Category: New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

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La Posta De Mesilla – Mesilla, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:27 AM

If only walls could talk, you’d want the adobe brick walls at La Posta (The Inn) to recount their impressions of the veritable “who’s who” of Western history who once sought shelter within its fortified walls.  You’d want those walls to reveal their thoughts of legendary outlaw Billy the Kid who hung out at La Posta on his road to notoriety.  You’d want those walls to tell you about the steely presence of General Douglas MacArthur, who commanded Allied forces in the Pacific Theater during World War II. You’d want those walls to share their account of Generalissimo Pancho Villa, another sojourner who sought shelter at La Posta.  Certainly no raconteur could provide the details known only to the walls…

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Los Ojos – Jemez Springs, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:59 PM

Shortly after the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman had the occasion to conduct an inspection trip of frontier outposts in the southwest.  He wasn’t impressed by what he saw in New Mexico, writing in a report that “We should have another war with Mexico and force them to take the Territory (New Mexico) back!”  As an unabashedly proud native New Mexican, it’s hard for me to comprehend that anyone couldn’t see the incomparable beauty of the Land of Enchantment which to me is obvious everywhere I turn. Were I able to go back to General Sherman’s time, there are so many sights I would like to show him that would certainly change his unflattering perception.  Near the top of…

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MARY & TITO’S CAFE – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:17 AM

Old-timers whose opinions I respect consistently rate Mary & Tito’s as Albuquerque’s best restaurant for New Mexican food, a restaurant that has been pleasing the most savvy and indoctrinated palates alike since 1963. It takes a lot to impress some of those old-timers, none of whom see much substance in the flash and panache of the nouveau restaurants and their pristine veneer and effusive, over-the-top flamboyance. These guys and gals are impressed only by New Mexican food the way their abuelitas prepared it–unadorned, authentic and absolutely wonderful. If you want to evoke their ire, take them to one of the chains. Worse, try sneaking some cumin into their chile. Just how good is Mary & Tito’s? In a span of…

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Chope’s – La Mesa, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:00 PM

During my Kim’s inaugural visit shortly after we retired from the Air Force in 1995, we ran into a former Las Cruces resident now living in the nation’s capital. His near teary-eyed testimony about how much he missed Chope’s was more powerful than a Sunday sermon.   When he kissed the hallowed ground in front of Chope’s, we knew he meant it.  An elderly gentleman recounted the time Chope’s salsa was so hot it made him hiccup for three days.  A middle-aged woman from Las Cruces rhapsodized about Chope’s chile rellenos, her testimony practically eliciting involuntary salivation in the impromptu audience of queued patrons.  Chope’s has had a similar effect on most its guests for six generations. Perhaps the consummate mom-and-pop…

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The Mine Shaft Tavern – Madrid, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“You load sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter, don’t you call me cause I can’t go. I owe my soul to the company store.” Those immortal lyrics, hauntingly performed by crooner Tennessee Ernie Ford describe with a poignant reality, the plight of the American miner even onto the 20th century. By payday, which came at month’s end, miners did indeed owe their souls to the company–for the company house in which they were living, for groceries to feed their families, for doctor bills and even for the tools they used to mine. They were paid in scrip which could only be spent at the company store, leaving them no choice…

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Buckhorn Saloon – Pinos Altos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:28 AM

In 1859, 49ers returning home from California discovered gold among the tall pines (Pinos Altos) north of Silver City. Word spread like wildfire.  In short order, there were more than 700 men prospecting in the area. As with other boom towns, rampant lawlessness made prospectors lives exciting to say the least.  Miners faced an anything goes attitude in the pursuit of gold punctuated by frequent raids by marauding Apaches.  In the “Apache War” of 1861, Cochise joined his father-in-law Mangas Coloradas (an Apache war leader who towered at 6’7″) and some 400 Apache warriors to drive away miners from their traditional homeland. In its early days Pinos Altos saw a veritable who’s who of fame and infamy.   In the…

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Western View Diner & Steakhouse – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:20 AM

Since the 1930s, neon signage has been a prominent and vital part of Route 66 as it meanders through Albuquerque. From the foothills of the Sandias in the east to the parched desert expanse of the west, Route 66 is festooned with vibrant neon signage that cuts a luminous swath through the city. The nocturnal spectacle of glowing neon might be the siren’s call that has drawn generations of “cruisers” to Central Avenue. One of Albuquerque’s most prominent neon spangled signs celebrates Route 66 as it spans across all four lanes of Central Avenue near its intersection with Coors Boulevard Southwest. Literally at the shadow of that span is the Western View Diner & Steakhouse which has been pleasing weary…

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Duran’s Central Pharmacy – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:23 PM

In an early episode of the Andy Griffith Show, while contemplating a job offer in South America, Andy tried to assuage his son Opie’s concerns about leaving Mayberry. Instead, he wound up confusing Opie by explaining that people in South America ate something called tortillas. Opie wondered aloud why anyone would eat spiders (tarantulas). Had Opie ever tasted the delicious, piping hot, just off the comal 10-inch buttered orbs at Duran’s Central Pharmacy, it’s unlikely he would ever confuse those grilled spheres with any arachnid. That’s because Duran’s features some of the very best tortillas of any restaurant in New Mexico. These are not the flavorless, paper-thin, production-line, machine-fashioned orbs you find at some restaurants (can you say Frontier Restaurant).…

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Circle T Burgers – Belen, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:14 PM

The year was 1958.  The average American wage-owner’s income was $4,650 per year.  A Ford automobile cost between $1,967 and $3,929.  Milk was $1.01 per gallon.  Bread cost 19 cents a loaf and a can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti went for 19 cents a can.  First class US postage was raised to 4 cents after having held at 3 cents for more than a quarter-century.  A gallon of gasoline cost 24 cents. In 1958, the United States had two-thirds of the world’s 47-million television sets and many of them were tuned in to Gunsmoke, Father Knows Best, Dinah Shore and The Jack Benny Show.  France gave the world the disposable Bic pen (which very few people under 20 have even…

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NOPALITO RESTAURANT – Las Cruces, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Growing up in rural Northern New Mexico, my siblings and I thought all Mexican food was the same–the way my mom, grandmothers and aunts prepared it (which is to say it was outstanding).  At the time New Mexicans hadn’t universally acknowledged that the genesis of our cuisine wasn’t solely Mexico.  Back then, only the most savvy culinary historians were crediting Spanish and Native ingredients and preparation techniques as differentiating factors that made New Mexican cuisine unique.  It also wasn’t that long ago New Mexicans were spelling our official state vegetable as “chili.”   No, that’s not an episode of the Twilight Zone.  It’s the way it was just a few decades ago when all three of  my sisters matriculated at…

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The Owl Cafe & Bar – San Antonio, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

25 February 2023: Over the past twelve years, the Owl Cafe in San Antonio, New Mexico has been one of the three most frequently launched reviews on Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog, ranking behind only Mary & Tito’s and the Buckhorn Tavern as the third most frequently launched review of all time. What accounts for the Owl’s popularity? It truly is a timeless institution beloved for its consistently excellent burgers. 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…