Buckhorn Tavern Day.” “Congratulations to the Buckhorn Tavern and its owner Bobby Olguin for the impressive victory over one of the world’s most recognized chefs,” Governor Richardson said. “Through his win,Mr. Olguin did an excellent job of showcasing one of New Mexico’s culinary treasures, the green chile cheeseburger.”

The Rio Grande Special

Manuel “Manny” Olguin relocated the Buckhorn Tavern to its present location in 1943 when, after leaving the service, he took over the family business from his father Manny who started the family tradition in 1918. Although Manny passed away in 1998, the business until rather recently bore his name and has been managed by Manny’s son Bob since a few years before his father passed away. Bob, who is burly and brawny enough not to catch any flack for wearing an apron in a manly western town, is a larger than life personality, an effusive and bombastic character who gave his Food Network namesake more than he could hand handle in terms of banter.

The restaurant is replete with eye-catching brickerbrack and haberdashery (okay, they’re just motorcycle tee-shirts), but most male eyes affix on a GQ cover featuring Jessica Simpson pre-Tony Romo in a barely there bikini. Simpson was on the cover of the magazine in which the Tavern was named the 7th best burger in America, so it’s only fitting that her image graces the restaurant’s walls and tables. Several racks (keep it clean, this is a family Web site) also adorn the walls.

Fresh-cut French fries and onion rings are popular accompaniment to the Buckhorn’s burgers. A better way to have the French fries are on a menu item called the Rio Grande Special (pictured above). When delivered to your table you might wonder why you got a salad instead of what you ordered, but push away some of the lettuce and tomato and you’ll find a small mountain of French fries covered in green chile (or red if you prefer) and cheese. It’s a nice starter.

Onion rings and French fries at the Buckhorn Tavern

An excellent alternative is the salsa and chips. The salsa features finely chopped chile, tomato and onion and has a nice bite to it. The chips are thin and lightly salted.

It’s a matter of opinion as to which of San Antonio’s highly touted green chile cheeseburgers is best. Savvy diners will eat one at either the Buckhorn Tavern or the Owl Cafe then cross the street and have the other. To me, these burgers are so evenly matched that it’s not even worth discussing. Both are outstanding! Both are a credit to the great village of San Antonio. Both are on the New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail!

In its June, 2010 edition, New Mexico Magazine celebrated New Mexico’s Best Eats, eight of the best dishes served in restaurants throughout the Land of Enchantment. Two versions of each dish–a downhome version and uptown version were selected. The magazine accorded the honor as state’s very best downhome green chile cheeseburger to the Buckhorn Tavern. Whether or not that honor will quell any disputes as to the best in San Antonio remains to be seen.

The Buckhorn Tavern is open Monday through Friday from 11AM to 7:50PM and on Saturday from 11AM to 3:30PM. Despite these posted hours, I encourage all prospective diners to please call ahead to ensure the restaurant is open.

Manny’s Buckhorn Tavern
68 US Highway 380
San Antonio, NM
(575) 835-4423
Web Site

LATEST VISIT: 13 February 2009
# OF VISITS: 3
RATING: 23
COST: $ – $$
BEST BET: Buckhorn Burger, Salsa and Chips, French Fries, Onion Rings, Rio Grande Special

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Category Archives: San Antonio

The Owl Cafe & Bar – San Antonio, New Mexico

San Antonio General Store – San Antonio, New Mexico

Buckhorn Tavern – San Antonio, New Mexico

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